but its an easy place to go without a stove. I went with scout groups on the allagash and penobscot waterways for six summers and never used a stove. I wonder if there is still plenty of wood available near some of the fancy allagash sites?
We usually had to burn dri ki (drift wood) on the island sites on some of the lakes. The bigger impact than the fires were the homemade latrines, especially on the island sites. A good smoky fire helps keep the bugs away but nobody wants to wander into a forest of toilet paper and fecal matter.
I don't think they''d be too big on fires at quite a few places in Baxter or some spots on the AT near or above treeline.
I can't speak for the there and now, but thirty years ago the mind set in Northern Me was that it was a working forest and that burning wood was fine as long as you were responsible (fire permits, put out your fire completely). It was an easy place to get a fire going, plenty of wood, as well as birch bark tinder (which I carried with me) but some areas lacked hardwoods for good coals for baking. I usually didn't carry an axe or even a folding saw. That was just something the kids could get hurt with in the middle of nowhere.
I understand that there are many places (especially in the west) where a fire is not allowed but I say go for it when the fire conditions allow and the area permits it. Somehow the glow and warmth of a stove just isn't the same.
Not by choice But I had my stove break on the first night of a five day solo in Flaming Gorge. There’s not a lot of wood up there but I found enough scraps in the fire pits to cook dinner every night. My backup was an MRE with a heater and I never had to use it.
Better to take a small stove and not use it unless essential.
Twelve nights in Quetico in '73. We took a SVEA stove and maybe a pint of fuel in case we might get to a campsite in heavy rain and be unable to get a fire going.
But we always did scrounge, cut, and split wood. I chopped the end off my left thumb. We had more cleanup after meals, getting soot off the pans.
If paddling through and area with lots of firewood and little risk of wildfire, I still would consider carrying and relying on small stoves for cooking. Not an expert on the matter, just my thought.
2 instances One, we somehow ended up on the river with no stove, for ten days. All the food we had needed to be cooked. For example, we had Bisquick for breakfasts. You gotta cook. So that meant no fire, no food. One night a torrential downpour turned into snow and left about four inches of wet snow on the ground. Everything was wet and it took us until noon to get a decent fire going. I so wished we had a stove. And, it’s a lot of work to make fires every day, twice a day. Often, You have better things to do with your time than hunt for and process wood for fires.
Two, a guy I paddled with on a multi-day trip never brings a stove. He ate a lot of canned food, cold, out of the can. Yum, cold spagetthi-o’s. He stirred instant coffee into cold water. I didn’t see him drinking any liquid Bisquick mixture though. He says it saves weight and cooking/cleaning time to eliminate not only the stove but the pans and kitchen utensils beyond a spoon and a can opener*.
In the second case, my buddy got injured and we had to abort the trip a couple days in. I suggested to Mr. No-stove that he continue the trip without us. His response? “No, I can’t, I don’t have a can opener!” It was true. He’d forgotten it and had been borrowing mine. Of course I offered to give him my can opener, but he turned me down. I just thought it was the funniest reason to cancel a trip.
how much weight saved? my solo cook kit that I take on backpacking or kayaking trips weighs a little over 2 lbs including fuel that lasts a week and a backup stove.
one very rainy trip where it was near impossible to keep a fire going was enough for me to learn that lesson!
Well, the idea is to learn the lessons needed to cope without it - even on a rainy trip. It can be very rewarding and what a sense of freedom it offers - not to mention warmth. Some think it adds to the adventure. Not many here obviously!
Love campfire cooking We do most of our cooking over the campfire, but always take a stove along too. In the spring it’s part of the safety plan as getting a hot drink into someone quickly is a good way to restore body warmth should someone dump. In the summer it is insurance against a fire ban.
As far as weight savings go, for a 4 day trip we would come out ahead leaving the hatchet and saw behind and just using the stove, but where’s the fun in that?
Fire On long kayaking trips in Southeast Alaska we take a canister and an ultrlight stove in case we need to warm someone up while the fire is starting. We’ve never had to use the canister stove. We use fire for all of our meals and tea. The same for backpacking.
On the rare occasions we are in a national park that forbids fire, we use the stove. Fire is easier, lighter and more predictable than a stove.
stove or fire The longer the trip the more you need multiple systems. Stoves are handy for quick stops, wet weather, places with little fuel, and fire danger.
Cooking with wood is rewarding most of the time when it is legal.
How bout a wood stove On pretty much every trip kayak or backpacking I take either my pocket rocket or Esbit and also my Emberlite wood stove. I tend to use my Emberlite more than the others and bring minimal fuel to save weight or space and use them as a backup. Part of the fun of the trip is the hunt for firewood.
Well… … learning to make decent meals over a pocket rocket with bags of dehydrated food is a challenge in itself. It also teaches preperation and planning by packing the meals and conserving fuel. Since most often I am camping with scouts it is a lot eaiser on everyone if they canoe like they backpack.
Any idiot can burn a hot dog over a fire, it takes a special kind of idiot like me to make red beans and rice with beef or chicken alfredo in 5 min with a pocket rocket. This summers mission, jumbalaya.
Anyway, most of the places we go are national forest, or private where we get permission from the owners and only leave bent grass behind. Best way to get invited back is to treat their stuff better than you treat your own.
One thing about W&C canoes is, they’ll burn in a stove, leaving very little residue. Not like those nasty composite boats that leave fiberglass shards to get in your lungs when you haul the ashes.
Usually When I’m with my wife I will sometimes take an alcohol stove. But when I’m by myself I’m stove less. When on the water or backpacking, I prefer this method. And while paddling or walking all day I’d just rather snack. With some snacks every two to three hours I never want a meal.
Often I’m always looking for ways to simplify the entire trip experience. Leaving the stove behind is one of the ways. A stove is a hindrance at breakfast time, when you want to be paddling in the quiet morning hours. And cooking creates a lot of fuss and mess at suppertime, when you’re tired and just want to sit and enjoy the sunset, and prepare for the next day’s paddle.
A long long time ago… A long time ago in my youth, before my friends and I could afford a backpack stove, we cooked exclusively by campfire. We camped rain or shine and ate many late meals by punky smoldering fires fueled by wet wood.
Then the wealthiest among us acquired a Coleman single burner liquid gas stove. THAT changed our level of comfort immensly. We only used it for emergencies and that allowed us to only carry a minimal amount of fuel. When it rained or when we arrived at camp late in the darkness of night or simply too exhausted, we would use that gas stove. It was a Godsent.
Today, I cook mostly by liquid gas stove. I appreciate the minimal imprint on my camp. If we desire to stare into a flame, I use a candle.
