schlanky
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Post by schlanky on Oct 22, 2015 9:56:15 GMT -8
Some places I hike are great for campfires and some places aren't conducive at all for them. I like it both ways. I very much enjoy fires when I can have them, but when I don't have them, I enjoy not having to do all the extra work involved.
For me it's not pro-campfire vs. anti-campfire, but both ways depending on where I'm hiking/camping and what kind of a day I've had and what kind of a night I want to have.
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tomas
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Post by tomas on Oct 22, 2015 11:23:42 GMT -8
For me it's not pro-campfire vs. anti-campfire, but both ways depending on where I'm hiking/camping and what kind of a day I've had and what kind of a night I want to have My sentiments as well.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 23, 2015 7:10:00 GMT -8
schlanky said: For me it's not pro-campfire vs. anti-campfire, but both ways depending on where I'm hiking/camping and what kind of a day I've had and what kind of a night I want to have My sentiments as well. I agree to some extent...I can enjoy a campfire (is poking at fire an instinctive behavior?). But I also find that the smoke is more of an issue these days. I end up very reluctant to stay in campgrounds because of the air quality, which can leave me with a nasty nagging cough (residue of my pneumonia on our 2010 Glacier trip) (and on that trip--boys howdy, I ended up happy to hike 6 miles into the back country just to camp without smoke, because I couldn't freaking breathe in the campgrounds!).
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Oct 23, 2015 9:37:57 GMT -8
Fun fact about why you MUST get smoked when there's a campfire in Winter.
The rising air has to be replaced by ground level airflow: well that airflow is blocked by your body, so that's the one direction the smoke get's pushed as the ground air flows in.... which was how it was explained to me that in still night air no matter where you move around a campfire the smoke will follow.
Sounded logical. Better than the smoke just being mean.
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Westy
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Post by Westy on Oct 23, 2015 11:21:25 GMT -8
I end up very reluctant to stay in campgrounds because of the air quality, This summer we spent a night at the Molas Lake Campground near Silverton, CO. We were very fortunate that when I asked our adjoining neighbor to ixnay the ampfirecay. Not only did she accommodate us but offered me a few shots of Bullitt Rye!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 13:50:29 GMT -8
I'm not pro- or anti- campfire, either. But let's be realistic. Anyone who has seen a good authoritative Western (GAW), movie or TV show, knows the true source of so many deaths in the Old West. It was the campfire. That campfire enabled the sheriff to track the bank robbers, the Indians to track the cowboys, the cowboys to track the Indians . . . and, oh yeah, the wolves and mountain lions to track any humans foolish enough to advertise their location with a fire. (Really, this problem pre-dated the cowboy era and applied to gold miners, too. But that's another matter.) Just think of it. That firelight seen from miles away. That whiff of smoke upon the breeze. That puff of smoke cloud along the treeline. Those half-burnt coals that were still warm to the touch. Every GAW included a scene or two where the campfire provided the crucial tracking evidence that resulted in a gunfight, in arrows flying, in a shiny sheriff's badge appearing out of the darkness. You name it. Have you any idea how many deaths were caused by campfires in those days? The toll is inestimable. I mean, we'll never know. All those cowboys had to do was strap a thicker blanket to their saddles. But no. They were a bunch of greenhorns in the Old West. They took one skimpy wool blanket and paid the price. You know what I mean, an arrow protruding from each ear. A well-deserved arrow, by the way. All because they didn't understand one simple principle: there is a time and place for everything — including a campfire. But when there is truly danger lurking in the darkness, that's not the time for a campfire. Watch a good Western. You'll see what I mean.
