Smokey do say

Summit Road is burning. This is a bummer in many ways, not least because the riding around there is so good. Folks who live up there would mention several other reasons, and have my sympathy.


J and I were out for Brown Lunch on Thursday last, when it began. We were in Pebble Beach (Riding short checking the wrist- it's much better, thanks. The swelling is down) and it was windy. The wind changed direction constantly, which helped spread the fire. It also necessitated our finding a little hollow among the Monterey Pines where we were, since those trees are widely spaced and don't offer much cover down low. Corralitos/Summit Road is ~40 miles to the North, so I didn't know this fire was going on, but it was clear we needed to be very careful with our own cooking, given the switchy wind and the dry duff forest floor. When we got back and saw the news, it brought home just how careful we need to be.So, to review: we typically use the Esbit stove and fuel tablets supplemented with twigs for our Brown Lunches, as it's light and clean and adequate for small/one pot meals.(It works with a range of pot sizes, as well.) The tabs cannot leak or spill, and I'm not tempted to drink them. We've taken to using the pot lid for our fire pan, and this has worked very well. It keeps the fire contained, reflects heat upwards, and helps the windscreen maintain it's shape. We always clear (to soil) a radius around the fire of 12" or more, depending on how flammable the ground seems. When we're finished burning stuff, we dump the coals/ashes in the center of our clearing and cover them with earth. Sometimes we'll dampen the cover. We do not want to start a forest fire!

On that note... the whole fambly rode to the Secret Spot on Saturday and we cooked Brown Lunch and made tea/cocoa on the 2 burner Coleman.We needed the Xtracycle for that one. There was minimal fussing (I'm looking at you, N), and a Good Time was had by all. Ride bikes?