In May of 2025 I embarked a 3-week 170+ mile hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail from the southern entrance of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Harpers Ferry in Maryland. This immersive journey through nature presented physical, mental, and logistical challenges that put many things into perspective for me. One of the memorable experiences was traversing a section of forest infested with tiny green caterpillars. For miles along the path, millions of them dangled with silk threads from tree branches and attached themselves to clothing, hair, and equipment. This made it impossible to go more than a few steps without finding them all over your body. I refer to this as "Caterpillar Alley".
On a technical level, the music I later wrote to represent this is defined by a pulsating bass ostinato in 11/4, prickly and shimmering percussive textures, and a woodwind melody that first appears in octaves then parallel diatonic chord clusters. The middle section highlights the comical absurdity and futility of avoiding these creatures.