Given environmental considerations and the amount of rain faced by Northwest hikers, meals are usually cooked over camp stoves.
But there are times when a campfire is called for, particularly in those damp situations where warmth means the difference between a miserable night and some sleep, or the difference between being cold and being hypothermic.
If you’re a lost day hiker who has to hunker down for the night, a fire may be a matter of life or death, or a signaling issue.
Creative hikers have made their own fire starters that will help ignite damp material or start a fire in high winds, or bought commercial aids (Storm Lighter, Strike Force, Ultimate Survival Blast Match, Spark-Lite).
Homemade fire starters include wax-coated cardboard, cotton balls with petroleum jelly, aluminum wool, birthday candles and dry lint covered with melted wax.
There’s always sap from trees, of course. Or Grizzly Firestarters from Marysville.
Ken and Angela Staab (and a few employees) make environmentally safe (no toxic chemicals) fire starters that generate a 6- to 8-inch-tall flame and will burn for more than 18 minutes.
"If the wood’s wet … it will actually dry out a spot on the wood and ignite it and the fire will spread to the rest of the wood," Ken Staab said.
Picture a 2-ounce tarter-sauce cup filed with kiln-dried sawdust and wax.
The Staabs have been involved with the product for 10 years, working primarily from a small shed at their home.
"My wife made them back in Girl Scouts," Staab said. "I got the idea from a state policeman down in Lacey who was making them for himself and friends."
They needed an income flow so his then-pregnant wife could quit work and stay home with their child. The Staabs sold fire-starters at county fairs and bazaars before moving into stores and mail order.
They now produce about 250,000 fire starters a year, buying wax by the ton and kiln-dried alder sawdust from a nearby mill to create six-packs ($2) and bags of up to 300 fire-starters.
"We’re working with a couple of (fire) log manufacturers, putting them in with the energy logs … and stove manufacturers on the East Coast who will send out their stoves with Grizzly Firestarters."
The Staabs sometimes take the business on the road, camping and selling in campgrounds, so it’s not all work and no play.
If you’re thinking stocking stuffers for campfires or wood stoves, call 800-720-1941 or 360-659-3948.
Snowmobiling is in full swing on the Mount Baker District of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
Some Forest Service roads have been closed to wheeled vehicles to protect snowmobile and cross-country ski trails.
Call first to check the status of these roads:
Baker Lake Area: Loomis Nooksack Road No. 12, Schriebers Meadows Road No. 13, Anderson Creek Road No. 1107.
Northfork Nooksack Area: Canyon Creek Road No. 31, Glacier Creek Road No. 39, Razor Hone Road No. 3070 (cross-country skiing), Anderson Road No. 3071 (cross-country skiing).
Finney Creek Area: Finney Creek Road No. 17, Segelson Road No. 18.
The roads are also part of the state Sno-Park system and require a permit. Snowmobilers receive a free permit when they register their snowmobiles.
For more information, call the ranger station in Sedro-Woolley at 360-856-5700.
If you play in the snow while ignoring the issue of avalanches, at least take the minimalist approach, read Sue Ferguson’s and Edward LaChapelle’s third edition of "The ABCs of Avalanche Safety" (Mountaineers Books).
At $7.95, it’s not an issue of money. With pocket-size pages, it’s not an issue of overwhelming amounts of information. And at 143 pages, it’s not an issue of time-consuming study.
So for your sake, your family’s sake, and for the sake of future rescuers, spend the dime, take the time.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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