[pct-l] To flare or not to flare

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

It's fine if you want to bring a bunch of emergency stuff. I suppose  
I just assumed that everyone understood the fire danger in  
California. You will notice that almost the entire section of trail  
from Campo to beyond Kennedy Meadows has been burned. You will walk  
through more charred forest than you ever thought possible. In some  
places you will notice that many of the trees are not returning.

Even if a road flare did something for you, it could be at the  
expense of the forest and the watershed. So please, leave your flares  
at home and spare the people of Southern California another summer of  
pyrocumulus clouds mushrooming in the sky and ashes falling like  
nuclear winter.

On Feb 10, 2011, at 11:12 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> Regarding to flare or not to flare,
>
> Honestly I feel my trail name should be "Paranoid" or something  
> because I
> have a crazy imagination.  I feel like I should be prepared for the  
> worst
> case scenario, so that I live to tell the tale.  Maybe a Spot would  
> be a
> little safer than the flare tho.  Regarding protection from bears,  
> bear mace
> is a great idea.  A gun or knife probably won't save you from  
> animals and in
> most cases they will only aggravate the animal more.  However, we  
> are all
> critics and I like the saying "Hike your own hike" because I  
> certainly will
> take whatever I feel will save me in worst case scenarios, while not
> breaking my back due to excess weight in my pack.
>
> Jamie