Poison ivy in the Black

I've really been wanting to get out to the Black Canyon this summer. Unfortunately, after a lifetime of relatively minor poison ivy experiences, the last two times I got poison ivy were quite painful / potentially dangerous for me. They went systemic, etc. Since I hate the idea of getting myself into a situation where somebody else needs to bail me out of a medical emergency I put my own dumb-ass self into, the traditional stories of 'gully hell' imply that I shouldn't expose myself to that level of poison ivy.

My question is - is there an approach(s) that mitigate the exposure? I have no problem going the long way (I've thought about paddling in, but that seems a bit excessive). Thanks for any help / inputs

The poison ivy isn't really that bad. It can be in certain gullys but if you take your standard cruise gully or SOB, it's not bad. I'm pretty allergic too and I have gotten pretty bad reactions from being down there but I am usually mindful of it and it is pretty easy to avoid. Just wear some thick pants and watch your step and you'll be fine. Then wash your clothes when you get home just in case. Good luck down there!!!

I'm sure a Gunnison local could say more but the two times I've been down into the Black the poison ivy wasn't so bad. There was lots of it and it was big but it could also be avoided. I would just suggest going early in the season when it hasn't grown that much.

I've never had a problem with the poison ivy in the Black and I'm quite sensitive it. In the well travelled gullies like Cruise and SOB it is fairly easy to pick your way around and only gets thicker towards the bottom. So, depending on your route, and how far down you go, you may not see much. In the less travelled gullies it can get thick but even then I feel like you can be careful.

Go in the fall, not the spring. It tends to be pretty bad in May, esp from the base of The Cruise on down to the river. I would argue that it's sometimes difficult to avoid. It dries up in the fall and becomes totally manageable. Routes that are up higher in the gullies can be accessed easily during any season.

I use ivy block before and tecnu after. The old tradition was tyvek suits, which you can get when you spend a night in the pokey.

Sweet. Thanks for the help

You could probably also apply some IvyBlock to any exposed skin areas as well. That should help reduce the chance of a rash. I'm pretty allergic myself, and that stuff seems to really work for me.

edit: Sorry, I'm an idiot. I didn;t see that Tico already posted that.

A bit of a different take here.

The poison ivy in the Black is awful - never seen worse. There is a picture of me next to a six foot tall plant at the base of the Scenic Cruise. I have been to the Black about six times - all routes were either SOB Gully or Cruise Gully approaches.

Longs pants, socks over pants, long sleeve t-shirt, gloves, early starts (makes the overdressing managable from a heat point of view), and the ivy block all help to mitigate the problem.

The Black is Awesome. Climb On. Wally

I have gotten PI a couple times there. If it has that bad of an effect on you I'd be careful-it's easy to think that you managed to avoid it, but actually you dragged your rope through it, etc.

Apparently there is far less PI on the south side of the canyon, which may be cooler in the summer anyway. I have rapped in on South Chasm View Wall and don't recall any PI there or on the approach to the Alimony Wall either. Don't know about the Chillumstone Gully.