Part 1 of this series introduced the concepts of Leave No Trace Canada, and noted the 7 principles of Leave No Trace. So far, I’ve covered Planning Ahead, Travelling on Durable Surfaces, Proper Waste Disposal and Leaving what you Find. The fifth of these principles is “Minimize Campfire Impacts”.

Campfires and the outdoors are connected with each other, and for many people, it’s hard to envisage being anywhere without lighting a fire. Friends of mine light one every time they hike, even though they don’t use it for cooking (though the odd hot dog is burned on it occasionally).

When you think about it, campfires aren’t particularly useful or environmentally friendly. They’re often difficult to cook on even if you’re a “throw the meat right on the coals” kinda person. They’ll permanently blacken any pot you put on them (which will, in turn, blacken your backpack when you put it away). They’re hard to control, and require copious amounts of water to extinguish properly. They often generate smoke that seems (for me) to permanently impregnate your clothes. In the wrong conditions, like rain, they can be hard to light. The collection of deadfall for firewood is illegal in Provincial Parks and Recreation Areas, which generally get so many visitors, there would be no trees left if everyone broke off branches or picked sticks up off the ground. Without being taken apart properly, the evidence of a campfire will be there for decades and possibly forever. Many people appear to believe you can burn garbage in a fire pit; nope, it doesn't work, so most fire pits are burned up garbage cans. Getting firewood into designated backcountry campsites is expensive for Parks. Burning wood releases more CO2 per BTU of heat than burning any kind of camp stove fuel. For some people, the idea of a campfire is two logs quietly burning in a fire ring, while for others, the same word means a four-foot tall blazing pile of wood and brush. Stoves have none of these problems.

But despite the benefits of camp stoves over fires, many people still have fires. Some believe fire is a predator defender, keeping away bears or mosquitos. Some just like to sit around them, or enjoy the warmth you just can’t get by huddling around an MSR WhisperLite stove (which are also hard to roast marshmallows on). And so, some make the decision to have a campfire.

The most important consideration to be made when deciding to use a fire is the potential damage to the area where you are, in the front or backcountry. One study showed 46 million Americans camp each year, and 73% of those camp within 400 m of their car. To Leave No Trace means that you need to think about those thousands coming next, using fire pits or rings that are provided, and not collecting wood or forest floor debris where it is not permitted. That usually means bringing a fire starter, such as cotton balls coated with Vaseline (which are both very effective and light with just a spark even in the rain) rather than collecting twigs.

Even in the Public Land Use Zones or Wildland Parks, where collection and burning of deadfall is permitted, careful selection of that deadfall is important. Standing dead cannot be burned; that could be (and usually is) habitat for birds, ants, moths and bugs, and needs to be left. Limbs can’t be broken off standing dead for the same reason. Look to see if there sufficient wood where you are so its removal will not be noticeable. Some areas of K-Country, like Picklejar Lakes, are almost denuded of deadfall by the number of campers there over the years.

The selection of a place to have your fire is important. A lot of people build (and leave behind) rock rings, but that’s actually a poor strategy. Rocks from streambeds may have entrained water, and could explode. Rocks are slow to warm up, can be damp to start, and are hard to cool down when your fire is done. After your fire, the rocks will be permanently blackened, which leaves a lot of “trace” when you’re trying to leave none. Set on bare ground, a rock ring fire will burn off and kill the ground vegetation, leaving a long lasting scar. And if you do make a rock ring, it’s really important to scatter the rocks when you’re done and not leave them for everyone coming after to see. I regularly volunteer with Parks to go and break apart fire rings people leave behind (they leave a lot of them); all of the photos in this article (including the one at the top) are of backcountry fire rings (most illegal) taken while doing just that kind of clean up work. Many are filled with partially burned trash, like the one above left.

FAR better than a rock ring is a mound fire. Basically, you build up a mound of mineral soil about 4” tall, and build your fire on that. Get the soil for the mound from an existing disturbed part of ground; earth exposed in the hole created by a fallen tree is perfect (and we have a LOT of fallen trees in K-Country to choose from). Alternately, you can build on a bare patch of mineral soil -- if you're certain there's nothing under it. The soil mound insulates the ground so you don’t start an underground fire. When your fire has burned down to ash, the ash mixes with the soil and fertilizes it. The now nutrient rich soil is easily spread, and the plants under the little soil that remain after you’ve spread it can grow right up through it. The photo at right is of a mound fire (surrounded by an unnecessary rock ring).

In K-Country, building a fire on a rock outcrop is a poor strategy. Again, the rock will end up with a permanent black mark, and you’ll kill the thousand-year-old lichens clinging to the rock.

With back country campfires, it’s critical to keep them small and burn them entirely down to ash rather than putting them out while they still look like logs. Those partially burned up big logs like the ones pictured at right? They basically will never break down; the carbon won’t let water in to rot what’s left of the log. That’s why you can see evidence of burned trees in recovering forest fire locations for hundreds of years. In fact, a great rule is that if you can’t break the wood by hand over your knee, it’s too big to burn. Leftover wood? Don’t pile it up: scatter it. You’re not leaving a place natural by leaving a fire ring and pile of wood in that random campsite.

Again, camp stoves have none of these problems. They’re light, dependable, fast, efficient, good for the environment, and really do Leave No Trace. But if you insist on having a fire, it's not that hard to leave no trace with those, too.