PDA

View Full Version : Great place to make a bonfire :(



Slo-go'en
09-26-2013, 17:02
So, I came upon this today while doing a litte walk. Someone built a nice big fire, right smack in the middle of the Fallsway trail, maybe 20 feet from where it joins the Valleyway (which is the direct route up to Madison Hut). The thing which really makes me mad is they didn't even try to hide the fact they did this.

24195

Tom Murphy
09-26-2013, 17:20
fairly close to the road

Sarcasm the elf
09-26-2013, 18:43
Reminds me of that line by Bill Bryson:

I have long known that it is part of God's plan for me to spend a little time with each of the most stupid people on earth.

Starchild
09-26-2013, 18:57
I really don't understand the mentality of the OP. The location you describe is not a endangered environment and only has high usage because of AMC and their continuing ability to convince the forest service, among other things, that it is environmentally sound policy to fly in woodchips into the woods by helicopter.

We have human markings all along the trail, first the trail itself, then the blazes, then the leantos and signs, not to mention the environmental disasters of the huts. The trail is littered with evidence of humans where there. Humans sometimes camp and sometimes enjoy a fire, sometimes a celebratory bonfire - we are human that's what we do. There was a good time here, I am happy for them.

Unless you are bound up in rules and regulations, which are hypocritical - as pointed out above, not only live and let live but be happy that people had fun, but at the very least be consistent.

Last Call
09-26-2013, 19:03
At least I don't see any tin cans or beer bottles in the debris.....that's what I never can figure is why idiots try to burn those!

hikerboy57
09-26-2013, 19:22
I really don't understand the mentality of the OP. The location you describe is not a endangered environment and only has high usage because of AMC and their continuing ability to convince the forest service, among other things, that it is environmentally sound policy to fly in woodchips into the woods by helicopter.

We have human markings all along the trail, first the trail itself, then the blazes, then the leantos and signs, not to mention the environmental disasters of the huts. The trail is littered with evidence of humans where there. Humans sometimes camp and sometimes enjoy a fire, sometimes a celebratory bonfire - we are human that's what we do. There was a good time here, I am happy for them.

Unless you are bound up in rules and regulations, which are hypocritical - as pointed out above, not only live and let live but be happy that people had fun, but at the very least be consistent.
the amc doesnt set the rules for fires.

Sarcasm the elf
09-26-2013, 19:36
the amc doesnt set the rules for fires.

Nor do we need the AMC to tell us that irresponsibly creating a new firepit on a busy trail without making any effort to clean it up is a real jackass move.

hikerboy57
09-26-2013, 19:40
Nor do we need the AMC to tell us that irresponsibly creating a new firepit on a busy trail without making any effort to clean it up is a real jackass move.
i was trying to be nice

Umlaut Von Fluffbutt
09-26-2013, 19:51
I have no issues with fires, but I do have an issue of people cleaning up afterward. It only takes a couple of minutes to scatter everything. It's just the considerable thing to do.

The Cleaner
09-26-2013, 20:42
You can tell by the left over wood, might have been green trees cut down :eek:.I like to have fires but I keep them small and use only dead & dry wood for a hot fire. When done nothing left but ashes which can be scattered if not in a well used fire pit. Why would someone want a huge fire in warm weather? Some hikers think that once out in the woods they can do as they want not thinking of the environment or other hikers.....

SCRUB HIKER
09-26-2013, 20:55
I really don't understand the mentality of the OP. The location you describe is not a endangered environment and only has high usage because of AMC and their continuing ability to convince the forest service, among other things, that it is environmentally sound policy to fly in woodchips into the woods by helicopter.

We have human markings all along the trail, first the trail itself, then the blazes, then the leantos and signs, not to mention the environmental disasters of the huts. The trail is littered with evidence of humans where there. Humans sometimes camp and sometimes enjoy a fire, sometimes a celebratory bonfire - we are human that's what we do. There was a good time here, I am happy for them.

Unless you are bound up in rules and regulations, which are hypocritical - as pointed out above, not only live and let live but be happy that people had fun, but at the very least be consistent.

You had me until the part where you said the AMC paints blazes.

