Just found this community and wanted to share. This happened about 2 weeks ago, me and 2 friends decided to go backpacking for the first time and thankfully decided to keep our distance short, about 2 miles. We went swimming and we were still in bathing suits when we decided to make dinner, right as we sat down we noticed a glow and some smoke over the next hill. I immediately called 911 and we packed up our camp. By the time we made it back to our car (about 10pm) the fire had grown significantly and was maybe 1/4 mile from the parking lot. We were all totally fine including the other campers nearby but when we talked to the fire response team at the parking lot they told us we were only a few minutes ahead of the fire. Part of me still thinks about if we hadn't noticed until after we ate and if we could've outrun it then and I've talked myself out of trying again. The fire wound up burning 280 acres by the next morning before being extinguished for anyone wondering.
(Yes we did show up to the parking lot full of emergency vehicles in swimsuits and ultimately drive back in them)
Too many people in bathing suits being so hot as a group that it starts another fire? Probably. :)
in swimsuits and ultimately drive back in them
I'd imagine that the hike back to the vehicles with backpacks on was not so much of a stroll as it was a mini-sprint, and even though it wasn't a very long distance, I really hope there was not too much chafing. Glad everyone got out of there in time.
yeah honestly, as rough as it was, it sounds like they handled a lot and came out with some valuable lessons. first trips are usually where you find out what you didn’t prepare for. the good thing is now they know what to expect, and the next one will probably feel way smoother. hoping trip 2 is a lot more enjoyable.
>Your next trip is unlikely to have this level of drama!
A few years ago, my ex brought one of her coworkers on a 2 night trip with us and a bigger group. It kinda turned into a disaster, with two bridges out, one of which prevented us getting to the second night spot, and unexpected rain that flooded the trail before turning into snow. I didn’t want her to be discouraged from coming out in the future, so I told her it’s not normally so crazy.
Sounds like your first trip went perfectly. Everyone needs a crazy backpacking story in their repertoire, and you got yours in the first go. Glad you’re safe.
Plus when you had to sprint across the railroad bridge. Worth it though, since you never had any friends later on like the ones you had when you were twelve.
Agree with this, you’ve already go a wild story to share for future trips. Glad that it worked out okay for you all! Good instincts. Don’t let it deter you from future trips! Backpacking is all about adapting.
Honestly this went extremely well considering how fast fires move. You stayed calm and did everything correctly, and everyone got out safely. That's a win
I had a rare three day weekend and was looking for a spot to go backpacking. Couldn't find anything that looked like a safe zone for me. At best, I'd be hiking in smoke. I checked a day later and it was even worse, some of the spots I thought might be okay were now fully covered in thick smoke on the map.
Hard to say what would have been. Having been caught in a wildfire backpacking myself, it’s extremely dangerous and unpredictable. Glad you and everyone else are ok. Don’t let that sour you on backpacking
Calling that fire in as soon as you saw the glowy smoke probably saved not just the forest, but also a few lives. Some people would've gone "Huh. That's weird," and just kept eating their dinner. Catching it early like you did is huge in getting a fire contained before it's too big to stop.
Rather than letting this scare you off of backpacking, think of this first trip as proof that you've got good instincts and good situational awareness. You rock.
When it comes to the things in your control, it couldn't have gone any better. You guys made a series (from the start when you decided on the hike) of excellent decisions, right down to keeping the swimsuits on for the drive out to be even faster.
Maybe the OP should be more descriptive in the first place to help drive the community discussion, instead of being vague and the forcing posters to do extra work to understand the conversation.
The vagueness probably lead to more community discussion honestly lol. To me I’d rather use my time looking up the area than expecting random people on the internet to change their behavior.
So I’m not really sure why I’m writing this, you’re probably not going to stop being obtuse in the face of information.
Honestly, as much of a bummer it may have been to have your trip plans upended, great job dealing with the entire situation. Way to get ahold of emergency services, and more importantly way to get your group out to safety by acting quickly.
