[pct-l] Chimney Fire

Fri Jun 3 10:59:49 CDT 2016

Whether or not the fire was caused by a hiker, we still need to be careful.  It's my understanding that the fire wasn't on the PCT, so it's doubtful it was a hiker, unless they were at Chimney Peak CG, which is where I heard the fire started.  In that case, it could be anyone using the CG.  Tom brought up the use of alcohol stoves.  No matter how careful one is, they are still not safe.  If you have to wait for it to burn out, you are also wasting fuel.  Maybe they work great on the AT, but the PCT is so dry in so many areas, that they have been banned.  Please obey the ban.  I, for one, am tired of riding through burned areas.  It's getting old.  I've also missed some areas because of fire bans; some I was lucky enough to ride through before they burned, like the Lake Fire.  Maybe this is self-serving; perhaps some of you love hiking through those burned areas!  I am hoping this Chimney Fire gets stopped before KM and 9-mile road.  
Golly

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On 6/3/2016 8:49:51 AM, tbrokaw at montmush.com <tbrokaw at montmush.com> wrote:
We don't yet know what (or who) caused it. But we do need to get illegal
& unsafe stoves off the trail!!! Everybody hates rules. But we only have
them because we refuse to do the right thing. We hikers should politely
but firmly deal with these situations on the trail when we see them.
Regardless of how careful someone is with an alcohol stove, they are
illegal on some parts of the trail. And for good reason. I watched a
fellow hiker last year struggle to put out his alcohol stove when finished
cooking lunch. He was not able to shut it down & eventually it just
burned itself out. Worse still, he was burning carburator cleaner since
he was unable to purchase alcohol. This incident occured in a tiny
clearing surrounded by heavy manzanita. I hate to think what a hot fire
that could have been!
This trail & the wonderful wilderness it passes through deserve a little
more TLC from all of us.

Tom Brokaw
Corporate Project Manager
Monterey Mushrooms
777 Maher Ct
Royal Oaks, CA 95076-9014
C: 831-535-2181
O: 831-274-5520

From: Gary Schenk
To: ,
Date: 06/03/2016 07:06 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Chimney Fire
Sent by: Pct-L

http://www.pcta.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Chimney-Fire-PCT-6.2.16.jpg

Yes, lots of illegal fire rings on the PCT nowadays. I see fire rings in
places were only people hiking on the PCT would camp. Still, we shouldn't
jump to the conclusion that drunken AT knuckleheads coming out to the PCT
expecting to have a campfire every night start these blazes.

Not everyone using an alcohol stove is careless. A couple of years ago at
Snow Lake in Oregon I watched Peanutbutter Platypus carefully clear an
area and then make a small trench around her alcohol stove before making
her dinner. That's the way to do it.

Over Memorial Day we hiked from Kennedy Meadows and out over Olancha Pass.
It's amazing that 40 years later trees have yet to make a comeback from
the Clover fire. Same with the Manter fire, those trees are not coming
back until we get another ice age.

Kennedy Meadows Store deck is full of hikers. Two weekends ago on the
trail up to Baden-Powell you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a
thruhiker. It's overwhelming. Let's hope they are all careful with fire.

This puts a big blank spot on the trail. With the trail, Nine Mile Road
and Canebreak Road closed along with Sherman Pass still closed, that's
going to be one tough spot to get around on foot.

Gary

-----Original Message-----
From: marmot marmot
To: Gary Schenk
Cc: pct-l
Sent: Fri, Jun 3, 2016 6:26 am
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Chimney Fire

You bet it sucks!!!
And there's some hiker that I heard about out there who is carrying 3
stoves(to test them). Two of which do not have shut off valves(alcohol and
esbit,I heard). I didn't meet him so let it go. No longer. When are people
going to figure it out? Is this another fire caused by camper/hiker
stupidity? Last year I was part of two frustrating struggles to attempt to
get hikers to put out campfires ----at Little Jimmy and in the Sierra. We
had to send in the Ranger to Little Jimmy. Couldn't get any official help
at the other. As you walk through all the burns think about it. I believe
there were 5 just in section F. Very sad. I made a comment about it and
one hiker said that he hadn't even realized it was a burn. Because first I
did the trail over 20 years ago I remember walking though the more shady
Piutes.
Marmot

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 3, 2016, at 5:29 AM, Gary Schenk wrote:
>
> The Chimney fire has closed the PCT from Walker Pass to Kennedy Meadows.
Canebreak Road and Nine Mile Canyon Road are closed. Origin fire is the
Chimney Peak Campground. 1000 acres and 10% contained.
>
> This sucks.
>
> Gary
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