How to Burn Down the Forest

Post by **Uncle Rico** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 2:04 pm

On Sunday, I revisited the Islip saddle area to take care of some unfinished business from my last trip there, namely an ascent to the summit of Mt. Islip. From the saddle I took the PCT to Little Jimmy then cut through the campground on the path that ultimately joins the trail from Windy Gap. As passed through the campground, I admired the fine camp site at “upper” Little Jimmy that two guys were just preparing to vacate. On my way back from the summit, I decided to stop at this site for a closer inspection to make mental notes for a future overnight there. As I entered the campsite and walked past the fire pit, I felt major heat radiating from the ashes and observed smoke coming off a large log that was sticking out from the supposedly dead camp fire. As I started poking around in the ashes, I discovered that there was a considerable amount of live coals and embers just below the surface. The freakin’ guys I saw earlier had abandoned camp without even pretending to make sure their fire was dead. If I could feel the heat just walking past the fire pit, they knew damn well that the coals weren’t cold. I yanked the log out of the pit and stuck it in one of the metal bbq enclosures, poured as much water on the coals as I could spare, spread the ashes around, and threw more dirt in the pit to smother the remaining coals.

After the damage done by the Station Fire and the forest closures that resulted, I’m freakin’ flabbergasted that anyone with even a tiny bit of gray matter between their ears could walk away from live coals in the forest in the middle of summer in one of the driest years on record. I was hoping to run into the pair on my way out to give them a piece of my mind, but no such luck. Actually, since I was solo, maybe that was lucky for me.

Other than that major irritant, it was a spectacular day to be in the Angeles High Country.

robnokshus · Post by **robnokshus** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 2:53 pm

Nice Avatar Rico. Gosh!

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 3:10 pm

Uncle Rico wrote: ↑I could feel the heat just walking past the fire pit.

FAIL

Thanks for catching that. Those guys are losers.

HJ

Post by **JeffH** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:15 pm

Agree on the losers with a capital L.
We may all be lucky you walked by that site.

Layne Cantrell · Post by **Layne Cantrell** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 5:26 am

robnokshus wrote: ↑Nice Avatar Rico. Gosh!

He's just jealous that you've been chatting online with babes ALL DAY!

tarol · Post by **tarol** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:09 pm

Good job! I also recommend calling the local ranger station upon returning - they can send up folks with more water to really make sure the fire is out.

Teejate · Post by **Teejate** » Tue Nov 20, 2012 8:13 pm

I've had that same experience four or five times cutting through that campground. Never ceases to blow my mind. But then again, a lot of things I've seen on hikes blow my mind...and not always in a good way.