Not words I ever thought I would type. Even if the hike is extremely hot, or a struggle to complete, I normally feel a sense of accomplishment and peace. Not so yesterday. Yesterday, after weeks of heavy rain many mountain trails were closed, so we visited a nearby river with decent hikes. While on the trail, I was able to take a hand wipe it down my other arm and push the mosquitoes aside. Spiders had woven webs over our path (A common occurrence in our area, but these webs were huge.) and gnats filled the spaces between the mosquitoes. Like I said, miserable. We only traveled 1.2 miles when we gave up on the trail and tried to get back to the car with at least some blood left in our veins. I stopped counting at 49 bites last night.

Today, I am a mess of bites. I have tried home remedies that have worked in the past, only to have them fail today. I’ve also used OTC to no avail. In the end, I surrender to the irritation of itching and dream of better times.

Don’t worry, I’ll be on the trail again… right after the first freeze.

More hiking posts by N. R. Tucker.