Day 39
Today's Miles: 17.2
Today we headed out from the Boy Scout camp knowing that the next couple days we would be walking through the burned area from the Station Fire a few years ago. Along with that, water would be scarce and we had heard whispers that Poodle Dog Bush was so bad in some sections that it was impossible to get through without contacting it. So we set off to find out first hand what it was all about.
We had a nice quick morning and reached the fire cleanup detour at Pacifico Mountain Road. There we took a little break and were visited by a lizard who was after a bug behind Twist.
After a quick break we continued on down Pacifico Mountain Road and started to really see the damage the fire had done.
You can see it atop the mountain.
Looking back toward the untouched area.
The pine cones still attached to the burned trees.
The view for the afternoon was pretty much the same....burned.
But as we continued on into the fire affected area, we began to see Poodle Dog Bush in quantities we hadn't seen yet but had heard were coming.
As we hit the fire station we looked at the maps and saw there was a picnic area down near the road. So we headed down to scope it out for a campsite and were a little disappointed when we found no site and didn't want to camp right on the busy highway. As we were sitting under the shade of the outhouse assessing what our next move would be as far as a campsite another hiker, Dream Laugher, came down to check out the supposed picnic area. Or lack thereof. We all decided to walk back up behind the fire station and see what we could find for camping. There wasn't anything better, but we were closer to the water and had a cleaner outhouse so we took it!
You can see Dream Laugher's tent pitched in the planter....yes, that's Poodle Dog Bush next to it.
We opted for the pavement (which wasn't too bad) under the water tank.
Tomorrow is supposed to bring the section of trail where the Poodle Dog Bush is the worst. We have worked out a tentative alternate to get around it using a series of roads. But will see how we feel in the morning before deciding which way to go.
-Tailgate
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