Mount Wilson 7/2/17

[R W]

The road up to the Chantry Flat trailsis gated and only open 6am to 8pm. Today it opened late, at 6:30.

There is a section of the mtn road down to 1 lane due to road surface fallaway.

Many gnats on trail, 2 in our group got stung through their leggings by something that felt like a bee but no stinger, but did leave welts and swelling.

Poison oak was pervasive the middle 1/3 of the trail, in some spots very hard to avoid/growing into trail, and with leaves on the trail. I was super careful and I mean uber careful and took off my gear wearing disposable gloves, and I still got small red areas near my gaiters. I washed my clothes twice in hot water and will have to scrub my boots too, because of the leaves on the trail. No fun!

Lots of gnats too – wear a bug net – and wear long pants, use bug spray.

[R W]

Update:

I called the Angeles Forest ranger station and reported the poison oak. The ranger was really glad I called – they don’t have the resources to regularly walk the trails and rely on calls like mine if there are issues. He said he would get someone out to cut back the poison oak.

Also for my tiny lesions, I put a homeopathic salve called Prid on them last night, and the marks are just pink today and should be gone by tomorrow after I apply more salve. It is the only thing that resolved them after a similar episode last year in the Laguna Wilderness area, and it has worked really well for me.

So do call the local ranger office for any trail problems – they do appreciate it!

[Stephanie R]

They nats and flying insects were ridiculous on this trail up from chantry flats! I had to pull out the heavy duty deet spray. The poison oak was a hindrance too, but I didn’t have any issues. The trail was very easy to navigate up until I missed the turn off back to the winter creek trail on the way back and ended up having to go down Sturtevant falls trail, which was full of kids, added on an extra mile, and ended in that infamous uphill paved road.
It was just nice that there was a water refill at the top 🙂

[Author]

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