[pct-l] Campfires

[ambery-80243 at mypacks.net]

I couldn't agree more about how unnecessary campfires are in the backcountry.  I work for the Forest Service, and it is amazing to me the amount of backlash we get from hikers when there is a fire ban in place.  I personally don't get the need for one when it's ninety degrees out, or the lack of understanding about the fire risks during severely dry summers.  I too, have put out so many supposedly "out" fires, and dismantled way too many fire rings in places that a fire should never be built.
The other issue is the incredible number of user paths in popular areas that are created by hikers foraging around for the wood they need.  It really is time to shift to the idea that it is an unacceptable practice when backpacking.    

-----Original Message-----
>From: Jeffrey Olson <jjolson58 at gmail.com>
>Sent: Oct 12, 2017 10:21 AM
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] Campfires
>
>Last year or the year before I made a similar comment on the PCT 
>facebook page.  I was even in tone and appealed to a sense of being part 
>of something larger - the wilderness and the experience it gives us.
>
>I was surprised at the negativity and vitriol the post received. For 
>some reason it's part of the ethos of "being in the woods" to have a 
>fire.  Maybe it's like the effort to get rid of cigarette smoking 
>indoors - it'll take a generation for norms to change...
>
>Jeff
>Laramie, WY
>
>On 10/12/2017 11:06 AM, marmot marmot wrote:
>> It's time to start talking again about campfires.
>> Uninformed PCT hikers and those with antiquated ideas about backpacking have been making fires along the PCT. Just because you have been issued a Calif fire permit does not mean you can build a fire. It simply means you can have a backpacking stove. Except at yellow post sites and established fire rings in  campgrounds no fires are allowed in all of Calif   Even in those places unless conditions are correct you cannot make a campfire. That means 10 ft in diameter cleared area,no wind,no over head branches a shovel. etc etc. etc
>> Unless you are under threat of hyperthermia a fire is inappropriate. I know that it makes some people feel safe and cosy. No comment about the so called need for Somemores. No one who builds a campfire thinks that theirs will cause a wildfire. I have put out so many campfires that others have thought were out. I've had to drag big logs into rivers more than once to put out a fires that were burning so deeply in the heart of the wood. That was after pouring liters of water on the embers.  I'm sure the hikers who walked away from these campfires ,thought they were out.
>> Yes,Mosquitoes are difficult. That does not give you permission to have a campfire.
>> Just as we now carry out our TP. Part of leave no trace is to stop making nightly campfires. That includes the Sierra. Please read the websites.
>> None of us would leave trash out there. If we start talking about this now the word will be out among the 2018 hikers. This is the next step in caring for our forests.
>> Marmot
>>