The Black Summer of 2019-20 left behind skeletal, ash-black gum trees as far as the eye could see, obliterating more than 494,000 acres — almost half the island. But fire is a life force in many Australian ecosystems, returning nutrients to the soil and clearing the way for new growth. Five years later, on this four-day, 28.5-mile hike across the island’s wild western end, the story is not one of loss, but of rejuvenation.