Wilderness 99 is a video account of an
Everglades
kayak trip
along the Wilderness Waterway, an adventure
with stunning
vistas and, for Pat Welsh, an unexpected
outcome. Pat is
ready to defeat the defiant Wilderness
Waterway, solo.
99 miles of rivers and bays afforded frightening
experiences and—alternately--blasts
of beauty which
would impress anyone.
The trip began in Flamingo, Florida and ended in Everglades
City.
At various points, Pat faces his camera and talks about
his impressions, his feelings and his reasons.
Most interesting is his second night, after
two days of
arduous paddling. He is on a waterway chickee--Harney River
Chickee.
Fog has set in, eliminating visibility. In the middle
of the night, thrashing begins under the
chickee, breaking
the quietude of the jungle. Pat is alone, and he is frightened.
The next day, he enters the thick
jungle called The Nightmare.
Few paddlers enter the Nightmare and Pat
is eventually forced
out by navigational dead ends and swarming
insects. His emotions
are sinking, swimming, then exploding in
the midst
of the surprises and beauty around every
mangrove.
Pat paddles to Sweetwater Chickee, near
Watson’s Place
(serial killer Ed Watson). A thunder storm
ensues. Again,
Pat is alone, hanging on to his tent
in the middle of nowhere.
He talks directly to his thoughts and emotions
during the
trip, providing raw evidence of what this
waterway means
to a paddler. The photography alone is rare documentation
of the sensational beauty of the Gulf-side
waterways of
the Everglades.