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  1. #21
    GSMNP 900 Miler
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    02-25-2007
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    Birmingham, AL
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    There's a section of the Benton MacKaye trail north of Unicoi Gap along Peels Mt and Tate Gap and Cantrell Top which is nothing but a sea of healthy poison ivy. One time I got knackered and had to find a camp and, well, who wants to clear a patch of p. ivy?? Luckily I found a small patch of mayapples and cleared a spot---
    The worst trail I've seen in GSMNP for Poison Ivy was Beard Cane trail. Four miles of a narrow path through a sea of poison ivy.

    Setting up a tent at campsite #3 was not an issue. With designated campsites in GSMNP, the vegetation remains cleared due to use.

    But when it was time to dig a cat-hole, I must have hiked more than the length of a football field before I could find a patch of ground off the trial free enough of poison ivy to safely be able to dig a hole.

    That trail is what finally taught my boys how to recognize poison ivy. When you stare at the stuff for hours, your mind starts to pickup the details of the plant making it easy to recognize.
    The way I learned to recognize poison ivy was trying to clear it from some land I own. For about an hour a day over the course of a week, I walked the property with a sprayer of Roundup... spraying ANYTHING with three leaves. After looking at three-leaf plants for that many hours, your mind starts to be able to easily discern the subtle differences and it becomes easy to recognize poison ivy.

  2. #22

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    And often the healthiest "meanest" poison ivy has a very "greasy" oily look to the leaves.

    And speaking of digging a cathole---who here belongs to the exclusive Itchy Bunghole Club????

    Meaning: Sometime in our years of backpacking and thousands of bag nights we were sure to at least one time dig a cathole (at night maybe?) and squat over poison ivy to release an angry Turd. It's happened to me at least once. Results? No I don't have Pinworms but a bad case of ivy rash on the old butt region---so please disregard my constant scratching.

  3. #23
    Registered User
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    04-02-2013
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    Pensacola, Florida
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    Quote Originally Posted by wnderer View Post
    Attachment 45257Attachment 45256Attachment 45255

    It grows straight up and then breaks into three branches and then it usually has 5 leaves: three at the end and two opposite each other. I look at pictures on the internet but I'm still not sure. Thanks
    It's not poison ivy. I'm not as familiar with poison oak, but I don't think it's poison oak either. It's also not poison sumac. If in doubt, don't touch it.
    Last edited by perdidochas; 06-10-2019 at 15:16.
    Time is but the stream I go afishin' in.
    Thoreau

  4. #24
    Registered User gravityman's Avatar
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    11-05-2002
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    Boulder, CO
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    Poison ivy is all over the front range in Colorado. So it certainly grows up to 5k feet.

    Once you know what it looks like, you never forget. At least I won't. And my kids know it too.

  5. #25
    Registered User egilbe's Avatar
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    10-18-2014
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    Lewiston and Biddeford, Maine
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    A friend of mine and his girlfriend at a party one night decided to wander off into the woods to get frisky. Yep, in a patch of poison ivy. Both of them were pretty miserable for a week or so. Alcohol doesn't cure that particular itch.

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