Poodle Dog Brush - Mile 430.6 - 5/29

The infamous Poodle Dog Brush (above)

Woke up with a little bit of water left and had a few miles in the morning to get to the next water source. Got up a little later (as usual haha) and it was hot early. I took a break at Fiddleneck Spring under the small amount of brush there was but the water was ice cold and quite delicious. Hiked along the ridge until lunchtime at a ranger station which had a wonderful shade spot and a gathering of around 10 or so other hikers enjoying slightly cooler temperatures. I hiked out earlier than most of the others from the lunch spot and took the trail which had slight thickets of poodle dog brush. Now I'm going to give this plant a paragraph of description because it envelopes the talk of the trail in this section.

Poodle dog brush is basically a weedy plant which appears in the first wave of plants after a fire disturbance has occurred in the desert environment. its a relatively new plant species and is pretty distinctive in appearance and smell. it has a skunky odor and is a single stalked plant that grows in clusters with very pretty purple flowers. The problem with this plant is that it is a possible skin irritant due to the fact that it has glandular trichromes which contain a substance that can give you a poison ivy like skin rash. On multiple parts of the trail there have been roadwalk detours around it and needless to say I haven't really taken them sometimes deliberately sometimes accidentally. This section definitely didn't know....whoops.

                                                 

View from the Desert Burn Section

So I got to play the hike and dance/dodge around poodle dog brush game for 15-20 miles and it was really hot so instead of doing the smart thing and putting on pants to reduce touching the plant I rocked shorts and tried to dodge every one of these evil plants. I rubbed up on a few of them but luckily didn't get the rash or any reaction but people have said its hit or miss.....I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I arrived later in the evening at Messenger Flat campground at mile 430.6 and most of the hikers who I had lunch with were already there which blew my mind not a single one passed me on the trail. Of coarse I found out there was a roadwalk detour which dodged all the trouble...oh well. the picture I have is of poodle dog brush and a happy birthday balloon...why the balloon you ask, well after hiking 400 miles on this trail I have seen countless balloons stuck everywhere in the high desert and have decided that when you are a child and release balloons in the sky and they magically disappear they actually end up in the high desert....this is where they meet their maker.