We did not use rain flys because of the heat. As a result, the next morning, we were soaked with dew. It is unbelievable how much dew fell that night.
Here is the view from my tent door the next morning:
As we broke camp, it became very, very hot. Temperatures were already over 90 degrees before 10:00 AM. After breaking camp, I was completely sweat saturated. We went to the local convenience store, sat under a fan for an hour, ate some lunch, then headed off for our adventure that day. And what an adventure it was to be.
We had a plan to ride the Old Ore Trail in Big Bend that day. It is a 30 mile jeep track that is quite rough in spaces. Since I am a novice rider on a pretty heavy bike, this trail is physically exhausting for me. I have ridden in in the past, and it is a tough one for me.
At the trail head of Old Ore Trail.
Here are some pictures taken on the trail. Quite beautiful indeed.
The following video is a panorama from atop a ridge on the Old Ore trail about half way through its windings.
NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS!
Listen up kids! NEVER underestimate the killing power of the desert! I thought I knew about it, but it turns out I had no clue.
Now, I am going to get into some of the details of the physical crisis that the desert caused me. I am not saying it as a solicitation for pity, or woe is me, but as a warning to you guys who love dual sport riding. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE DANGER OF DESERT RIDING! If you think you know all about all this, then please skip on to the next blog installment and pass over the details of just how terrible my experience with dehydration was.
We got to the trail head at 1:00PM (a PROFOUNDLY stupid thing to do). The trail is about 30 miles long. As we entered the canyons, the temperatures rose to approximately 110 - 115 degrees. There was not a wisp of breeze. We had gallons of water, all of which I drank. But to no avail. I stopped sweating and began radiating heat. At one point, I got so hot that I parked the bike in the trail and crawled under the bike for some shade. I became severely dehydrated. In this picture, you can see by my redness that I am in trouble, but I did not know it yet. I am so red because I had stopped sweating. Do you see any sweat on me? Yet it was 115 degrees when this photo was taken. Not even my helmet had any sweat in it. This picture was taken early in the ride. By the time the ride was over, I was barely standing. If this happens to you, you are IN TROUBLE!
Finally, we finished the 30 mile ride. We went to the store at Rio Grande Village and drank lots of Gatorade, etc. After a rest and a refuel, I recovered a bit. We returned back to camp to pick up our gear, with the intention of riding to a motel in Presidio, about 100 miles away.
While riding towards Presidio at about dusk, my body simply shut down. I completely ran out of energy. I think marathoners would call it "boinking". Every ounce of energy left my body. I parked the bike in the road, got off, and laid in the paved road for an hour while my body tried to recover from the dehydration it suffered through the day. After about an hour, we decided to pitch an emergency camp at the gas station at Panther Junction in Big Bend Park.
That night was painful. I drank 2 gallons of fluids that night, but it did not relieve the dehydration. The liquid just sat in the stomach unabsorbed. I had fierce full body Charley Horses due to electrolyte loss. I was drinking literally gallons of Gatorade and water, but the dehydration was so severe that it shut off my digestive system. I could not absorb the water I drank. I had bouts of muscle cramps that lasted literally hours on end.
We all have experienced muscle cramps. They generally "catch" for about 30 seconds, then let go. Not that night, not for me. I had massive cramps that caught and held tight for four solid hours. Additionally, I hallucinated all sorts of things that I would rather not go into in a public forum. I basically lost touch with reality through the night. The hallucinations were mind blowing because they were so real.
In the morning at daybreak, I awoke to find myself feeling like I just drank a bottle of whiskey on an empty stomach. Somehow, I packed camp, and rode my bike 90 miles to Presidio, TX on a twisty road. How I made it, I do not know, because my body and mind were not connected together at all. If I moved my head, like as in watching the road, my mind would take several seconds to "catch up". The result was a severe, constant dizziness not unlike the "bed spins" one gets from drinking too much whiskey. I am talking about whiskey bed spins. Beer is not potent enough to give this kind of disorientation, if you know what I mean. Now imagine those sorts of head spins for 90 continuous miles of twisties and you will get a clue as to my state of being that morning.
When I arrived at Presidio, TX, I entered into the Post Office and collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. The good folks of Presidio called the paramedics, who promptly transported me to a hospital in Alpine, TX.
When the paramedics arrived, my EKG was extremely erratic and I had very irregular heart rhythm caused by massive Potassium deficit. My prone blood pressure was 220/160. When I sat up, my systolic pressure dropped 75 points. A drop of 10 points is considered severely dehydrated. At that point, regardless of how much water or electrolytes I drank, I could not have survived, because the body had shut down to such an extent that absorbing fluids was impossible.
I took 2 liters of IV fluids. The paramedics had to stick me 9 times to get a vein for the IV, and normally my veins are absolutely huge. After 1 liter of IV fluids, my blood pressure was normalizing. After spending a day in the hospital, I was transported back to Presidio, courtesy of the local Postmaster, and spent the next 48 hours here. It took every ounce of strength in my body to walk the 25 feet from the car to the motel room where this bed was located. My body radiated heat like a furnace for two days. I am not joking. You have no concept. You do not want this to happen to you.
It took me almost three days to recover from the dehydration. Words cannot describe the bodily weakness that beset me in the aftermath of this.
I am not seeking any pity parties here, because this sort of thing is totally preventable. But, I do wish to warn you all that dehydration can KILL you quicker than you imagine. And, I personally would rather die impaled on a stake than to die of thirst through dehydration. Yes, it is that painful.
Not to mention the fact that the economic impact of this little excursion was over $6,000. Yes, that is right. Six grand for two liters of Lactated Ringer's and an ambulance ride out of the wilderness. (Plus the whole raft of ER tests that were done on me).
So do NOT go into the desert unprepared, ignorant, or arrogant. I did. And I almost did not make it out alive. It almost cost my little girl her Daddy and my wife her husband.
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