I hurried to get the hammock set up before the sun went down, so I could go and take sunset pictures by the river. I had to pause though, to watch an oblivious armadillo that was snuffling straight towards me. I was wondering how long it would take it to realize it had company. About 15′-20′ out it finally stopped, got up on its hind legs, sniffed the air, and ran off in the opposite direction.

The sunset pictures did not come easily. There was a steep, muddy, and slippery bank to negotiate to get down to the water’s edge.

Nor had I bargained on the impact of the rain on my choice of campsite. Shortly after dark, a thick mist came down, coating everything with moisture, and I was concerned about my under quilt getting soaked. I couldn’t use my poncho as an under quilt protector because it was all wet from the afternoon’s rain, and folding it up had spread to dampness to the inside too — there’s another lesson learned.

Unusually, the mist was moving upstream. Maybe I was just in an eddy.

Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.