Wow what a day. First the rain never came last night that I know of but it did stay really warm. I know that because I had to disrobe during the night to stay comfortable. The lasted all day too. My thermometer registered 66°. That makes for sweaty walking. Smell is starting to really bother me. I tried to mask it with a smoky fire last night but I need another dose.

Anyway there is a Marine airbase very close and yesterday I was on the approach path for many if not all the landings. Mostly I saw F-15 Eagles which is weird because I didn't think the Marines Flew that. Maybe the Air Force shares the base. Today I saw mostly AV-8 Harriers which are Marine aircraft. And there were two A-10 Thunderbolts II, Warthogs. It's just like being at an air show.

Now about the trail. When I left the shelter I was loving the hike but that quickly turned to curses. The trail gets very swampy in places. Lots of places. Not only is it slow to pick through the much, but wrinkled feet hurt to hike on all day. So I had wet feet and I didn't make it to the end of the Neusiok like I intended. I have a couple more hours of extra hiking for tomorrow.

Just after the trail crossed the 101 I met two trail volunteers, both in their 60s. They are responsible for constructing all the hundreds of feet of puncheon, a.k.a. bog bridges. The second half of the trail was just as soupy but very well bridged. Thanks guys.

Oh one of the guys mentioned that he and his wife hiked in all the lumber for Blackjack Lodge's floor. That is dedication. That same guy thought that the portion of trail I had just come through was "a bit of a swim".

In other news I expected February to be too early for mosquitos. Sadly I was wrong. There have been just a few so far but they are out.

I heard from a day hiker to expect more of the same weather.