Silent but deadly – The Trek

Silent but deadly

False helleborne – do not eat!! 

Know your plants.

My friend thought the baby ones were ramps and that the big ones were just older ramps….

If you don’t know, ramps are wild leeks/onions that grow throughout the Appalachian mountains. 

This is a lesson not to eat plants you are not familiar with. While the adult helleborne plants certainly do not look like ramps, the baby’s sure did.

My friend is probably lucky to be alive. We were about to come across old orchard shelter in Virginia when we came across the false helleborne and he believed they were ramps. When I googled ramps, the small plants he was digging up looked similar enough. He got excited for fresh vegetables. He was going to make a salad out of the leaves. He got a few, ate a few, and packed out a few. I should’ve googled the adult plant but the signal wasn’t strong enough. 

We got to the shelter, took a break, and ate lunch. He didn’t eat the plants as they had left his stomach feeling nauseous but was able to eat and keep food down. About 2 hours later, right when we had gotten to the parking lot of Fox Creek, everything came up. He was violently sick. I waited for him across the road, listening to the sound of rushing water. 

After about 10 minutes, he finally stopped and was able to meet me at the creek. He said he felt better and was going to wash up in the creek and rest a bit. I cleaned up my legs, water feeling amazingly refreshing, and with some persuasion, left Fox Creek alone to make it 2.5 miles to Hurricane Mountain shelter. 

I got to Hurricane Mountain shelter pretty quickly which I was proud of. About a mile from the shelter, I finally had signal which I hadn’t had in 2 days and got to talk to my boyfriend on the phone. While we were on the phone, I remembered to Google lens the picture of the adult plant that I had taken.

I almost dropped my phone. Red flags we’re practically everywhere. I read and read. I grew more and more worried, especially when I got to the shelter at 5pm and my friend didn’t show up for another 2 hours. 

He did make it. He said he was determined to get to the shelter where I was and was relived to see me. I had even started a camp fire to help encourage him. He was so pale and felt so bad. I am amazed that he was able to make it. I’m glad I had waited at the shelter, he wouldn’t have been able to keep going with how many times he said he fell or threw up. I felt guilty for leaving him but he had been persistent about it. 

2 days later…

HE IS OKAY!!! He is able to move around fine and keep down food. He hasn’t had any issues and he’s been in high spirits. He rested up at the hostel after going the 5 miles to Dickey Gap VA 650. 

Needless to say, it was a scary experience and we learned to simply not eat stuff in the woods. There should be a mascot for that.

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