<p>Mason County is gorgeous.</p> <p> From my journal:</p> <blockquote>My body feels sore but not unbearably or unexpectedly so.</blockquote> <blockquote> Towards the end of the day, my legs were suffering, so I pulled over and flopped down on some grass. I lay there for a while, trying to rest, but couldn't shake the uncomfortable sensation of phantom bugs crawling on my skin. I got up and noticed a long-dead and decaying bird exactly where my shoulder had been. It was crawling with the ugliest ants and spiders I've ever seen. </blockquote>