Hike 18

Starting point—Point Beach State Forest
Ending point—Point Beach State Forest
Distance— 2 miles (4 miles total because we retraced our steps to get to our car)
Cumulative Distance— 95.1 miles

 We managed two hikes on the IAT within a week, which certainly is a record for us. We headed back to the trail with the boys before it got too warm Saturday. It was in the 70s and sunny, a perfect day for a hike. The trail was gorgeous, through flowers and pines and one sandy patch. We saw a snake slither away and a monarch butterfly, which AJ wanted to keep following.

The only real downside of the hike was the mosquitoes. I think all of us ended up with a few bites, although they seemed to like Dave the best. The boys were fairly protected in the backpack carriers. As everyone else has said this year, the bugs are much worse than usual. Swarms of mosquitoes is the only appropriate way to describe them unfortunately. (I now understand the phrase "as thick as mosquitoes.")

 

Aside from hiking a bit faster and taking fewer pictures to minimize blood loss to mosquitoes, it was a good hike. Point Beach State Forest looks like a gorgeous park where we should definitely spend some time.