PCT DAY 46

Mile 489.9 to 502.3 – 12.5 miles total hiked

So the beginning of this day was mostly trying to avoid the evil poodle dog

Yes, I said evil.

Oh, it’s actually “poodle dog bush” like shown below:

Terrifying, aren’t they?

The poodle dog bush is basically very, very toxic if you touch them. Think poison ivy or oak, then multiply it by 100.

I had seen them earlier in the height around Wrightwood. But this particular section had report that they were all over and blocking some of the trail. Some people were even touring around the protection on a dirt road, but I’m here to hike the actual PCT so I made my way carefully along the PCT itself.

Once you figure out what they look like, it’s somewhat easy to avoid, but there were definitely some instances when I had to dance around the poodle dog bush.

There was one place called Maxwell‘s camp that had a lot of them pretty much rendering the camp and the water source in it useless. Fortunately, that there was a water source about 1 mile north of this.

I made it through the thickest parts of the poodle dog Bush unscathed, but then another tree attacked me and ripped my pants and let a small bruise on my thigh. No major damage except to the pants.

I found out that duct tape doesn’t stick too well to my pants, so I had to switch to using safety pins to get me through the day.

By the next day, I was able to sew it up so I could continue without flashing everyone.

Having survived the poodle dog bush and another killer tree, I spotted the desert. I would have to cross to continue my track northward on the PCT. Then the highlight of the end the trail so far happened.

500, Baby!!

Yes, I had reached the 500 mile mark on the PCT. I was worried I would quit or would be injured within the first hundred miles so this was a very encouraging and satisfying accomplishment.