For a very short time, I do feel invincible. Certain situations and events enhance and magnify these experiences. Collecting in streams where no surveys have ever been done, sets the stage of the first explorer venturing into unchartered frontiers. Another ego boosting bonus is finding a fish in a watershed or above a barrier where it has never been reported before. Night collections are an entirely different affair which have through the years given me several exhilarating thrills and memories.
Sight is restricted to the small circle the headlamp illuminates.
Patches of fog move in and further encroach on my tiny world. Hearing sharpens and sounds assail me from every direction. Chirping crickets and croaking frogs provide the soothing and constant chorus which is interrupted by hair bristling noises of hooting owls, squawking herons, and tail slapping beavers. Frequently, I catch something moving out of the corner of my eye and reflexively cast my light up on the bank. A pair of eyes reflect back at me.