Heather's Triple Crown Stove

The Triple Crown Stove

by Heather Anderson

Heather's TC stove The “zip” stove in the Campmor catalogue looked like a dream come true. It had a fan and could be fueled with any combustible fuel from pinecones to dry leaves, grass, sticks, hay, whatever one could find. What could be better for a multi-month adventure in the woods stretching from Georgia to Maine?

By the time I reached Hot Springs, NC I knew that the zip stove had to go. I had successfully used it about 3 times in as many weeks. The soot and pitch from burning pine cones had coated my pot with a thick layer of crud that managed to find its way onto everything. And it took forever to cook anything on it. Quite frankly I was tired of eating raw instant rice after a long day of hiking and raw instant oats mixed with a little cold water in the morning. Oh, and it weighed a full pound. I checked into my room at Elmer’s, showered, and then dumped everything from my grossly overweight pack onto the bed. The stove, a heavy rope, my tent…it all had to go. Even the pack wasn’t safe as I took my knife to it.

Once things were hiker boxed or mailed away I was left wondering how I was going to make tuna mac once I was again on the trail. That’s when I met Less Than Chris, whom I had just trail named. He told me about this amazing thing called an alcohol stove.

“It weighs like an ounce and you can burn denatured alcohol or HEET in it. It’ssuper efficient and boils water in no time.”

I was starting to piece together the purpose of the yellow bottles and the partially used jugs of denatured alcohol that had been loitering in and around the hiker boxes as he set his up and poured HEET into it.

“You mean you just pour some in and light it?” I was somewhat incredulous as he torched his.

“I’ll make you one tonight. I just need to go buy some beer.”

Now, years later, I know that for constructing even the most complex alcohol stove two empty cans are sufficient, but Less Than still purchased a 24 pack. 20 beers later his attempts at stove making were proving less than efficient. He decided to coach me in the construction. Eventually the cans were nested and the stove was pronounced “done.” It was dented, crimped and lopsided. There was no pot stand. I left Less Than to the last 4 beers and went to bed. I needed to get out of town first thing in the morning—with or without a functioning stove. After all, at the time I still liked bagels and strawberry frosted pop tarts.

In the morning I packed up, leaving with about half the base weight I came in with and went to Bluff Mountain Outfitter’s to pick up a last minute item or two. When I walked in there IT was. Painted black and clean and small and light…with a built in pot stand. If a shaft of light from heaven had illuminated it on the shelf it could not have been more obvious that I was meant to have it. I paid the ridiculous price that it cost and left town happy. No more eating raw instant rice for me!

It worked perfectly. I soon became adept at finding the last bottle of HEET in any store, or any hiker box. By New Hampshire I was glad for the ability to make tea every morning, even if I wasn’t stopping to cook food very often. When the trail ended, most of my gear was tossed, but not the stove. It was dented, but functional and when the time came to set out from Campo two years later it was the only repeat piece of gear in my pack. By Manning it was even more dented and the bottom had a bit of rust—but it still worked. So it hardly seemed right to leave it at home when the CDT beckoned the following spring.

My Triple Crown alcohol stove. It’s been through a lot in its life time, making many additional trips besides the “big 3”. It still works, though there is a lot of rust on the bottom and the dents make the casual observer wonder if it’s possible to get a good burner effect. In fact I sometimes wonder if I should retire it, but then I think about all the ridiculous moments I’ve had cooking with it. From the first attempt with resulted in way too much flame, to the time I caught myself on fire (but didn’t realize it) and the inevitable moments that the pot slid off the stand and I ate cheesy noodles garnished with pine needles and dirt, cooking atop Forester Pass and making tea at sunrise before climbing Mt. Whitney, its friendly glow in the deep dusk on days that we ran out of day to cook before stopping for the night. It’s strange in some ways that a simple piece of gear can have such sentimental value, but then again there was never a day on any of the trails that I didn’t eat (with one exception) and the stove was there at least one out of every three of those daily events. So much of a hiker’s happiness revolves around the food that he or she eats and having a reliable piece of gear to make those meals is the ultimate in mental comfort. Before I hike this summer I’ll be making a new pot stand, one that hopefully is tip proof, provided such a thing can actually exist, but the same stove will go with me…to the Cascades and on the Sierra High Route, perhaps even to Vancouver Island and the Olympics, and on and on, until the bottom rusts away completely.

Less Than, you introduced me to something that has been far more than I ever could have expected and I am thankful.

The 2009 ALDHAWest Gathering September 25-27

The 2009 ALDHAWest Gathering will be held September 25-27 at Camp Arrah Wannah in Welches, OR. Featured keynote speaker will be Scott Williamson. Watch for more details and information.

Register early and save!

We are in the process of creating on-line Gathering Registration and Membership. At present the feature is not functional, but you can download and mail in the Gathering Registration form (pdf) and send the total amount via PayPal. Use the link and send your payment to aldha-westtreasurer@comcast.net

artist

Special art work for this year's Gathering information.

Posters with artist Will Bruno's hiker painting and information about the 2009 gathering will be distributed to the media, trail communities, and related organizations. If you know of locations in your area where a poster can be placed, contact Heather Anderson at iamshoeless@hotmail.com

Two of the 15 fine art prints, signed by Portland artist Will Bruno, are still available. The cost is $60 each. Proceeds from the print sales will pay for advertising this year's gathering. If you want to order a print, contact Lana Holman .

Request for Contributions- No Money Involved!

ALDHAWest, being an all volunteer organization, is in need of content contributions for the Gazette publication and the web site. Most topics of interest to long distance hikers will be considered. Be sure to send pictures to be included in your material. We are capable of working with almost any formats that can be sent to us, although we do prefer electronic forms for ease of editing. To send material or for further information contact: Tom Magee, Gazette Editor or Bob Turner, Web Editor.

Other News

Request for Triple Crown recipient photos. If you are a past Triple Crown recipient and would like to have your photo included with the rest of the honorees please send the photo or digital image to Webmaster. Be sure to include your name and the years you completed the trails.

The 14th annual ALDHAWest Gathering will be held at Camp Arrah Wanna in Welches,OR, September 25-27. As usual the Gathering Coordinators, Heather and Yogi, and the ALDHAWest Board are already at work planning and organizing this year's event. Watch for further details.

Calendar Of Events

Date	Event
September 25-27, 2009	2009 ALDHA-West Gathering, Camp Arrah Wanna, Welches, OR
October, 2009	ALDHA 28th Annual Gathering