Day 113 : Etna

10th August 2013
Mile 1606.5 to mile 1617 : Etna Summit to Shelley campsite
Mileage : 10.5
Average mileage since day 101 : 21.6

This morning i managed to wangle myself one of the better breakfasts I've had on the trail. The hik hostel is also a bed and breakfast, and Rocky and T-Rex had decided to get one of the rooms which came with breakfast in the morning. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and was offered a bonus breakfast along with the 4th unknown guest, who turned out to be Fireball. After breakfast set about chores, but not before having a chat with the local fire marshal who is keeping us all abreast of the progress of the teams tackling a fire in a nearby valley. During the approach to Etna, the haze smoke and associated haze got thicker and thicker to the point where it totally obscured the view to the west. Fire is a natural part of the forest ecosystem, it clears dead and rotting timber from the forest floor, and allows the forest to regenerate. Unfortunately, over much of the last hundred years the US has embarked on a fire suppression policy the results of which have not been good for anyone or anything living in or near the forsts. Timber has built up over time resulting in fires that burn hotter and longer than they would usually destroying even the most massive trees which then produce the eerie burn zones similar to that through which I hiked near Drakesbad. Naturally occurring fires, usually started by lightning, and which all accept are necessary, are one thing. Fires started, intentionally or unintentionally are something quite different. Unfortunately this fire fell into that category as fire crews had suspicions that it was started deliberately and had so far cost the taxpayer almost $7,000,000 to fight, with only 5% containment. Whatever the cause, the hiking concern is whether or not the fire is likely to force the closure of sections of the trail, which means either hitching around, or as would be the case for me, a difficult road walk detour. Obviously the other concern is whether or not the fire actually threatens ourselves while we're on th trail,maw has happened occasionally in the past. Fortunately for us the trail was still open, and the three of us resolved to getting out of town early to take advantage of the trails current open status. A few hours later we were back on th trail thanks to Gerry, a Hot Shot fire fighter meaning he goes in on foot to fight th fires which is not an enviable job in my opinion, and his girlfriend Jenna, who owns the local, and very good, bakery in town. We aimed to get out of the fire zone as quickly as possible and hiked hard into the late afternoon with our rucksacks laden down for the coming days, and with my own laden down in particular with delights sent by Sophie which I would enjoy with gusto over the next few days. The sun had fully set upon arrival at the camping spot, and before seeing the camp I could smell it, and specifically a campfire. 2 hikers, wholes names I will not mention, had decided to start a fire that evening which I thought was an extremely irresponsible thing to do given the circumstances. I had no desire to start an argument with the two as I was tired, it was getting cold, and mostly because there was nowhere else to camp as far as ink new within a couple miles of where we were, and I had no desire to continue farther up the trail. My staying around also gave me peace of mind with regards to the extinguishing of the fire, something which I discoverd the two hikers had not thought after asking politely if they had enough water to put it, to which they essentially replied oh yeah, that's a good idea'. Had there not been a water source present I would have spoken to them about it, but as I said I had no desire for an argument. I hoped that in future the two hikers, who are not bad people but mostly a bit naive, would ensure that any other fires they might start would be managed properly. My boy scout like good deed for the day now done, I went to bed early as T-Rex had plans for us to do another big day tomorrow in order to set up for the crossing of Seiad Valley the day after.