We encounter no ticks overnight, but in the morning they’re everywhere. We decide Green Mesa ought to be Tick Mesa.

Unexpectedly we encounter some people. Jeremy from Wheatland is out in his truck exploring Wyoming’s vast public lands. He says you can drive to Rawlins from here without hitting a fence. A rancher from Lander chats with us at an algae-filled spring, saying he talks to a lot of people on “the trail”. There were even two guys from Britain he couldn’t understand at all. Last we meet Daybreak, a southbounder who keeps us from blundering right past Wessel Spring.

We decide to do an alternate section on the Sweetwater River tomorrow, and start down Willow Creek at the end of the day. The mosquitoes here are bad enough to make us put up the tent.