Log 36: My Literal Worst Nightmare
DISCLAIMER: Do not be fooled by the pleasant photos I have included in this entry. The genre of this post is horror.
There is no food in my tent. There is no food in my tent. I swear it.
But it didn't matter. The ants came anyway. We had just put the fire out and headed back to our tents. Upon starting my before bed tent inspection - which I do every night - I discovered one small ant. When I squished it, I noticed another crawling around on my sleeping pad. And then another. And then a few more.
At this point, I've broken out in a cold sweat. If you know me, you know that ants are something I am deeply fearful of. I don't trust that hive mind. Hands shaking, I slowly reached over to lift up my sleeping bag. Underneath, my sleeping pad was teeming with ants. Like a colony's worth. And worse, they had carried in several piles of what I could only assume were ant larvae. At that point, I was sure I was going to throw up, but tired to stay calm and remove my belongings from the tent as quickly as possible. Teá, Anastasia, and Christine all helped me shake out my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and sheets until they were ant free, and spray down my tent with bug spray. That night, Teá and I both slept in Anastasia's tent - her because of the worm larvae in her own tent, and me because of the ant larvae in mine.
So that night was awful. But, the silver lining is, the next morning, I woke up determined to relocate my tent somewhere the ants would not be such an issue. I found a spot high on the hill that was flat, with very little vegetation, and conveniently closer to the compost toilet. My first night up there, I slept soundly. For the most part.
Highlight: The land Liberty Vista is on has a free range policy for ranchers and cattle farmers, which means there are cows all over the place. Including in our camp. And high up the hill, for whatever reason, they are much greater in number. Last night, I woke up at an unknown hour to the sound of quiet munching, followed by a low "MoooooOOO." I could hear the cows brushing against my tent as they grazed. Better than ants, I shrugged, and went back to sleep. In the morning, Christine told me that the entire heard of cows had settled down for the night all around my tent, no more than two feet away from me.
