Poison Ivy at Little Falls

This post is for Tim, since he is the one who first gave me some awareness regarding the poison ivy plant. Some time ago, we stopped to see the dam at Little Falls when he looked down the embankment and said, "Hey, there's some poison ivy growing down there." In hindsight, it's just a little bit strange that he was able to identify the plant with such certainty, considering that he only saw the plant at a distance, and especially considering that he still refuses to give me more than 90% certainty after providing multiple close-up shots of my own poison ivy plant. But that's another story. For now I am content to give the benefit of the doubt to our own master tracker and plant enthusiast. ;)

By the way, when I got these pictures home, I was surprised to see a green grasshopper in the lower middle leaf of this first picture. 

The point of the story is that I recently went back to check on Tim's poison ivy plant, and I was surprised to discover that the rocky point at the end of the trail was completely overgrown with vines. Maybe that was intentional. It makes me wonder if Avista planted the vines to discourage people from approaching the edge of the water. After all, it seems that people like me tend to ignore the sign to "Stay Out and Stay Alive."

It also surprised me to see that the poison ivy was growing much closer to the trail than before. It seems to be expanding its territory somewhat. Seeing these plants growing so close to the trail makes me wonder if other people in the community know how to recognize them. I always see people stopping at Little Falls. Do they know how close they are to poison ivy?