Re: [pct-l] Open fires

["(R.J. Calliger mailto:calliger@infolane.com 510.502.5552)" <calliger@infolane.com>]

I at times have cut my liquid fuel useage to zero for days on end.
I obtained a firepermit and (below 9600, 9500, or 9000, depending
on the area) I have started a small (4"x4"x2") rock-walled fire fed with
already
downed twigs and 1/2" downed limbs and bark.  After a few minutes
I have a nice hot bed of coals to cook on whereupon I place my
pot (stored in a baggie so the soot does not get over anything).
A good percentage of the trails are in forest where it is legal
and environmentally sound to do this. Extrapolating to thousands
of people making 4x4" cooking fires and scattering all (ashes out)
evidence (don't leave a trace) seems reasonable. N'est ce pas?

Rich

PS-

I think with a little common sense, persons new to hiking and camping
can handle a small cookfire just fine!  (I hate the term newbies- it sounds
demeaning and that they just hatched today! And it implies "they" can't
handle a simple fire- used time immemorial in the backcountry- and
today I am sure it will not result in a "blackened trail" - that is a little
overemotional of a concept don't you think-- to see miles of trail
black?? Just don't start a fire in high winds, shield it and cover it
over when done...

PPS-

The Forest Service issues a firepermit (free at any Ranger Station- so go
for it)-- you get a 2 minute discussion- mostly common sense; and you
really do not need a shovel...most of the dirt is soft enuf to use a
rock for scrapping out small (2") depression...and if the Service thinks
the average reader can handle- I am all for it! The most imortant
thing is to make sure it is DEAD OUT- you have to feel the ashes with
you fingers to make sure!

PPPS-

Do I win the contest as my stove: weighs in at 0.00000 ounces; uses no carried
fuel; takes 0.00000 cu in. in the pack; is readabley assembled in the field,
comes with its own windscreen (larger rock); has infinite burn time
and IF NECESSARY can bring 2 cups of water at 8500 feet to boil in
under 2 minutes. (larger fire) Limitations: Unuseable above 9600 feet
legally in most areas or in desert areas; fuel subject to rain uness you
carry a little pack of
wood in your pack or it did not rain too hard; requires getting used to the
pleasant odor and ambiance of burning wood; others I am sure- minor
though.


At 5:21 PM -0000 2/9/2000, Brett Tucker wrote:
>>From: Jeff Eckert <jeeter@cari.net>:
>
>>>From a hiker's perspective, the trail is, more often than not, cut through
>>Chaparral, a word translatable as "brush fire fuel".
>
>>Anyway, I think down here, the risk is too great for me to use an open
>>fire.
>
>Right. I think the occasional fire, in a safe area, built, tended, and
>extinguished using all the right techniques, might be an idea for the
>experienced individual to consider. But I don't presume to be such an
>individual in this regard, and I don't think the list is a forum in which to
>presume that of the average reader, either. In other words, this may not be
>the best place for endorsing an open fire as an alternative to using a
>stove. What we don't need are a bunch of Campo newbies (been there) deciding
>to shed their packweight, at the cost of a blackened trail corridor.
>Besides, looks like dropping the stove requires picking up a shovel. What
>kind of a trade off is that?
>
>- Blisterfrree



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