Seriously, though, I agree with you. It's hard to be outraged at anyone's LNT-poor behavior in the Whites because the whole area has such a human commercial apparatus built up all over it that it doesn't even feel like wilderness; it feels more like a city park that just happens to be in some mountains. Yeah, some AMC employee has to spend 10 minutes cleaning up this fire pit now, but they've already accounted for that expense with their fee structure which diffuses maintenance/cleanup cost among anyone, LNT-law-abiding or not, who pays to stay at a shelter or hut. They implicitly condone behavior like this by explicitly stating that they expect it when they charge you $8 to pitch your tent at Kinsman Pond or somewhere.

I'll get mad when I see bad campfire ethics in Mt. Rainier NP (as I did on the PCT this year ... someone had just left a fire burning full blaze when they hiked out of their campsite in the morning and it was still roaring when I walked up on it), but I'm not as concerned about it in the Whites because the AMC brings it upon themselves and, as Starchild said, it's not even close to the worst environmental abomination in those woods.

rickb
09-26-2013, 21:08
it's not even close to the worst environmental abomination in those woods.

What would the worst environmental abomination in those woods be, then?

My guess is that what ever your answer might be, it is more likely not an environmental abomination at all. But rather an aesthetic one-- at worst. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

hikerboy57
09-26-2013, 21:12
for the record, the trails in question are maintained by the rmc, not the amc.

and building fires in the middle of a trail is just not acceptable.
your answer to over-congestion in the whites is to become part of the problem?

Many Moons
09-26-2013, 23:06
If you get them hot enough they melt to nothing, I promise. HIKE ON!!!!


Miller

Many Moons
09-26-2013, 23:07
Tin cans that is!
If you get them hot enough they melt to nothing, I promise. HIKE ON!!!!


Miller

Last Call
09-27-2013, 00:08
What about beer bottles? Do premium micro-brew beer bottles melt to nothing better than the rot-gut beer bottles?

Tuckahoe
09-27-2013, 07:08
for the record, the trails in question are maintained by the rmc, not the amc.

and building fires in the middle of a trail is just not acceptable.
your answer to over-congestion in the whites is to become part of the problem?

Impossible! The AMC is the devil! And I am sure someone will be along to enlighten us on their evils and how this is their fault...

aficion
09-27-2013, 07:21
You don't have to be Jack London to know that to build a fire in the middle of the trail is a Bozo No No.

hikerboy57
09-27-2013, 07:23
for the record, the trails in question are maintained by the rmc, not the amc.

and building fires in the middle of a trail is just not acceptable.
your answer to over-congestion in the whites is to become part of the problem?

Impossible! The AMC is the devil! And I am sure someone will be along to enlighten us on their evils and how this is their fault... we're not going to let some simple facts get in the way of a good rant

FarmerChef
09-27-2013, 07:36
That's disappointing, really. If you want to make a fire within the rules, I'm fine with that - even encourage that. But right in the middle of the trail? Not cool. I hope that this was a survival situation and someone was lost and out of their senses....probably not :(

double d
09-27-2013, 08:38
Reminds me of that line by Bill Bryson:

I have long known that it is part of God's plan for me to spend a little time with each of the most stupid people on earth.That is one of the great truths of life!

HikerMom58
09-27-2013, 09:03
That is one of the great truths of life!

I hesitate to cast the first stone... it's not like I've never done anything stupid myself. ;) Maybe the person(s) that built the fire had an emergency situation. IDK???

We are all in the same boat & that is a great truth of life. :D

Every time I see you post something double d, I think about ur story that you shared with us. Way To Go double d!!

hikerboy57
09-27-2013, 09:10
I hesitate to cast the first stone... it's not like I've never done anything stupid myself. ;) Maybe the person(s) that built the fire had an emergency situation. IDK???

We are all in the same boat & that is a great truth of life. :D

Every time I see you post something double d, I think about ur story that you shared with us. Way To Go double d!!

not very likely an emergency situation, its not far from appalachia trailhead

Slo-go'en
09-27-2013, 11:00
not very likely an emergency situation, its not far from appalachia trailhead

Yea, at that point it's maybe an easy 10 minute walk to the road. Most likely it was someone who drove up on a Friday night and walked in a little ways to camp. Since the fire looks pretty freash, I sure hope it wasn't the kid from Vermont who said he was going to do that very thing last weekend.

If you look close at the picture, the stream is about 10 feet past the camp fire. That area has been tramped down due to access to the stream and the water falls there. Someone not familer with the area might not even realise that spot is actually part of a trail. But it's one thing to stealth there next to the stream and quite another to build a big fire too.