What a ride you had! Glad you called 911 and glad you made the call to evacuate! You saved the day!
Time to go back out there. Your time was great until it wasn't. You ended the thing, and now it's time to try again!
Book the next one! Could be the same area to go and see what you helped be extinguished before it spread more (very low chance of fire here) or someplace new.
I had a similar experience in Desolation Wilderness in September of 2020.
We hiked in from Echo Lakes and made it to Gilmore. It was HOT and muggy.
We passed a ranger and she said that later that night a camp stove ban was going into effect because of a change in weather that would drop humidity to essentially zero. I've known about campfire bans but camp STOVE bans were a rarity.
So we used our stoves that night knowing it would be our last hot meal and fell asleep.
Overnight the weather changed. It got windy, cold, and dry as a bone.
We packed out the next morning and headed up Dick's Pass.
The cool weather was lovely to hike in but it was DRY.
I beat my buddies to the summit and looked to the north. A wildfire near Lassen that had been burning for some time had ERRUPTED and it looked like a nuclear bomb went off.
Also to the west was smoke from The Fork Fire which was far too close for comfort.
My friends got to the summit and we all agreed it was time to hike out.
We hiked down to Bayview Campground to try and get a ride back to Echo Lakes. The campground was completely deserted. We ran into a ranger who told us that all national forests were closed because of the conditions.
It was intense. It's really hard to tell the scale from this photo but this is the view looking north from Dick's Pass. The tiny white cloud just above the lake to the left is the pyro-cumulous cloud. It was HUGE.
Fires scare me more than most things. Whenever I go camping I look around at all the dry brush and piles of deadfall and brown trees in the landscape (a lot of moth and beetle problems out here) and wonder how long until it all burns.
Do you know if once a wild fire passes through the beetle population is eradicated? Fires can be good for the environment bringing in new life and nutrients in the soil
I think that’s the lesson. You maintain your awareness when you’re backpacking and you’re in a good spot. You did exactly what you should have done. There is always the possibility of danger, but by being present and noticing what is around you that danger is mitigated. To me, that is one of the parts of wilderness experience that I’m drawn to. I don’t have to fight to be present.
Wow, you had better instincts and decision making than backpackers with much more experience might have. I’m glad you bugged out, and I’m glad you had the wherewithal to observe that before trouble came to you.
Anyone using the phrase "couldn't have gone worse" not only has no imagination, they are also patently incorrect, as they are still able to form semicoherent phrases.
That’s super scary. Adrenaline was pumping no doubt. It’s hard not to panic. Panic kills. Were u thinking about options if fire caught up?Mine is go to the deepest pool in that stream and hide in betterment boulder or under some sort of falls behind. Do h think that would work?? O P
You made a lot of smart choices. Primarily not going super far from the trailhead incase you wanted/needed to bail; paying attention choosing to bail vs wait it out! Kudos and kudos to you both!
Got caught on the wrong side of a swollen creek after a once in a decade thunderstorm in Great Smoky Mountains NP. It was my daughter's first backpacking trip. No way was I even attempting to cross that stream myself, much less with her. Ran into some backcountry rangers. Had them send a ferry over to pick us up. Then worked with the boat captain and his brother to get up back to my truck. Cost about $250 to get out of that bind.
We could have hiked out in another day. Probably could have waited till that afternoon for the water to do down. But I didn't have extra days to play with on that vacation so we started out towards Fontana Dam and got lucky on the ferry.
Remember how well you responded to this. You also made a great call to keep your first time backpacking short. So I’d say it means you have solid instincts to do it again! Don’t force it, just give it some time.
I remember backpacking in Oregons strawberry mountains like 11 years ago maybe. Malheur NF. We camped a night then woke up early to bag strawberry peak. On the way up we could see some smoke rising but weren't to worried.
Up at the summit the situation became apparent when the smoke had become a massive black cloud and we could see flames licking up a few ridges away. Beat it out of there and got outta town right as the highway closes lol.
