[pct-l] Los Padres National forest fire ban

[Gary Wright]

On May 17, 2013, at 11:15 PM, Judson Brown <judsonwb at gmail.com> wrote:

> Unfortunately, it seems as if there is no way for thru hikers to be in full
> compliance of this. And I'm sure they're not too excited about homemade
> stoves using denatured alcohol...


The easiest way to be in full compliance is to simply go without a stove.

In 2004 I had an alcohol stove in SoCal and was within 20 trail miles of
a fire started by an alcohol stove (and another started by a hiker
burning their toilet paper).  I also had a scary moment when some grass
near my alcohol stove caught fire.

In 2007 when I hiked from Agua Dulce to Yosemite it was a very dry year
and I decided to go stove-less until Kennedy Meadows. A fellow hiker in
2004 went stove-less for his entire PCT hike.

While I doubt that I would hike the entire PCT without a stove, When I
do this hike again, I'll go stoveless until Kennedy Meadows.

There have been many discussions on this list about no-cook food choices
and I would encourage everyone planning to hike on SoCal to seriously
research this approach.

Radar