Having a Massive Allergic Reaction on Trail

This morning I woke up around 4am and thought I heard Punisher leave. Then I rolled over until around 5am when I finally began to pack up. We have just shy of 30 miles to do today. But it’s basically all road walking, and we’ll be ending the day in Clewiston! Meaning we can stay in town, get a room, shower, charge up, and do laundry! It’s day 10 and we haven’t done laundry yet once. I’m most excited for that, honestly.

Once we were ready we began hiking once more. Punisher had left already. And within the first couple hours of the day he sent me a photo of his air pad. It had delaminated in the middle of the night, causing a massive lump to form right in the center. That must have been so uncomfortable to sleep on! So he packed up early this morning because he couldn’t sleep. And now was on a mission to find a new air pad in town today.

The sunrise this morning over the levee was beautiful.

Long Shot and I began hiking around 5:40am along the levee in the dark. It was nice and cool out so I had most of my layers on. As we walked I wrote up yesterday’s blog, edited it, and added and labeled all the photos. I didn’t have much energy last night so I only did video work. But I could get away with it because I knew we’d have service today and be on roads for the whole day. When I’m road walking I can multitask like a pro. There is nothing I can’t do. Lately I’ve been writing, editing and recording voiceovers, and even doing the edits for my longer YouTube videos. All along the road while walking! That is an amazing use of time and is helping me to stay up on everything very well.

Starting the morning with lovely views makes the day a whole lot easier!

At one point while it was still dark I let Long Shot get up ahead so that I could record some stuff. I need to do some voiceover recordings and then a bit of “talking to the camera” vlog style content for my YouTube. It was nice to get everything done before the sun even rose.

A Florida trail marker along the canal.

We enjoyed a lovely sunrise this morning too. And that point had already been walking for an hour. It was truly perfect. Eventually we got off the levee and were out on dirt roads for the remainder of the morning. Fresh Ground gave me a call around 8:30am to let me know that he was going to drive out. He was planning to feed Punisher an early lunch. But before he did that, he drove down the road to take our packs! What a legend. My body feels great, but I’m still tired. These last few days we have managed incredible mileage. Especially considering we went through the swamp. We just started the Florida Trail 2 days ago, and we’re getting into Clewiston tonight! That’s about 100 miles in.

When he arrived he took our bags and then gave us small packs to carry our water and other essentials. That had my body feeling so good. Doing another 30 mile day today would have been long. But doing it without the weight on our backs was going to make it so much easier. We would make great time and easily get into town early. That means more time resting in a bed! And enjoying all the luxuries of town. We’ve been spoiled rotten by Fresh Ground, but have still really been roughing it. Doing long days, no laundry, and just staying in a bed twice so far. Considering all the amenities which surround you along this segment of trail, it’s impressive how much we’ve avoided town. But we’ve been busy pushing out miles. I’m much further along trail than I expected to be or calculated for day 10. Basically an entire day ahead, which is fantastic.

Fresh Ground saving the day with another slack pack!

Once our packs were gone we flew along. Fresh Ground would be meeting us at a picnic area down the road in about 9 miles. Those next couple of hours went by quickly as we made our way there. I did some stuff on my phone and listened to music. Then by just after 11am we arrived at the picnic site where he was set up.

My body was tired and I was starving. I definitely could feel myself starting to slog along due to lack of food. So being able to feast with Fresh Ground was exactly what my body needed. We arrived and two massive plates of spaghetti with sauce and garlic bread were laid out. He said he gave me an extra big portion that he didn’t think I could finish. So I gave it my best go! I ate a ton and all the bread. Then he served me up more bread and I nearly finished it all. Long Shot quickly scarfed his down and then finished mine off. I drank a hot mocha and then a nice cold Gatorade. Then had a pickle for dessert! After I was done I felt so energized and ready to go.

The glorious lunch set up! Spaghetti and garlic bread hit the spot and got me ready for the rest of the day.

We said goodbye to Fresh Ground and he made plans to come see us later and bring our bags. We’re going to stay at the Best Western in Clewiston tonight and Punisher is going to meet us there. I actually had a box sent there, so it seemed only right to actually stay there. Plus it’s right across from the Walmart and has laundry on site! I’m so dang excited to do laundry. I don’t need much resupply but definitely need a couple items from walmart. My contact solution 2oz bottle has actually lasted this whole time though which is surprising. That’s something which is usually hard for me to gauge.

After we ate we got back on the road once more. The trail goes a more round about way to Clewiston. But last time I was here with Trucker we took a more direct route which brings you right through town. It shaves off at least a handful of miles, which will be nice. And I’m not concerning my self with being a “purist” until I’m up on the Appalachian trail. I’m just walking from the border of the country down at key west up to the AT. Then I’ll be following the whole AT until Katahdin. Where I will then walk to the Canadian border.

