Date: 2004-08-01
From: Brink Road Shelter

To: Bugs and Humidity
Miles today: 19.6

I woke up this morning and noticed that one side of my tarp was too close to the hammock. The tarp had sagged from rain water that had collected on the tarp rather than draining off of it. I had done something wrong setting it up.This sagging of the tarp caused another problem; it exposed to the air and to the rain part of a clothesline I had strung out under the tarp. To my consternation, my hiking shirt on the line was soaked with cold water. I wrung out the shirt, put it on, and began hiking during a morning of drizzle.The deerflies were nasty, attacking the back of my head. I used my bandana to ward them off. The attacks were so relentless that I would constantly whip the back of my head, even if I did not feel one of these tormentors landing. The scene reminded me of religious ceremonies of self flagellation that I had seen on television.I soon tired of the bandana approach and tried waving a stick about to deter the bugs. This method also wearied me and was not effective enough. The best technique was to whack the back of my head with the palms of my hands. I killed dozens of the flies in this manner, sometimes two at once. Upon impact, most of the insects would immediately fall away. Others would struggle under my hand, requiring me to press down harder. This sometimes got messy because their bodies would break up into my hair.At a road crossing, I hiked to a tavern to obtain a replacement plastic spoon. Along the way, I passed another restaurant that had not yet opened for the day. Back in the woods, a hiker had affixed a note on to a tree; the note urged hikers to avoid this business because it was unfriendly to hikers.The tavern¢the hiker friendly one¢was a temporary haven from the rain and bugs. I sat down at the bar and ordered a sandwich. While waiting for my order, I ran my fingers through my hair and felt some objects collect on my hand. It was dark in the bar and I did not actually look at my hand. But I was pretty sure the objects were the body parts of the deerflies that I had crushed. I washed my hands before eating my sandwich.I told the woman tending the bar that I was deliberately not watching televisions or reading newspapers during my journey. Hearing this, she launched into a rant that described the bad news happening in the world.In describing the news from the Middle East, she said, "They're not just chopping off the heads of foreigners; they're sawing them off and putting it on the internet."The hiking was stressful today. There was no breeze to ease the discomfort from the heat and humidity. There was only one location, the summit of Sunrise Mountain, where a breeze cooled the trail.The trail seemed to follow the same ridgeline, but the elevation varied, which resulted in many ups and downs. These lower sections were especially difficult to hike through due to higher concentrations of insects. The frequent ascents left me sweating profusely and drinking lots of water.There was a bright spot to the day. A former thru hiker named Desperado has been placing at locations along the trail jugs of water for thru hikers. I made camp in the woods near High Point Shelter. Occupying the shelter are hikers Gather, Baloo, Reverend Yukon Jack, and a section hiker whose named I have forgotten. About a dozen boys and their leaders from a summer camp have erected tents in front of the shelter. I am glad to have erected my tarp out in the woods where it will be quiet.I am sitting near my hammock. Some fireflies have flickered their lights. There are only a few of these light shows happening nowadays, a sign of change in the advancing summer. Another sign of change is a difference in the color of the grasses beside the trail. The lush green is changing over to amber as the shafts of grass become dry. I am encouraged by these indications of change. They remind me that the heat, the insects, and the humidity will eventually become less oppressive. But for the immediate future, I must hang tough.