Today's Miles: 6.1
Total Miles: 51.8
If I had a dollar for every mosquito bite I had, I think I could have bought a plane ticket home already. I left White House Landing after lunch today. I was waiting for my clothes to finish drying on the line. The last thing I wanted to do was put on wet clothes again. The skies were clear all morning until about the time I left. The rain held off though, and I had a fairly quick and easy hike. I stopped for a little while on a small sandy beach on Jo-Mary Lake. It was peaceful and quiet. I think I could have stayed there all day. After that stop, the mosquitoes came out in droves. I even ran a few times attempting to get away from them. I looked behind me and had a swarm of at least 50 following me at one point. I passed Potaywadjo Spring, which is supposed to be the largest one on the trail. You could see where it was bubbling up through the sand. I stopped there to fill up on some water. I am really going to miss the abundance of cool, clean water that is available so frequently along the trail. I am camping at Antlers Campsite tonight. It is my favorite tent site so far - right on the shore of Jo-Mary Lake. There is one other person, a local guy out hiking for a few days. He started a fire, so I asked if he minded if I had my dinner by it. I was hoping the smoke would provide some respite from the mosquitoes. He was able to tell me a lot of the history of this area, which was really neat. Apparently this entire area used to be used for logging. Most of the trees had been cut down about 60 or 70 years ago. The ones that were too small to cut then have now grown into the giant pines that cover this campsite. He also said a lot of the moose in the area have been dying because the tick population is spreading farther north. Too many ticks attach themselves and the moose have no way of getting them off, so they lose too much blood. It's actually really sad to hear. I am looking forward to a nice peaceful night and hopefully some good sleep.
Total Miles: 51.8
If I had a dollar for every mosquito bite I had, I think I could have bought a plane ticket home already. I left White House Landing after lunch today. I was waiting for my clothes to finish drying on the line. The last thing I wanted to do was put on wet clothes again. The skies were clear all morning until about the time I left. The rain held off though, and I had a fairly quick and easy hike. I stopped for a little while on a small sandy beach on Jo-Mary Lake. It was peaceful and quiet. I think I could have stayed there all day. After that stop, the mosquitoes came out in droves. I even ran a few times attempting to get away from them. I looked behind me and had a swarm of at least 50 following me at one point. I passed Potaywadjo Spring, which is supposed to be the largest one on the trail. You could see where it was bubbling up through the sand. I stopped there to fill up on some water. I am really going to miss the abundance of cool, clean water that is available so frequently along the trail. I am camping at Antlers Campsite tonight. It is my favorite tent site so far - right on the shore of Jo-Mary Lake. There is one other person, a local guy out hiking for a few days. He started a fire, so I asked if he minded if I had my dinner by it. I was hoping the smoke would provide some respite from the mosquitoes. He was able to tell me a lot of the history of this area, which was really neat. Apparently this entire area used to be used for logging. Most of the trees had been cut down about 60 or 70 years ago. The ones that were too small to cut then have now grown into the giant pines that cover this campsite. He also said a lot of the moose in the area have been dying because the tick population is spreading farther north. Too many ticks attach themselves and the moose have no way of getting them off, so they lose too much blood. It's actually really sad to hear. I am looking forward to a nice peaceful night and hopefully some good sleep.
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| Potaywadjo Spring |
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| Best bear bagging site yet! |
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