No apologies are warranted. Not in the least.

I understood your intentions and I understand your view on fires. You made it clear to me that you were speaking of your personal way of doing things.

My response is intended to address the broader issue of rather or not a campfire is "bad etiquette" and the fact that some backpackers do feel very strongly that it is, and how others might feel when they read opinions like yours, which might be easy to put in the context I refer to, as an admonishment. It's very similar to how foreigner's feel when americans go there and tell them "You're doing it all wrong" before they've even asked why they do things the way they do.

Personally, I don't get all freaked out when I see a fire ring. I do detest finding trash in them, but fire rings don't bother me in the least. I see them as a sign someone enjoyed themselves out there and I don't see a reason to let that bother me.

My personal preferences is to LNT and you can do that here with a small fire. I like knowing no one could tell I've camped somewhere, or at least not easily.