We got up early because badass was feeling antsy after cutting the hike short by 3 hours yesterday. We had heard that the first few miles of poodle dog brush, now known as poodle dog shit, was "mostly avoidable" and Tank, badass, and I decided to try it. I think the description was very accurate. I was able to avoid all of it except one 10 yard stretch where I missed a side trail that skipped it. I was careful though and only touched it with my pant legs and poles. Once I got past that part the brush wasn't an issue, it was all over but not encroaching on the trail. I was glad I hiked that stretch as there were some great views which the guys who took the road walk missed.
I think this part was the epitome of the smell of the desert. There were so many flowers in bloom and the poodle dog shit brush smells pleasant as long as you ignore the fact that it wants to kill you.
The next stretch of trail was not described as even mostly avoidable we were just told don't even try just take there detour. The detour was a 17.5 mile road walk with no water and almost all uphill. I decided to wait out the heat of the day before tackling it.
The climb was a joke, since it was graded for cars it never got difficult. I was surprised by how nice the road walk turned out to be. Without the stress of worrying about the poodle dog shit brush, the quality of the trail, or cars I could just hike and enjoy the view. After about 11 miles of asphalt the road turned into dirt but it was still much easier to hike than the trail so I just stuck with it until I hit the camp. I ended up hiking until 10pm but my legs felt great and I know I could do a 30 mile day on the trail, not just on a road walk.
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