nothing to scratch

Note to self: this is what poison oak looks like.


I went hiking for several hours in Calabasas on Friday. The path I had chosen turned out to be a slightly more boring fire road than I'd imagined, so about 20 minutes into it, I decided to do a bit of trailblazing, making my own way straight up the scrubby mountain-hill. I've had visions of trailblazing since I was a li'l tyke, but the opportunities I've taken to actually try it out have been few. Onward and upward, I told myself with gusto (and sheepish caution). I did make it up, but I had to use a lot of bush and rock assistance to pull myself along...and I was well beyond the point of turning back when I realized I had no idea WHAT I was grabbing. I had no idea what poison oak looked like, specifically. Oh well, I thought ('na ja', i actually thought, as I'm trying to practice thinking auf Deutsch) - I'd rather get to the top of this alive and deal with a little rash than be overcautious and plummet to my death.

So, to the top I went...only to find that the actual peak I was supposed to be climbing was quite a ways away. I walked/crawled along the ridge for a while until I eventually decided to make my way back down to the fire road and finish the journey like I'd started it. In all, a lovely adventure - and I'm pleased to report that whatever it was I was handling was no match for CompTron's thick skin...3 days later, and I'm still poison-oak-rash-free!