As soon as we made it in to Seiad Valley we found out about the trail closure due to another wildfire that was only a mile or so from town. The air was thick with smoke and helicopters patrolled the sky. When faced with his situation we did what any red blooded intelligent Americans would have done we attempted the Seiad Valley Pancake Challenge. You have to eat 5lbs of pancakes in under 2 hours and if you do, the meal is free. Now being as intelligent as we are, we knew that with the fire looming in the distance, we shouldn't both attempt the challenge and order 10lbs of pancakes so we decided to share. I thought this was going to be a piece of cake.

One word: FAIL. We did not even come close. We both ate the majority of 1.5 pancakes which weighed in at 1 pound apiece and still had enough to feed two other hikers. All I can say is that it will be a very long time before either of us eats a pancake again.