I shot this video last Thanksgiving at the Mosley Manor up in Milwaukie, Oregon. I focused on being careful with fire on the Pacific Crest Trail, especially in light of the fact that there have been three fires in the last five years started by hikers who mishandled their alcohol stoves. I presented this video at the ADZPCTKO Video Shorts Festival. So, this is for all you hikers out there who missed the Kickoff. Enjoy!
3 comments:
I was present in 2010 when a fire started in almost exactly the same place and with the same cause and results as Rabbit and Phantom describe. It was only 34 acres last year if I recall correctly, and was contained within about twelve hours, but the hiker in question got off the trail because of it. He got hit with a very large fine, too, although he wasn't notified of that until about a year after the incident (that was an unpleasant surprise). Bad situation for sure.
Yeah, I met a thru-hiker this year, who had a roaring fire going up in the Mission Creek area, and I was a little shocked. The oak trees had dead leaves on them, and I was thinking that it could catch fire really easily. Yikes!
Yeah, having campfires I think is a huge waste, even out east where wildfires are not much of an issue. Out west... dumb. But camp stoves-- the incident I saw was just an unfortunate mistake that could have happened to any hiker. A little wind, a little grass, and off it went. I like your idea of educating more of the hikers about the dangers. You should try to come up with a full list of all the hiker-related wildfires, because we all think the same thing when we hear it at first: "It was just some hunter or inexperienced hiker. It can't happen to me." But it does. The guy I was with was a professional backpacking guide and AT alum, but that didn't stop the fire.
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