I am slowly making my way through the 100 mile wilderness. As I was trying to sleep last night, the sound of the bugs throwing their tiny bodies against my tent was so loud that it sounded like rainfall.
There has been a lot of rain this season which means that there is a lot of standing water for the bugs to breed. As I am hiking in July, there aren’t too many black flies left, making room for the state bird of Maine: the mosquito.
I didn't even move the bug, it just happened this way
One day, I was reading through my AT hikers data book. Mosquitoes were landing everywhere and I was slapping them as best I could. One of them landed on a page in my book and I snapped it shut. By pure luck, I squashed the mosquito right one the word “Maine” and had to take a picture because it was too perfect.
I have accumulated over 70 bites on my body including one on the top of my earlobe, several on my face, and, magically, 3 on my right boob (bastards). Don’t worry, the left boob is still ok, so I will be an Amazonian woman.
I put bug repellent on, but, at this rate, I will run out of deet.
Sometimes, when a mosquito lands near me, I spray it with deet. I know that deet doesn’t actually kill bugs, it just repels them, but I’m hoping that by spraying them they will begin to hate life or at least develop self-esteem problems.
Today I saw a group of High Schoolers on the trail. They all looked tired, but, for the most part, pretty perky. One of the boys lagged behind and he looked downtrodden and exhausted. His arms and legs were covered in black fly bites. If you haven’t seen the damage a black fly can do, imagine a mosquito bite with the top ripped off. I have several, too.
Of his entire group, he was the only one in his group wearing a bug head-net. We made eye contact and I could tell he was miserable. I wanted to say,
I’m right there with you little brother! See how everyone else is wearing shorts and t-shirts, but I am wearing long pants, a long sleeve shirt? Take this as a gesture of my solidarity! My collar is not rolled up because I am hip and this bandanna is not for sweat, no, they are both another level of bug protection. You and I are in it together little guy. We must stand united against the bugs that for no discernible reason pick on us in particular.
But I didn’t, because I figured he would think that was weird.
For now, I am barricading myself in my tent, alternately putting on bug spray and anti-itch cream.
