[pct-l] Speaking of Ants

[Brian Forestell]

In the thread concerning "critters" ants have come up several times.  I can attest that they seem to follow a person from Mexico to Canada.  My worst ant experience was on the Hat Creek Rim.   It was a hot dry day.  Approximately four miles past Cache 22 the trail returns to the rim of the canyon and the trees are no longer burned over.  Prior to that time you can't even buy a patch of shade (other than the nice shade structure at Cache 22)  Beside the trail appeared a beautiful large tree,  It was a perfect place to sit and have lunch looking back at Mt. Lassen.  I was in heaven.  I got my lunch out, leaned my back against the tree and closed my eyes to take a well deserved rest.  Ouch what the F$%#$ was that?!  Ants.  Ants were every where.  It was an army of ants.  They didn't want my lunch, they wanted my pack.  They had swarmed my pack so that in areas it appeared like my pack was moving.  It seemed like they were trying to organize dozens of squadrons of ants to pick up my my pack and carry it away. They were crawling up my legs and going places where you don't want creepy crawly things to go.  I tried to wipe as many ants off myself and my pack and got the heck out of there.  Each time I slapped and killed one of these ants (my apologies to all my Buddhist friends) they stunk like crazy.  The bites were worse than the stink so I swatted when ever they started to nibble on me.  Hours later lingering ants would crawl over my hat and onto its rim or I would feel one making a dash up my legs.   I am sure sure some of them hitched a ride with me as far as Burney Falls.  I never found out what kind of ants they were.  I talked to several other hikers that summer who were tempted by this same tree and had similar experiences.  Swarmed by ants who stunk when you killed them.  So, for your 2011 hikers be warned.  You are going be tempted by the shade and views offered by this tree on Hat Creek Rim.

Trouble