Tuesday, July 15th, 2008...10:13 pm
Sad, But True: No Campfires in California This Summer
As my friends and I stood and watched an unusual storm over the Pacific Ocean on June 20 — namely thunder and lightning on the California North Coast — we weren’t too concerned about it causing harm. Celebrating a friends birthday, we WERE amazed and surprised because it is so rare where we live. The next morning, however, we had a different feeling — one of dread — when it was still lightning and thundering, but now over the forests in the east.
That freak storm caused 177 lightning strike fires in our county and hundreds of other fires that have since blackened hundreds of thousands areas of forest throughout Northern California.
It’s a real shame: for those who have lost their homes, the animals who have lost their’s and for those of us who were looking forward to venturing out into the wilderness. What I will also miss most is those evening around the fire, a primitive gathering of friends to talk about life, the day and next adventures.
My next backpack, scheduled for later this month in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, no doubt will not include fires. With a drought in process and the fire season just starting, no one will be getting fire permits anytime soon.
Still, I’m sure it will be a great trip. Maybe I’ll bring a light stick. We can put it on the ground, gaze at its glow and pretend we’re gathered around a fire
Be light. Be safe. Be one with the pack.
1 Comment
July 16th, 2008 at 8:23 am
My family and I drove all-night on the 4th of July from Los Angeles up to Eureka. We arrived in Willets just as dawn was breaking. For the past hour on the 101 we had been smelling the smoke. A store clerk told us the same thing you did about the number of fires going on. We were fortunate not to get caught up in any of it, but the extent of the fires was plain by the amount of smoke and the smell lasting so long. My troop almost always goes to established camps, but even there I’m sure we’ll be told not to build fires. Since we generally car camp, my habit in these situations is to put a lantern in the fire ring and go on with our campfire program. It’s not the same experience, but we can still do stories, skits, and talk around the “fire”.
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