HOLY SHIT - poodledog bush.
Today was a day of the dangerous poodledog bush frolic.
Can you spot the trail through the poodledog bush?
Ben being mad.
Ben and Carrot both felt better in the morning and we got a surprisingly early start. First thing? Road walk. Next? Miles and miles of heat and fear of brushing up against the dreadful plant that could set fire to our skin. Everyone was so frustrated.
The Angeles Forest was gorgeous - I love the San Gabriel Mountains despite the loads of burn areas.
Poodledog bush is a tall plant that thrives in recent burn areas. It's similar to poison oak in that it will give you a terrible skin reaction if you touch it. Hikers have been warned and there are even a few detours because of it.
There was the Station Fire Detour that bypassed a dreadful burn zone. The Station Fire was the 10th largest wild fire in recent L.A. History, and killed 2 firefighters. And it is a HUGE, exposed, and charred.
I didn't mind the long, winding road wak down to the Fire Station - I listened to Radiolab.
Check out these dead trees with giant pine cones still clinging to the top!
We made it 17 miles by 3:00pm and ate dinner at the Mill Creek Fire Station together... after Ben missed the turn off and walked an extra .5 miles for no reason. He was pissed. There were picnic tables and a well-manicured patio at the firehouse and we spread out, cooking our dinners and charging our phones.
A note I left for the group letting them know where I'd be...
Ben and I felt semi-strong and wanted to push further to mile 424 that night (about 5 miles further) in order to get that much closer to a shower.
I love sunset hiking.
Our goal was Big Buck Camp and our assumption was that we would have caught up to Sour Cream, Smiles, and Dr. Slosh so that we could camp together. Not only were they nowhere to be found, but Big Buck Camp was also eluding us. We eventually settled on pitching the tent directly in the center if the dirt road. Hoping no cars mysteriously drive up and over us in the night.
It was comically windy, which was hilarious but borderline INFURIATING. At one point, I was positive the wind would actually make me cry. Also - poodledog loomed in from all sides, surrounding us. We even set the tent up right on top of a small seedling poodledog.
Tomorrow we race to the KOA campground where there is talk of a hot tub, POOL, SHOWERHOUSE, and small convenience store.
1 comment:
I JUST HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS! What is the best? What is the worst? What are you craving? Ooomg I can't believe a month has flown by!
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