[pct-l] HYOH- campfires (Apache Peak Fire)

[Lee Staley]

I agree with Brick that the fire was apparently the result of a day hiker rather than a thru.  My recollection (which admittedly isn't always perfect) of the thread about the event at the time is that the fire was started by a hiker who put out a smoke on a dead tree or snag, which smoldered and later ignited.  A thru or small group of thrus arrived as flames were starting to build and tried to beat it out without success and subsequently called it in.  In the mean time the hiker had left the area, prob. down the Spliter Pk Trail.  I remember some comment that the guilty party later "turned himself in."   The fire caused havoc for some thrus who were camping below the Divide at Apache Spring - some abandoning their gear to get out of there.  Prob. the most important thing is it doesn't take much of anything to start a wildfire in especially southern California.  The rest of the PCT is not immune.
Cruz Control