[pct-l] Hiking the PCT in the 60's

Thu Apr 8 15:00:18 CDT 2010

Good afternoon, Iceaxe,

Your comments got me all fired-up.

My first camping season as an 11-year-old Boy Scout was almost totally
focused on building a fire and cooking a meal.  My Scoutmaster insisted that
we all establish these basics.  Then, my only interest was to get a fire up
and going fast, however I could.

Later, as an Explorer Scout, I fell in with a group of guys who really
caused me to establish my ultralite basics: We challenged each other to do
things quicker, better, more simply, and with fewer resources.  Fire-building
was a big part of that.  As a little Scout the challenge had been to build a
fire using no more than two common stick matches.  At age 11 that was an
impossible dream, but soon it became standard practice so additional
challenges evolved.

The next step was to use only 100% natural fire-making material found
on-site.  After that, the two-match allowance was reduced to one.  Next, we
limited ourselves to one little paper book-match; and we know how pitiful
they are.  Finally, a few fanatics – I hate to name names – would tear out
one book match, and using a knife point or fingernail on the bottom end,
would separate the paper match stem up its center and pull one half of the
match away from the other.  Usually half the chemical head stays with each
half-match.  Those half-matches were really frail and pitiful, and could
only be lit by keeping ones finger directly on the head when striking.  To
be successful, one had better have perfect tinder, perfect kindling, and
perfect shelter for the tiny flame that resulted.  Well done, there would be
40 campfires from one matchbook.

Next came an insidious game called, “Here and Now”, where one’s companion
would wait till just the right time and place to declare, “We need a fire –
here and now!”  That was much the same challenge as, “I double-dog dare
‘ya…”.  The victim then had to build a fire at that place with only
available materials.  Failure to do so -- or worse, a refusal to even try --
was rewarded with loud and sustained hoots of derision.  You can probably
guess that “the right time and place” always meant “under the worst possible
conditions.”

I even imposed that same game on myself when hiking alone:  I would set an
alarm an hour or so ahead, vowing to stop instantly when it went off and
build a fire at that exact spot.  Through some places I remember saying to
myself, “Oh, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease don’t go off here!"  I did fudge
once, though:  The alarm went off when I was right in the middle of fording
a creek.

Eventually I gave up on matches and lighters entirely, and became
accomplished with flint and steel and with friction from a bow drill fire
starter.  The bow drill was usually pretty slow, but with flint and steel if
I didn’t have open flame within 20 seconds I was well off the pace.

Even today, at home before a hike, I occasionally re-read Jack London’s
short-story: *To Build A Fire* at http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html
 Since I was a teenager the recollection of that tale has haunted me
whenever I build a fire, regardless of how favorable the circumstances.

Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09

On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 8:32 AM, <hetchhetchyman at aol.com> wrote:

>
> From: CHUCK CHELIN <steeleye at wildblue.net>
> Subject: [pct-l] PCT Hiking in '65
> To: Pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
>        <t2ldb9154d1004071221re757384bgd00e79758e7e1c21 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
>
> Good afternoon, all,
>
>
>
> Recently it?s been cool, damp, and windy here in the Pacific NW, and I?ve
> been pouting because I?m not attending the Kick-Off, so to take my mind off
> the gloom I revisited some of my older PCT reference books.  One that I
> hadn?t thought about in years is, *Home In Your Pack*, by Bradford Angier
>
> Good Morning SteelEye,
> I too am a big fan of Bradford Angiers books. His advice never seems dated.
> One piece of his advice has always served me well over the years, even while
> hiking the PCT last year.
> "The ability to build a campfire swiftly and with certainty in every type
> of weather that may one day beset us can,at a decisive moment, also mean the
> difference between existence and finality; and the way to aquire such skill
> is a bit at a time over as long a period as possible, using on each occasion
> only whatever natural materials may be at hand.
> >From this stems the principal objection, and as I think you'll agree a
> grave one, against getting in the habit of un-necessarily cutting corners
> with any of the fire kindlers that are on the market. For there may come a
> blusterous winter night when the trees are bent with sleet, and the
> individual up against it may very well not have a chemical tablet to ignite
> instead of the bark and shavings to which, although they have always been
> availiable as they are now, he has not become accustomed."- Bradford Angier
> -How to Stay Alive in the Woods
> As thru hikers we rarely have the time or need to kindle fires. In fact in
> many places on the trail it is no doubt destructive to the enviroment to
> gather and burn wood. However, as human beings we must accept our
> limitations and the fact that at times, despite our best efforts, we may
> become overwhelmed by the environment. Last year we had sleet and hail for
> much of our southern crossing of the Sierra. Despite what I told myself
> about NOT making fire, I in fact did so (in established rings) on a number
> of occasions to insure the survival of myself and my companion. Yes, some
> blame could be put upon our choices of ultralight gear and willingness to
> enter the wilderness under those conditions.
> The point being your survival could depend on skills you never would
> ordinarily consider neccesary. Bradford Angier's writing taught me that most
> valuable lesson, and it has served me well over the years. I am glad you
> brought up this topic SteelEye. It highlights the fact that just because a
> book is old it does not mean the infromation contained within is dated.
> -Iceaxe
>
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