Sarge47
08-19-2010, 12:00 PM
The campfire; the best part of camping, is vanishing from the face of American wilderness camping, and thats a shame! Its been a joyous part of the camping as long as I can remember. It involves all of our 5 senses. It is warm to the touch, and can keep hypothermia at bay as well as dry out your clothes & yourself. The aroma of the wood smoke not only stands alone as an aromatic beacon, but additionally adds a special flavor to the food you cook over itadding to the sense of taste. It lifts even the lowest morale by its cheerful existence, and is a joy to watch its flickering flames as they dart quickly around the fuel. Its Snap, Crackle, & Pop" is better than the breakfast cereal. The modern teeny tiny cooking stoves are a poor substitute for the campfire; once theyve done their brief job they're quickly extinguished to conserve a rapidly vanishing fuel supply, whereas the fire constantly keeps going, giving you a way to clean-up the woods by throwing the dead limbs & twigs you find into its warming mass. Its glowing coals exist long after the flames have retired in a peaceful slumber, only to revive when more fuel is added. It has a variety of uses: warming, drying, cooking, signaling, lifting morale, etc.. Because of ignorant &/or neglectful campers &/or deliberate abuses; The campfire has been outlawed in many of the American forests; being replaced with their small, metallic rivals. Its face is vanishing from our woodland experience and thats a big loss for the American Camper. It makes me sad! :cool2: