[pct-l] Permanent Campfire Ban on PCT?

[Diarmaid Harmon]

I don't think a ban is feasible or enforceable. A couple of weeks ago I was backpacking in the Mt Hood area and that night 2 different sets of hikers had campfires going. There currently is a state wide ban on burning due to the high fire danger. Neither set of hikers was aware of it and only one group put their fire out when I informed them. 

In other times of the year those of us who hike year-round in the soggy northwest enjoy a nice campfire to warm up and dry out by.

Diarmaid "Irish" Harmon
irishharmon at comcast.net

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, Guinness in one hand, steak in the other, yell 'Holy Sh**, What a Ride!"


On Sep 15, 2012, at 7:56 AM, Jeffrey Olson wrote:

> A different take on this issue is that the PCTA and any organization or 
> person talking in public about hiking the PCT could be encouraged to 
> discourage building campfires except in emergency.
> 
> Prohibition doesn't work.
> 
> However, appealing to the ethical sense of thru-hikers might.  Sure 
> there will be "I'm in this for me" small minded hikers, but most people 
> get the destructiveness of fires, not just in terms of danger to the 
> forest in raging wildfires, but to the small world where firepits leave 
> scars that last for years and years.
> 
> There will always be selfish people, but most people can claim ignorance 
> - so let's just keep up the consciousness raising and support 
> campfireless hiking on the PCT...
> 
> Jeffrey Olson
> Rapid City, SD
> 
> On 9/15/2012 8:49 AM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes wrote:
>> I don't think that is workable. First of all, it has not been
>> determined that a PCT hiker's campfire caused the fire. Second, PCT
>> hikers aren't the only people hiking the PCT. There are hunters,
>> scouts, weekenders, and others. I suppose you could deprive the whole
>> world of the enjoyment of a campfire to quell the carelessness of a
>> few but that seems rather harsh. Not to mention that careless
>> campfire people are going to have campfires no matter what anybody
>> says about it and there's about a grand total of zero rangers out
>> there to enforce anything.
>> 
>> On Sep 14, 2012, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>> 
> 
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