As I have mentioned before one thing you quickly realize when walking in the the desert is that everything seems to be ornery and pissed off. The animals want to bite you, the insects try to sting you, and the plants will stab or poison you. Not to mention the sun tries to fry you and there is no water to be found. Granted the desert is one of the more beautiful places I have ever been and the flora and fauna fascinate me...even the poisonous ones. Also hiking at dawn and dusk is wonderful. It's just the hours in between that are rough.
Most of the fauna are nice enough and let you know that they are upset. Bees buzz at you, snakes rattle, and so on, but plants are a different story. Plants can't move nor make sounds, thus they sit and wait for you to get to close and hurt you. Spiny and poky plants can hurt but seldom do they seem to do worse then scratch. However, the poisonous plants are the ones to be weary of. Many of you who have hiked with me in the wilderness know of my arch nemesis, also known as poison oak. I have come into contact with this plant many times over the years and have dealt with rashes lasting for months. Needless to say I am not a fan. These experiences have helped me to develop and almost uncanny ability to detect oak from far away. Those of you who are not familiar with the plant may not know about its ability to fool you. Poison oak can be small or big, have red or green leaves, leaves shaped like an oak tree or round, glossy oily leaves or mat ones, look like a little plant or a shrub or even a vine, and at times almost a tree. On top of it all oak gives you that wonderful rash to help you remember it.
When starting on day one I had hopes that I would not encounter oak, at least not at first. Those dreams were taken away at about mile 10. Accepting the fact I would have to deal with oak I continued my hike knowing I'll probably get a rash at some point on trail. Then when approaching mile 250 I met a new plant that makes poison oak look like a pussy cat.
Poodle dogbush is not a plant to be messed with. It looks friendly enough, but contact can leave you with massive welts that have put hikers into hospitals in years past. This plant can lay dormant for a 100 years and then sprout up after a fire. Well a few years ago the Station fire took out much of the land from mile 353-435. Over the last couple of years poodle dogbush has been sprouting up and taking over the land. It has gotten so bad that part of the PCT is closed for hiker safety. Let me tell you playing don't touch the poodle on an infested trail is a stressful experience.
Thankfully we are out of the worst of it and soon the Sierras will take us out of the desert. It has been a wonderful section and enjoyable...but I am ready to say goodbye.
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