Tuesday I had this brilliant idea I might try putting in some extra miles just to see how I felt. The plan was to start walking at 4AM from my place in downtown Fort Myers to North Cape, take a break, then walk back. By the time I got home, it would be entering afternoon. The sun would be close to its highest position. I’d skip a few hours, do some errands and prep, and around 4PM I would repeat the maneuver. By following my intended path, I would cover 48 miles in one day.
Everything was going good. I got on the road in time, and got into North Cape as planned. I took a break, then got back on the road. For some odd reason I decided at the last minute to change my plans and head to the Yucca Pan Wildlife Management Area instead of going home. I’m guessing the allure of walking under canopy was calling. Since by the time I was turning back from Cape the sun was already beating down on me. So, I changed direction and went still north.
When I got to Yucca Pan, I was a bit unhappy to find my plans to have the trees as shade were not going to happen. From where I was entering everything was under water. I’m not talking puddles here, I’m talking swamp. No possible way to find a dry path. So, I turned back and decided I would do a large loop getting myself back to Fort Myers through Cape Coral. I realized the sun was pretty hot by this point and thought I’d escape the rising heat by periodically ducking into convenience stores here and there, along the way. Yeah.
By the time I got myself back into Cape the sun was so hot I was beginning to get a headache. I found a Dollar General and went in buying several Gatorades and some snacks. Needless to say, whether it was my lovely body odor or the fact I was carrying a giant bag on my back, I was getting some strange looks while I waited in the checkout line.
To help spare other patrons and the staff of my stench I went back outside and sat under the awning in front of the store. I proceeded to drink up all the Gatorade and inhale the snacks I just purchased. Clouds were rolling by one at a time, not even close to the 85% rain predicted by my radar app, but hopes were high rain would come shortly and save the day. So, I waited. Rain never came.
Eventually I decided to push on. I figured I’d head west and hit DelPrado, and find another shop to duck into. Again, using my infinite wisdom, (sarcasm) I changed my mind and didn’t go into my intended location where I was to duck out of the sun. Mostly because by this time I could smell myself coming and going. I wanted to spare Joe Public from the atrocity. Call it a public service. Instead I made it almost to DelPrado and Pine Island and sat under a tree instead. A tiny spot of shade in an otherwise treeless town.
I stripped my shoes and socks off, downed some water and laid out on top of my rain poncho, looking toward the sky praying for this rain that was so nonexistant. I quickly realized that at this point my pounding headache I had acquired earlier now had a sidekick, nausea. I looked down at my legs which were becoming a bit itchy and noticed I had developed heat rash all over them, especially at the sock line. This is the first and only time I have ever developed a heat rash on open skin, I was wearing shorts. Typically, if I get a heat rash, it’s because I had pants on and my skin wasn’t able to breathe properly. Go Cindy-jo! Obviously, this was turning into a nightmare urban hiking trip quick. By this point I finally said enough is enough. I called for backup and got picked up. I’m pretty sure I was cruising for heat stroke. The headache lasted all night, and thank God for cold showers and Gold Bond. The rash was 90% gone by the next day.
The lesson here? Stick to your plan. Avoid the temptation to switch gears midway through a plan. When you don’t stick to the plan, it opens up opportunity for dumb stuff to go wrong. Also, don’t hike in the mid afternoon SW Florid sun. It could potentially kill you. To be honest, I haven’t really felt myself since. Almost like I had to recover from sun exposure. Luckily I was wearing sunscreen and a hat.
On the bright side, “Ha!”, I also tried taping my feet for the first time ever. Before leaving for the day, and after watching several YouTube videos on the subject, I ended up taping my left foot, just to see what would happen. Taping rocks! My left foot which normally always gets irritated at the baby toe, ball of the foot and heel had no issues with blistering or hot spots what so ever. My right foot wasn’t so lucky. Now my right foot wasn’t a bloody blistered mess or anything, but I did receive a blister on the bottom of the right baby toe and a slight hot spot on the ball, but I do favor my left foot. So, that tends to be the one that gets more shredded anyway, which it didn’t thanks to the tape. So, I’m going to further explore this option for the trail.
A couple days later, my friend Greg shows up at my work to hang out for a short bit while I cut hair. He ends up looking up the heat index from Tuesday… 105. Ugh.