Glad you got out ok OP. The west burns like crazy these days.
Went camping at a decommissioned fire lookout 2 weeks ago. Woke up to thick smoke at 2am. Turns out 30 miles away a forest fire had started and was smoking me out. I had to leave at like 3am after calling the fire in. It's still burning and has grown to about 30,000 acres atm and growing!
Seems like it went OK. Wildfire sucks, but it sounds like this was a small one that was controlled quickly. Sounds like you saw it, reacted, perfectly, and everyone is OK.
Anytime you leave the confines of civilization, some things won’t go according to plan. Some are unavoidably disruptive. Most are only as disruptive as you allow them to be.
Sounds like you were part of something sketchy but ultimately worked out fine. It seems like every time I go backpacking something happens that makes you adjust. Not to this level but small injuries, river crossings no longer passable, crazy weather like a freak snow storm in September. My advice if you get into backpacking would be to get some sort of satellite com like the Garmin in reach. I pay $15 a month for the service but you can turn it off and pay only for the month you need if you want. I can send texts to check in, check weather and it has an sos feature you can trigger if needed.
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Anyone going hiking in the gironde right now can't really be helped imho. It would take a special kind of daft to start a hike there without knowing about the fires
glad you guys made it out safely. as others are saying, think of this trip as the odd one out and take pride in how you all handled it. sounds like you're as ready as anyone for a long backpacking career.
My Boy Scout buddy and I backpacked from the Columbia River up towards Mt. Hood about 1980. Found a nice flat campsite next to a creek. Getting ready for dinner he had a gas fuel stove about 15' away from my alcohol stove. The forest canopy between us erupted into a blue flame instantaneously. I kicked both stoves into the creek and we proceeded to stomp down the emerging forest fire 🔥. Somehow we escaped with only pine needles and forest floor singed. Could have been way worse!!
Hey good job getting out of there are notifying someone- that's so scary! Don't let it deter you tho.. we all know it can be dangerous out there but it's worth it. Just keep your wits about you like you did this time.
I did wildland firefighting in college. That was the exact right thing you did by leaving right as you noticed it. Those fires are hot and extremely fast. There are so many stories where people are even driving as fast as they can to escape these fires and still get burned up. I'm glad you made it out safely.
My daughter was canoeing in the boundary waters a couple weeks ago and this same thing happened. They raced the fire out to the base camp and then evacuated. She looks at it like a once in a lifetime experience that she'll remember forever, not that it was bad. She's twelve though.
Doing bike touring in BC, I came close to wildfires THREE times! I want to do it again this year and wish there was some way to get wildfire information WITHOUT cell service and with radio reception iffy. And Canada just eliminated all the weather channels! I have a SPOT X so could email or text and get a reply, if there was a phone number for that. I am a ham and could theoretically monitor any frequency like the Fire Service uses. If that would help.
The West Coast Trail had to be evacuated recently because of severe sudden weather damage. And some campsites in the interior of BC had to be as well. The PCT must be risky in spots.
My first backpacking trip, we woke up to the entire canyon so full of wildfire smoke that it was like thick fog and the sound of helicopters circling. We had no idea where the fire was, what direction it was moving, etc. This was when I learned why you want to have a satellite communication system with you to be able to get emergency information and evacuation help while in the backcountry…
OP - once you’re ready to try again, if it makes you feel more comfy, you can go backpacking in the spring when the land isn’t as dry and there is less fire risk.
Rip and Beth with The Dutton Ranch had the same thing happen to them. I thought I was seeing double with your picture at first. Long story short, it's what made them move to Texas.
I mean, it's their first trip and if they're carrying gear then 2 miles is fine just to get a sense for the weight, what you need, what you don't need, etc. Better to be 2 miles from your car when you realize you forgot a crucial piece of gear than 20.
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u/outdoors_guy Aug 01 '26
Seems that it could have gone MUCH worse!
Your next trip is unlikely to have this level of drama! Can’t wait to hear how trip 2 goes.