Several of our hikes passed through vast burned areas like this one. In June 2005, 70,736 acres burned, not due to drought or human causes but the opposite: heavy winter rains had produced abundant plant growth (best wildflower season in decades) and multiple dry lightning strikes ignited the dried vegetation. Strong winds, high temperatures and steep terrain hampered the firefighting efforts and it took 4 days to contain the largest fire ever in the Mojave.