Orchard Camp Trail

Our summer trip did not start auspiciously. The day after we arrived in Monrovia, we got up early to go hiking with Marina to Orchard Camp in Angeles National Forest. We started the hike when the sun had barely risen. Despite the fact that it was early and because it was a Sunday, we ran into several people on the trail, including a nice elderly man walking up the steep trail with a cane. I asked him about some of the wild aromatic plants which grow all over these hills and which I did not know by name. Then Marina got ahead of Vlada and I at her customary fast pace. After a while we heard screams which we took at first to be those of a bird. It turned out that it was Marina running back down the trail calling for help. Shortly before arriving to Orchard Camp, she had been attacked by a swarm of extremely aggressive bees which likely were Africanized honey bees also called "killer bees". When Marina got near us, bees had bitten her on her scalp, torso and arms.

As Vlada and I helped her get rid of both the bees embedded in her hair and their stingers, Vlada got bitten on his ankle. We turned back, warning people along the way of the danger ahead. One couple headed to Mount Wilson also turned back but most people chose to go ahead. During the walk back, Vlada's forearms started to turn red, as well as his neck. More concerning to him was the fact that his chin started to feel numb. We suspected that during the chaotic episode when we were removing the bees from Marina, he might have stepped in a bush of poison oak. In any case he was developing an allergic reaction to either poison oak or the bee sting. We sped up down the trail, all the while debating between bee stings and poison oak, called Katarina for medical advice, got to Marina's car and drove to Grandma's house.

The following afternoon, after returning home from a visit to the LA County Arboretum (see picture of pomegranate tree at left taken there), Vlada's ankle was swollen. It was still very swollen the next day. This did not bid well for a trip where we were planning to do a lot of hiking in the National Parks. Fortunately, after taking a medication, the swelling subsided. After three days in Monrovia, we were good to go.