Campfires

Recently a question came up about having a campfire at dinner. You may note that I never have a campfire for dinner, or any other time for that matter. I am not a fan of campfires in general and especially for my own use. The two exceptions I make are small campfires for survival and for sub-freezing weather, two scenarios I rarely encountered.

Now I will admit that there is something primal about sitting around a campfire at night watching the flames lick the air. Such a fire is a venue for storytelling and deep conversations. A source of light that pushes back the darkness in a wilderness. A place for contemplation. And, I would argue, a dangerous anachronism from a different time. A time when the climate wasn’t changing, when drought was less frequent, and when efficient light weight stoves didn’t exist.

Forty years ago the average forest acreage burned in the US was less than 3 million acres per year. That average has increased in the intervening time. The last ten years has seen an average of over 7 million acres per year burned. In 2024 it was nearly 9 million acres. About 85% of these fires are human caused. This includes, campfires as well as debris burning, electrical sparks, equipment malfunction, arson, and tossed cigarettes.

If people could be counted on to built small cooking fires on bare ground with a substantial rock fire ring and then make sure it is out when they are done with it, there would be little problem. By out, I mean dousing with ample water and then being willing to stick their hand in the “dead” coals of the fire. If you are not sure enough that it’s dead to stick your hand in then it’s not an extinguished fire.

I have hiked through hundreds of miles of burnt scorched forest. It is not pretty and it is not safe. Dead burnt snags are always falling, even well after the fire is gone. If they aren’t falling on you, they fall across the trail and you have to climb over them.

Many people believe that it isn’t really camping if you don’t have a campfire. I hold that a campfire is rarely necessary and is a time consuming nuisance for several reasons. You have to gather wood, continually monitor it, breath smoke, risk an errant spark starting a wildfire, and spend substantial time and effort in making sure it is out.

So, if you must have a campfire, please, please be responsible!

Curmudgeonly yours…

-SlowBro

PS- Cappuccino and I will be heading up to Santa Fe next Friday to start the Santa Fe to Taos Trail (SF2T). As in the past I will blog everyday and post when I can, which will be sporadic at best. And possibly, not until I am back home after Jun 18th.