Petdad

I think that anyone who likes camp, I mean really camp, in the mountains enjoys the campfire tradition. I have never been camping without seeing everyone in the entire campsite, sit by the campfire in the morning, and especially in the evening to cap off the day.

Ok, I understand. I understand that we are in another drought and water must be limited. I understand as a result, the necessity for National Parks in California to ban campfires for all campers this summer, they have done it before.

However this understanding is not without disappointment. We had already planned our yearly Summer camping trip. We had already made our campsite reservations albeit pre-COVID reservations were not necessary. We jumped through the reservation hoops and we diligently trolled the reservation website for DAYS to reserve a campsite spot. We also had already purchased a lot of our camping trip groceries.

Yesterday, we received an email from the reservation site stating that beginning July 1, ALL campfires are banned due to fire restrictions. There will be no campsite campfires. There will be no smore making at the campfire. There will be no connection time with your loved one, or new friends by the campfire because there will be no campfires.

Lousy.

The campfire is part of the overall camping experience. For us, without the campfire staple, decisions must be made. Anyone who likes to camp, I mean really camp, understands that we have begrudgingly cancelled our camping reservations for 2021.

Sigh. Last year – COVID, campsites closed. The previous year – ear surgery for Bonnie, no dirt or water. This year – campfire restrictions. Hopefully the summer of 2022 will be without restrictions or reason for cancellation.

We need to not have yearly droughts. We need predictable precipitation so that yearly droughts are the exception, and not the norm. We need an environmental miracle. Mother Nature, are you listening?