[pct-l] Fires

[marmot marmot]

Seems that once again a lot of new thru-hikers still don't understand our fire ecology in Calif. 
Your fire permit allows you to have a backcountry stove.  Not build a camp fire   In every situation --even at a yellow post site( do you even yet know what that means?) the permission to have a fire depends on what is happening right now. Each day and time of day or night conditions change. Unless you are hyperthermic there is no reason to have a fire. You are not Grizzly Adams. Please give up the imaginary preconceived notions of what backcountry backpacking is. People from other countries and ecosystems please either read a lot about our fires or trust others. When you are told not to build one ,there are reasons   Do you have a ten foot diameter clear space?Do you have a shovel? Do you have water to put out fire. Are you watching it at all times? Is there absolutely no wind? I  guessing the answers are all "no". 
Do you realize that airborne embers can start a fire a mile away?  Do you want to be responsible for more of the burn areas like the ones you have walked through and will walk through on the rest of your trek. 
If you are soaking wet and cold and need a fire ---build one. Otherwise understand how to get warm with your gear. 
Your emotional need to sit around the fire with friends does not stack up against the lives of all those animals burned alive in the fires
The fire west of Whitewater closed the trail for 2-3 years. The fire south of Idyllwild took thousands of volunteer hours and 5 or 6 years to reopen. 
We used to walk under trees south of the Kern,approaching MacIver Cabin,dropping down to the Mojave desert. The list could go on. Burn down the normal desert chaparral and poodle dog brush (highly toxic allergic plant)replaces it for years--4-5. Do you understand?
At this point the majority of you thrus have trouble setting up your tents in the high winds, understanding your food and water needs. That is fine. You'll be fine.  You will learn how to do it. Make a mistake and it only impacts one person--unless you have to be rescued. Make a mistake with fire and you kill people and animals and burn down towns/cabins/trees. You impact the water sources. You need that water. 
Have a wonderful hike.  It will be magic. Don't be that backpacker who started the fire in Oregon that burned down hundreds of acres. There used to be a sign noting who did it just before the burn area with the date ---'87 I think. When I first did the trail 8 years later and the trail still went through a tangled mess of stumps and fallen trees. 
No one ever thinks they are going to be the person who starts a fire. You might not even know ---if the wind carries you embers 3/4 of a mile away. 

Marmot

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