No respite in Julian

On their last leg of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail on Wednesday, the two brothers thumbed a ride into Julian to eat a gloriously greasy meal, have a beer and load up on provisions.

But the historic town, with its wood-porch storefronts and wagon wheel decor, was a veritable ghost town, with no power, no phones, no water, few people.

Having receiving only snippets of news during the Canada-to-Mexico trek, they were flabbergasted -- and crestfallen.

“We knew there were fires, but we didn’t think all of San Diego was on fire,” Luke Larson said.

On Monday night, Larson, 26, and his brother Andrew, 22, saw the sky light up like a jack-o’-lantern from their campsite near Warner Springs.

But they had seen fires earlier on their trek and didn’t find it extraordinary.

Tuesday, an awe-inspiring column of black smoke rose off Mt. Palomar, more than 15 miles to the west.

“The wind would back off and it would blow up like an atom bomb,” Andrew Larson said. “Then the wind would come and just cut it off.”

They were not daunted by the spectacle. Andrew Larson said he just finished four tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq with the infantry. Luke Larson is a U.S. Forest Service ranger in Aspen, Colo.

Both are lean and wiry from the trail. They are packing light: no tent; just tarps, sleeping bags and minimal clothes, to keep a pace of more than 20 miles per day.

In Julian, they finally found an open liquor store and loaded up on junk food: Salsitos, Zebra Cakes. But it wasn’t what they had been dreaming of on that dust-bitten trail: meat and more meat.

With no hot meal in sight, they hitched a ride back to the trail.

They still had 15 miles to cover that day.

And packages waiting at the post office in Mount Laguna.

Hmmm. . . .

“Really, you think the Post Office is closed?” Andrew Larson asked.

They plan to meet their parents Saturday at the Mexican border. Near the Harris fire.

joe.mozingo@latimes.com