For those who don't know, the merest contact with poison oak ensures you will suffer its evil effect. And probably the first time it will take quite a few days, like up to 10. I can speak from personal experience: back in early 1998, a group of us went on a hike in Will Rogers State Park, near Santa Monica, towards the end of the El Niño season. Due to the rains, one particular trail had become washed out, and we had to improvise off-trail to get back. Little did we know we were also in contact with a ton of poison oak.

For me, it took 10 days for the effects to appear,(in the middle of a week when I was back in the UK) but appear they did, with a vengeance - weeping sores on my legs, and constant itching. We all got it, Roger and Nadine so badly they got drugs from their doctor and took time off.

So this stuff is to be respected and given a wide birth. All these pictures were taken on a trail just two miles from my house, which I hike early mornings quite often. You could do a lot of damage if you don't look where you're going.....

On the East Coast, they have Poison Ivy, which looks like this:

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