May 25, 2018 Beware the Poodle Dog

Granny Hat has been worried about mountain lions, rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas, and especially crazy people while Mission hikes through the Southern CA region of the PCT.  But apparently there is a more realistic concern.  Poodle Dog Bush!  This is an invasive species of flora which stinks and encroaches on the path.  Our friend Broken Arrow reported difficulty walking through the patches without touching it.  But as this report from the PCT website shows, significant work has been done on the trail to beat it back.

“Poodle-Dog Bush, Eriodictyon parryi, is common in parts of Southern California. Touching it can cause a significant allergic reaction. This pretty purple flowered plant has been rearing its ugly head in the San Gabriel Mountains. Reports from the PCT are that the plant is widespread and sometimes unavoidable in the Station Fire and other burn areas. Various reports from 2012 hikers have bad Poodle-Dog Bush on the PCT starting around either mile 419 or 421 or 425 and extending through Messenger Flat at mile 430.6.  [Major work has been done to remove Poodle-Dog Bush and we think that hikers can stay on the PCT instead of alternating off of it.]

Touching the plant can cause anything from a mild rash and blistering to severe respiratory distress. It is a contact dermatitis and can be transmitted in the same way that poison oak is transmitted. For many people, symptoms are worse than a reaction to poison oak. Symptoms generally appear hours or days after touching the plant. All contact should be avoided.

Poodle-Dog Bush has a rank, pungent smell. Endemic to the region, Poodle Bush is in the

Hydrophyllaceae family. Many trail users would be familiar with related plants such at Yerba Santa, Eriodictyon sp., and Phacelia.”

There are stories of hikers mistaking poodle dog bush for a wild marijuana, smoking it and having severe, even fatal, respiratory trauma.  Granny Hat is no cannabis expert but she did live in Mendocino County for several years and the photo above just doesn’t look like marijuana to her.  At any rate, Mission is trekking this section of the San Gabriel Mountains this week and has had his share of nagging advice about poodle dog bush.

Did you ever embark on a day hike that included plenty of dust, uphill agony and switchbacks only to find when you arrived at the waterfall or lookout that a road and a parking lot had beat you there?  So much for the wilderness!  For those of you following Mission’s progress on Google Earth, you have noticed that for the bulk of the hike the past few days, the PCT path has been a sort of frontage road for a two lane, paved road that winds through the mountains.  I am sure that Mission is looking forward to the northern reaches where you can truly get above the constant reminder that other people have found a way to get out of LA faster than you.  Of course, no matter where you are on the trail, the air traffic will remind you how small you are and how the world just hurries by.

Meanwhile at Mission Control, Granny Hat is wearing her other hats, planting an herb garden, being a grandma and teaching piano lessons but her mind is never far off that PCT trail.  And she is celebrating her first grandchild’s graduation from 8th grade!  He received Outstanding Athlete and Outstanding Academic awards. We have a high school grandchild now, a Boy Scout, an athlete, a scholar and a future PCT hiker perhaps!  Congratulations Dakota Garth!  You are a blessing to our family!