When
Friday, 2015-04-03
Where
Trail #8, from the 40th St Trailhead
Duration
1 hour
Notable
First bee sting this year
Today's hike was an out-and-back along Trail #8, to its highest point, which is a small mountain pass with a big chunk of quartz just below. My mission was to test out my new Five Fingers trail runners. Mission accomplished.
The new shoes work well, though I'm glad I chose a shorter and easier hike than usual. The shoes chafed the backs of my heels, but they hadn't caused any lasting damage to the skin by the time I returned to the parking lot. Can't say the same about the bee sting. The sting was a savage attack, and my forehead is still smarting, two days later. Next time I won't stand so close to the beehive.
3 comments:
Glad to get an update on your shoes of choice, have been wondering if you were still a 5 fingers believer.
Now, as for this bee, please elaborate on type etc., if you don't mind.
Bobby et al.— I stood about ten feet in front of the beehive, which is a hole in the ground (as mentioned in Hike #18), watching bees fly in and out of the hive. The bee that stung me came right at me, flew into my hair, and stung me multiple times. Yes, most bees can sting multiple times.
At first I stood my ground, thinking maybe the bee mistakenly collided with me and panicked, but soon thereafter realized that's stupid. Bees don't mistakenly collide with non-moving humans. I removed the bee from my face and ran away, with the bee trailing me and getting caught in my shirt. For the next half-minute while I ran away, I was in a bit of a panic myself because I heard a constant buzzing that implied more bees were following. But it turns out there are just a lot of bees in the desert this time of year, and the buzzing I heard was ambient noise.
Wow, that pretty much sucks. As someone with a lot of experience being stung, usually by yellow jackets as those are the most populous stinging bees in the Atlanta area where I grew up, I feel for you man. And I am glad it wasn't worse than it was.
I believe you should make a peace offering to the bees residing in that particular hole. A half gallon of unleaded seems appropriate. Drop it off quickly though and I'd suggest during non-daylight hours.
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