Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Type III Vampires

Day 113-August 4th
Destination: Shelter Cove
Miles: 12.5 (plus 1.5 off trail miles)
Cumulative Miles: 1587

Mosquitoes so thick, one might have thought they were swimming in a lake of insects. Sure, they died down a couple miles before the end of this short day, but not before Apricots said:

"There is a special place in hell for mosquitoes, a place where they fly about with thousands of miniature mosquitoes swarming them endlessly biting at their small ravenous bodies."

Psycho added, with a quote from the Tale of Graydick in Wolves of Calla, "May their first day in hell last 10,000 years, and may it be the shortest."

Usually in the morning, the mosquito swarm has dropped down, with the cold night as the sun retires for the day. It would seem that this was not the case today though. We woke with a swarm as abundant as the one we went to bed with.

Wearing head nets and raincoats we packed quickly and abandoned our site, hoping to escape the mosquitoes. We did not. As we climbed into the Diamond Peak wilderness, we walked along the snowy base of Diamond Peak which we paused to enjoy, until the mosquitoes overwhelmed our perfect sitting rocks.

Afterward we dropped into the shade of a forested path, which was riddled with many small lakes and tarns, each with their own family of mosquitoes and the families were large and extended. We fought our way through the writhing clouds of agony until we descended to Odell Lake and Shelter Cove.

We planned to only shower, eat, and do laundry before pushing a few more miles into the day. Yet sadly, or perhaps gladly, the serenity of the place (and general lack of mosquitoes) lured us in for a short hiking day and a restful afternoon.


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2 comments:

  1. Cute photo! Sorry 'bout the lil demons. You need some pet mosquito eaters to fly with ya.......I bet there is some gadget available now that keeps mosquitos away......well now I know what I am doing next on the internet.
    *Jillian

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  2. Hey I like that top...but love the girl wearing it...Great little pic. Hope you all are making great strides on the trail. Journey on with blessings of safety.

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