After a hug and farewell at the trailhead, I watched Shannon drive off, and then headed into the forest. This was a long and very beautiful stretch of Trail right through to Bognor Marsh, and was an absolute pleasure to hike.
Around mid morning the Trail rounded an old decayed tree. As I came around the tree, I heard a deafening buzzing sound. There, at my eye level, was a hole in the tree the size of a football. It was overflowing with bees, hundreds of them. I caught my breath, lowered my head and kept on going, hoping for the best. I relaxed a couple of minutes later when it became evident that no angry bees had followed me, stingers at the ready.
I startled a lot of ruffed grouse through this section. They were on the path ahead of me, basking in the sunshine. There were also numerous raptors in the trees along the escarpment edge, and they would take to flight as I approached. I couldn't really tell what they were, though, through the trees. They would also fly overhead, casting huge shadows upon the forest floor.
Closer to Bognor Marsh I stopped at an overlook and couldn't believe my eyes. About fifteen of these raptors glided below me, over the carpet of trees, rising with the wind and then dipping, and rising again, in a carefully synchronized dance. Spellbound, I stood and watched for quite some time. I still am not sure what they were; if I didn't know better, I'd swear they were golden eagles.
The Bognor Marsh was deserted, so I ate my lunch there in solitude. It was actually nice to have the change in scenery, though the floating boardwalk caught me off-guard with the weight of the pack on my back.
Then up to the wilderness camp. It was an interesting evening, being alone up there in the middle of nowhere overnight, especially with the high winds and thunderstorms that rolled in later that evening. Not much sleep for me that night!
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