The sky was getting darker as I continued on towards the Natchez Trace Parkway. I eventually found a suitable stealth campsite and managed to get my bike and gear over a barbed wire fence without being seen, and without contracting tetanus. 

Remembering the woman who told me snakes were everywhere, I found a stick and beat the ground in front of me like a blind man on a drunken rampage any time I took more than one step in any direction. I would keep that stick with me until I left the campsite the next morning. 

I didn’t get bitten by a snake, so it must have worked. I also didn’t get eaten by coyotes, so it must have prevented that, too. Nor did a meteorite strike me while I was walking, so apparently it prevented that, as well.

Since there was no breeze, the heat remained stifling even after the sun set. I climbed into my tent and soon determined that it was too hot to remain inside, but I SURE didn’t want to go outside… not with all those snakes everywhere. 

So, I decided that, at least temporarily, I would take off all my clothes. The moon was almost new, and since I wouldn’t be trotting around outside I stripped down to my birthday suit. 

It was miserable laying there, the sweat gluing me to whatever surface my body touched. Every two or three minutes I would move in order to find a cooler spot. Any location turned out to be better than the one my body had been heating up, but the respite was brief. I eventually fell asleep, spread-eagle on my back and still sweating.  

I'll leave you with that disturbing imagery so you'll feel compelled to keep reading in order to avoid nightmares.