Pepper and I have been going on some short hikes lately. We’re doing it for a couple of reasons: first, we just want to explore the area a bit, so we can seem knowledgeable about local hikes. And second, with a series of visitors coming this summer, we want to have some options in our back pocket, and know some different “levels” of hiking to suggest. We picked a lesser-known hike in the Swan Valley, and headed out.
It was so green. Grass, ferns, flowers, trees… everything was a brilliant green and damp from recent rain.
The trail wound through this tall grass. Kind of cool!
But things kind of went downhill from there. As we continued, the trail became much harder to follow. The underbrush grew thicker, the trail became narrower, and after a bit we were picking our way through huge plants.
And with all the water came the mosquitos. They were swarming around, and if we’d stop for even a few seconds, there would be a dozen of them on our arms and legs. We’d sprayed ourselves with mosquito repellant, but it didn’t seem to do anything at all. Even as we walked, we were slapping our arms and swatting at the little buggers flying around us. It was really bad.
Eventually we reached what you might call a “lake”, but I’d probably describe as a “muddy pond”.
It wasn’t exactly picturesque. As I stood there taking this picture, I was probably bitten four times by mosquitos. We agreed to hoof it back out, and made good time back to the car. I’m sure the little blood bandits were sad there was no one left for them to bite.
Oh, and we’re not going to recommend this hike to people who visit.