Walking along a narrow road with no shoulder for most of the day.

We only had about 14 miles left at this point which was fantastic. That meant we would hopefully arrive in town around 4-4:30pm depending on our pace. Not too shabby for a few 30 mile day! With all of the food now fueling my body I was feeling so good. Immediately my mind felt sharper and I was significantly less tired. That was a wonderful feeling. By the end of the day today we will be 284 miles in on day 10! Even going for through the swamp 2 days ago my average is still 28.4 miles a day so far. Right on track. If not actually well ahead of schedule because the swamp should have slowed me down. The vibes are so high lately though that even the dang swamp couldn’t slow me down. Being surrounded by 2 other hikers who are so strong and wanting to crank out miles has made a world of difference. Long Shot has been here with me every day since day 1, pushing out big miles. Which to me is necessary, but not to him. He’s just here because he likes to push himself too and see what he can do. 

The next few hours flew by. I talked on the phone with my dad for a while. Then did some more writing and video work. And after that I just listened to music as I cruised along the road. I was feeling really good! My body is managing these big miles which is wonderful.

Slowly but surely we made our way into Clewiston.

But around 2pm I started getting a tight feeling in the skin across my thighs. I thought that I might be getting a sun burn. But when I reached down to touch my skin I noticed I was covered in hundreds of small hard hives. I was having some kind of an allergic reaction! But I had no idea what it was from. The day we got into the Miccosukee hotel I had a small bit of hives on my thighs as well. Fortunately they went away quickly after showering and sleeping. Though now I was absolutely covered.

I took a couple Benadryl and waited. But over the next hour the hives multiplied and were much bigger and more sore. By the time that we got into Clewiston around 4pm the hives were bigger and more painful. My thighs burned all over as I was covered in huge patches of bumps. Some were still small and others were much larger.

I have no idea what might have caused this. The only time that I sat down today was when we were at the picnic area with Fresh Ground. And I only peed a couple of times and never once did my skin touch any grass or shrubs. The area that we were walking through had a lot of sugar cane fields and were clearing using pesticides. My only thought was that I was having a reaction to the pesticides. Maybe they were even causing a photosensitivity reaction? Because I didn’t touch any plants so I knew it couldn’t be from anything like that.

This is what my hives looked like after showering and putting tons of hydrocortisone cream on. It was even worse earlier.

Something always seems to happen when you’re thru hiking. It’s always a wild card, and the possibilities are endless. But it could definitely be worse than some hives. Honestly, I’d rather be covered in hives than have had my sleeping pad pop last night!

Around 4pm Fresh Ground came and picked up Long Shot and I. Then drove us down the road to the best western where punisher was already set up in the room. I took a shower and it definitely helped a little. But the damage was already done. The hives didn’t get any worse necessarily. However my skin was left sore and covered in painful bumps. What on earth could cause this?

Couldn’t resist trying this tropical sprite. The hunter orange color was very on brand for Florida.

After I showered I went to Walmart and grabbed what I needed. Then came back to the room to chill briefly. Later on Fresh Ground drove all of us down the road to Cuban place which I went to back when I was on the Florida trail before. I remembered that it was one of the best meals I’d ever had. And it did not disappoint! Everyone seemed quite satisfied.

I got a huge plate of rice, beans, sweet plantains, and shredded beef. It was delicious and exactly what my body needed. Then we headed back to the hotel. I took another shower and washed my hair. I had bought shampoo and conditioner at Walmart. The last time I washed it was a couple days before I flew out to Florida.

One of the best dinners that I’d had in a long time!

Then we did laundry and I organized my food and got things mostly put away. A box came for me here at the hotel from Bowl&Kettle. A fairly new dehydrated meal company making home cooked and unique recipes. I actually crossed paths with the hiker and co owner back in 2022 on the pct. She sent out a bunch of different types for me to try out. There was street corn grits, chicken tikka Marsala, and crawfish étouffée. Such fun flavors! I’m excited to try them out over the next few days. I’ll definitely let you guys know how they are and which ones are my favorite.

Bowl&Kettle sent a bunch of amazing meals for me to try out.

I’ve never tried grits before and am very excited to give this meal a go.

For the rest of the night after that we all just lounged and packed out things. Fresh Ground hung out with us at the room for a while. I laughed so much today and had such a good time with these guys. It’s been such a treat having people to hike with, even doing such big mileage! That is not something I anticipated at all. Then I did my stretching and some writing and video work. And spent the rest of the night laying in bed and watching TV before calling it a night.

One of the other meal flavors that was sent in my resupply box.

This sounds like a really unique flavor, and comes with a packet of hot sauce included.