Yesterday, I took a long hike on the Ozark Trail’s longest section, the Courtois (pronounced “Code-a-way”).
Although I’d like to write an entire blog on the section of trail that I hiked, for now I’d like to show you some of the arachinids who were hanging out on their webs across my trail.
Itsy Bitsy Spider, photo by smalltowngirl
I don’t know what I was thinking hiking in August, but my hike was hot, humid, and spider-infested.
A few hundred feet into the trail, the spiderwebs started to become problematic. Over and over again, I felt their sticky threads wrap around my arms, legs, or face, and found myself swatting at the air like a maniac, trying to get the webs off of my skin.
I picked up a long, thin stick, which I carried like a sword in front of my body, trying to knock spiderwebs down. Along I plodded, slicing my stick-sword through the air, a full-blown war waged between myself and these eight-legged creepy crawlers.
This gigantic spider, with a body well larger than my thumb, was intimidating. I didn’t want to make him mad at me, so I left his web intact and asked him to please not bother me as I deftly snuck beneath his web.
Big spider, photo by smalltowngirl
Spiders were everywhere. To say I saw hundreds of them is not an exaggeration. I saw red ones, black ones and gray ones; big ones little ones and itsy bitsy ones.
For good measure, I took a few shots of some daddy long legs, hanging upside down in a cave. Daddy long legs are arachnids, although they aren’t techinically spiders. I thought this last shot rounded out my spider photo collection nicely.
long legs, photo by smalltowngirl
More From MilliGFunk
Related posts:
Ah, the spiders of Missouri. How I miss them. Sadly, all the MO spiders I once knew have been since squished.
ironically, I saw a HUGE spider today (I was up north the last 2 days) while walking into the EE’s HQ building. Made me homesick.
Tee hee…we STILL have Missouri spiders! Ugh! I try really hard to love all of God’s creatures, however….
uhhh… ewww. Great photos, though… love the black and white!
Great pictures. I did the same thing during my hike at Cuivre River State Park. I probably looked like I was having a sword fight with an invisible person!
I would have had a heart attack upon meeting that big, black spider of death that you pictured. I totally commend you for continuing on your journey!!!
[...] September 10, 2009 in Having Fun, Missouri | Tags: Hiking, Missouri, Ozark Trail, small town missouri, smalltowngirl, Washington County Missouri I hiked 10 miles or so of the Courtouis (pronounced “Code-a-way”) Section of the Ozark Trail no too long ago (see spiders post). [...]