[pct-l] C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S

[chiefcowboy at verizon.net]

Whether or not the folks who must have fires read the list, we must continue 
to rail against irresponsible behavior.  At times I am embarassed to call 
myself a hiker in view of the many fires that have been started by PCT 
hikers.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Hollywood
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 3:31 PM
To: Dennis Phelan
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S

I think that may not actually be the case.  In my observation last year,
many hikers who do this are on the list and read it regularly.  However,
their attitude is, "I'm an expert outdoorsman, don't tell me what to do
while I'm in the woods."

This defiant attitude is, IMO, what drives much of this behavior.  When
other good-intentioned hikers ask them to stop lighting fires, these people
will say, F you, I do what I want in the woods.  It's often surprising who
will take this tone and there is much respect to be lost on trail for this.
I was one of the last hikers into Belden last year in the Chips fire.  One
hiker I spent a lot of time around and believed had sound judgement chose
to light a fire on a warm night across the valley from the fire.  The fire
was so close that I decided to do a big day and get out so I didn't get
burned alive.  The flames were so close I could *hear* them.  It was
absolutely crazy that he did this and when I spoke to him later, his
response was that it was none of my business.  We didn't hike together
again.

My advice is to destroy cold fire rings when you see them and [if you're a
guy] pee on illegal/illogical fires.  Nobody likes sitting around a coal
bed that is steaming with urine stink.  And people lighting fires won't
respond to logic as we all hope they would.



On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 1:50 PM, Dennis Phelan 
<dennis.phelan at gmail.com>wrote:

> unfortunately I think you are preaching to the choir.  The people who are
> doing this are not the same ones reading this listserve.
>
>
> On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 1:16 PM, Ann Marie <dbanmrkr at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > It seems we have to keep repeating this message because it is not 
> > getting
> > through to the hikers:   Please no campfires !
> >
> >
> > We just learned that the 3rd gate area now has a campfire ring, showing
> > multiple usages. This is new in the past week or so, so this year's
> hikers
> > are responsible for creating it. Not only is this illegal there (yes, it
> > most certainly is !), but campfires are illegal in most of SoCal.  There
> is
> > also a local family nearby that had to evacuate very quickly last year
> > because of a fire in that area. And they could smell the smoke from the
> > campfire(s) this year. How scary is that? It's also unethical to put
> others
> > in danger just because you are too uncool to know about and follow the
> > regulations already in place.
> >
> >
> > Please use hiker peer pressure to stop these illegal campfires whenever
> > you see them.  The danger is very real this year, along the entire PCT
> too.
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