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tomas
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Post by tomas on Oct 23, 2015 13:56:27 GMT -8
But I also find that the smoke is more of an issue these days. I end up very reluctant to stay in campgrounds because of the air quality, which can leave me with a nasty nagging cough (residue of my pneumonia on our 2010 Glacier trip) (and on that trip--boys howdy, I ended up happy to hike 6 miles into the back country just to camp without smoke, because I couldn't freaking breathe in the campgrounds!) Are the campground that packed together or crowded? Even the places around here where I car camp don't end up with that level of smoke.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Oct 23, 2015 17:26:20 GMT -8
But I also find that the smoke is more of an issue these days. I end up very reluctant to stay in campgrounds because of the air quality, which can leave me with a nasty nagging cough (residue of my pneumonia on our 2010 Glacier trip) (and on that trip--boys howdy, I ended up happy to hike 6 miles into the back country just to camp without smoke, because I couldn't freaking breathe in the campgrounds!) Are the campground that packed together or crowded? Even the places around here where I car camp don't end up with that level of smoke. Cold air inversions can trap campfire smoke when the conditions are right. Pretty much fill a valley or other low lying area.
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johnnyray
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Post by johnnyray on Oct 23, 2015 18:15:16 GMT -8
Pretty much fill a valley or other low lying area. Like The Yosemite, cough cough.
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Post by ecocentric on Oct 23, 2015 18:35:18 GMT -8
"Have you any idea how many deaths were caused by campfires in those days?" -Travis
Thanks man, I got a good belly laugh from that post. I probably won't build a campfire again without the image of being hit by arrows as soon as I stand up. Point well made. :(
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Oct 23, 2015 18:48:51 GMT -8
Cold air inversions can trap campfire smoke when the conditions are right. Pretty much fill a valley or other low lying area. That. And in the National Parks, the campsites are pretty packed in. When everyone in a campground with 150 sites builds a lovely fire with wet wood and no skill, smoke can get pretty bad. I was, of course, at that point rather more than usually sensitive to it as well!
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Oct 23, 2015 22:52:25 GMT -8
Pretty much fill a valley or other low lying area. Like The Yosemite, cough cough. yeah that's why they started restricting the hours for campfires in the Valley starting back in the 80's iirc.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Oct 25, 2015 7:45:56 GMT -8
The campfire ban in California's Los Padres NF has been in place so long people have forgotten about it. In the last few months when the forest has been its driest I've seen lots of evidence of illegal and irresponsible campfires. Last weekend I came upon a large fire ring full of hot coals and smoldering logs, smoking heavily and ready for the wind to pick up and ignite the nearby pile of fuel and surrounding dry grass. I got 2 gallons of water from a spring 1/4 mile away to put it out.
I'm sure the selfish and irresponsible people who left it were having the time of their lives sitting by a campfire 2000' above the ocean watching the sun set. But they would have had the time of their lives without the fire - it wasn't cold and the view would be just as good.
One guy building an illegal fire told me, "I have a campfire permit. Why would they give me a campfire permit if fires aren't allowed?" Apparently he signed the permit without understanding what it says.
I like a campfire as much as anybody, but it's not your God-given right to have one every night in the woods. And if you have one, you damn sure better be responsible with it and leave it cold to the touch when you are done.
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Post by Crockett on Oct 28, 2015 15:58:20 GMT -8
I end up very reluctant to stay in campgrounds because of the air quality I came across this study recently by the Forest Service about the toxins released by what we often burn in a campfire. Something to think about. What’s Burning in Your Campfire? Garbage In, Toxics Outwww.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf04232327/pdf04232327dpi300.pdf
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2015 8:27:02 GMT -8
I understand that you are referring to "people in general," or those people who stay at roadside campgrounds. But I hope that no backpacker with a sense of respect for backcountry (or frontcountry) would try to burn any of the following — from the list included in the Forest Service download: As previously noted, even smoke from natural wood contains carcinogenic agents, so Rebecca's reluctance to stay in such campgrounds makes plenty of sense — even if campers burnt only wood. But to some extent, wood smoke is a natural byproduct of nature, and exposure to some carcinogenic agents is inevitable. On the other hand, if a person really enjoys the fresh, clean air of the backcountry, the Forest Service download contains just one more reason to do without a campfire. Nonetheless, I would still place the risk of forest fire and the impacts to the backcountry above the risk of cancer from wood smoke. As far as roadside campgrounds are concerned, I could hardly list all the reasons I avoid them. Some travelers and vacationers are reckless with their trash and have no organized system for disposing of it properly. So, to be consistent in their recklessness, they toss it in a campfire. Hence, the list of garbage from the Forest Service.
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