I walked 58300 steps on the trail today.
I traveled about 26.5 miles today.
There appear to be two camps of people when it comes to 'Ticks'. One group says they are only out in spring and summer with nothing to worry about in the fall. The other group says deer ticks can also be encountered in fall. After today's hike, guess what group I'm in?
Here's the blurry pic of the little hitchhiker Papa Bear tweezed off my back where it had been warm all afternoon under my pack. I've had dozens of wood ticks but this is my first ever deer tick! I don't think he was biting in long enough to cause trouble but I'll keep an eye out for any strange symptoms next week.
Besides this pest, the hike was great today - clear blue sky above colorful trees buffeted by strong breezes. Leaves falling around us all day in the sun made a perfect fall hiking day.
The trail was pretty good. We hit one swamped over area of trail and threw down a few logs. There were a few strangely blazed spots that we figured out. We also did a short roadwalk at the end of the day. When we came out of the woods on County E there was absolutely no indication of where to go. No entry point across the road, nor arrows, blazes, or notes pointing north or south. So, we roadwalked around the section, adding a mile or so. Looking on the IATA website, we should have gone north to find the new trail.
Checking weather, looks like our final day on Saturday will be wet and windy. :-)