Fires on Santanoni???

[myselfnjit]

Hi
Are fires allowed in the santanoni range? I no that they aren't in the Eastern High Peaks but I wasen't sure what this was considered. Also, are bear canisters required there?

[lumberzac]

Fires are allowed in the Santanoni Range. Bear canisters aren't, but not a bad idea as it really isn't that far from the eastern zone where bears were a problem in the past.

[myselfnjit]

Thanks for the info, I usually just bear bag, but the canisters are easy access.

[Skyclimber]

Aren't the bears still hibernating?

[lumberzac]

Aren't the bears still hibernating?

With the warm weather we've been having I imagine some of them are out and about, plus there is a certain pine marten that hangs out at the lean-to looking for an easy meal.

[myselfnjit]

With the warm weather we've been having I imagine some of them are out and about, plus there is a certain pine marten that hangs out at the lean-to looking for an easy meal.

Yeah, will bag my food for sure, definatly not willing to go hungry and end up with a hole in my tent.

[Mavs00]

I think that Zach's right. I read an article once (Adk life I think??) about bear denning in Winter. Turns out its pretty spotty in many parts of the park. Some will den in late Oct. and stay til early April, some won't ever fully den, even in the worst winters. Some den, but come out periodically during warm ups (and there have been plenty this year).

In the end though, I think that Zach is also correct that your bigger issue will be Martins. Those little suckers are crafty as heck and improperly stored food certainly risks visitor.

If your planning to use the Bradley lean-to, down and dead pickins' can be quite slim there, Last time I was there, it was pretty deviod of useable material.

[redhawk]

Bear hibernation depends on food availability more than weather. If there is an availabilty of food all through the winter, bears often do not hibernate.

[Neil]

Most of the remains of fires I see around lean-to's are pathetic little affairs that have sunk into little "smoke holes" in front of the LT. It's easy to imagine clouds of smoke swirling around inside the LT but no heat whatsoever. I've seen charred front logs on LT's from people who built then close to get some of that elusive heat.

Here's what I would do:
Find a spot away from the LT and dig a nice living area right down to the ground. 2 people can accomplish this in 15 minutes. Now you have a proper fireplace and living room with a decent windbreak. Walk well away from the LT before even beginning to look for good wood. Don't worry, you'll find tons of it. Use a real bucksaw and spend at least an hour sawing good logs and hauling them back to camp. Harvest a giant sized pile of dry sticks (lower dead branches) off the trees. During the hike in grab some birch bark - go off the trail a ways to get it and don't strip the tree so as to kill it.

Plan on doing all your cooking, lounging, drying wet stuff etc. around the fire and use the LT only for sleeping. Bring an army surplus type pair of pants and a shirt or jacket to catch the sparks from the fire or kiss that expensive goretex outfit good-by.

Your fire should be big enough so that you don't have to huddle around it like a survivor to stay warm, burning your knees while you freeze your nose. You want to recline in dignified repose only haveing to feed the fire perodically.

Cover or bring into the LT enough bark and dry sticks to easily and quickly get a 5 foot wall of flame going in the morning so you can dress beside it.

Time consuming? Yes, but if I was just interested in peakbagging I wouldn't sleep out, I would dayhike.
See what I mean here.

edit: I mention using a LT but with a fire like that it would be better to bring a tent and camp somewhere else where no one will see your fire ring the following summer. (I have revisited the following summer multi-night winter camp sites where we have had memorable fires and believe it or not it was hard to find where we had the fire.)