Yes, I knew it had rained the night before; but I gambled that the mud wouldn’t be too thick and chose to wear my sneakers instead of my hiking boots on my morning hike.

And I managed to keep my feet reasonably dry — until I arrived at this dew-soaked portion of the trail. The shortest weeds reached up to my waist. I took this picture just a minute or so after I was overtaken by a runner, who quickly vanished from sight in the jungle growth.

I certainly wasn’t expecting this stretch to look the way it had last October, but I hadn’t anticipated having to hack my way through the Amazon, either.

Same spot, six months ago

So I was pretty happy to run into this guy as I approached the far side of the field. He’s absolutely got his work cut out for him, but I think he can handle it. Here’s to spring cleanup and dry sneakers!