Day 70, Fire on the Mountain

Part 3, Northern California, Day 70

Fire on the Mountain 

Miles: 30.06

PCT Mile: 1069.08

Personal records were shattered today as I hiked past a forest fire. I woke up early at 4am and packed up by 5. Logan and I were hiking by 5:30. Our plan was to hike as fast and far as we could today to get past the fire and smoke and to avoid a possible trail closure. 

It was another hard day to take pictures. The smoke does not translate well in with the iPhone camera, but I tried to capture it. After a big morning climb, we saw the smoke building up in the valleys.

The Washington Fire had been burning for 3 days now and grew by 10,000 acres overnight. I was just miles away as the crow flies, but I knew the wind was blowing East, so I felt ok hiking close to it. 

As we hiked deeper into the canyons, thick smoke filled the sky and the air was stuffy and hot.

The sky was also filled with the constant buzz of helicopters and AC-10's fighting the fire. 

Even with the smoke, the wilderness was beautiful and the trail was mellow. This was quite an exciting day to hike.

I arrived at the closed Highway 4 and found this note:

Nobody was around, so we ignored the note. 

We were just happy that some official didn't make us turn around. We nervous excitement, we hiked on straight towards the fire. Here's a pic of Logan:

Here's me!

Visibility was low. 

When we arrived in this huge valley, the smoke was bad enough that we covered our faces and wet the cloth so we could breath. I hiked like this for hours:

Here's a pic I tried to take of a helicopter fighting the fire: 

By noon, I'd hiked 16 miles; the most miles I've done in one morning. We ate lunch near a creek in a smoky canyon, then we climbed up the ridge above the smoke. It was great to get out of it for awhile. 

Here's an AC-10 ( I think) flying above us toward the fire. It was very low, very loud, and pretty sweet. 

Pretty soon, we were about a mile away from the fire. It was hot and smoky, and I could see flames over the ridge.

I walked on until I hit 30 miles for the day. It was my first 30 mile hike ever, a personal record. I was beyond sore and in quite a bit of pain, and I found a great camp spot on a saddle. 

The fire made for some cool evening effects.

I made it safely past the fire and I'm so glad I hiked through it unlike the many hikers who skipped the section. The sky to the East is lit up by the fire, but I can sleep well knowing I'm out of danger. What a crazy adventure!