A long, flat section of the trail took us through a meadow that had grown thick with tall grass.
As strange as this might seem, I fear sections of trail like this. I fear them because I know they are a good habitat for ticks.
Ticks are trouble. They are extremely small. They can easily attach themselves to humans undetected.
Once a tick has grabbbed onto a human it will crawl to a warm and comfortable spot where it can burrow in, cut a hole in the human's skin, and begin to feed by extracting blood. If the tick is infected with pathogens, it can transmit them to its host.
The pathogens can cause a long and troublesome list of symptoms, starting with a rash, neck stiffness, headache, nausea, weakness, muscle or joint pain, and a fever. And that's just for starters. Symptoms can progressively get worse.
As the weather turns warmer and the grass grows taller, ticks become a greater concern.
I mentioned yesterday that even though we had already picked up all of the food we needed to get us through the park, we made a grocery stop at Kroger. The reason I wanted to stop there was to pick up a can of Off insect repellent.
I had been carrying insect repellent, but decided to be more proactive in defending against ticks. Now I can spray down my legs and ankles a couple times a day for an extra layer of protection.
Seeing the thick grass today made me glad I did.