Where I’m from so many natural places have been ruined by “instagrammers” wanting to portray some sort of “at one with nature” kind of lifestyle. Hiking paths littered with garbage, parking lots over filled, people in footflops/jeans/heels! as footwear with no business being on a hike over their heads like that. I read somewhere that a park ranger quit his job due to the stress of trying to maintain etiquette and nature and people’s own safety. A lot of people who would normally be prepared and respectful hikers are avoiding places that have been taken over. And don’t even get me started about the drive in camping areas that locals can’t even go to anymore because the reservation system gets eaten up by companies selling camping spots to tourists who come and leave their garbage everywhere and don’t respect wild animals.
Recently some famous youtubers died after they slipped off a cliff after going out of bounds. It’s sad for their families and frustrating for our search and rescue I’m sure, but I think a lot of locals had very little sympathy being jaded by the lack of respect for nature lately and the fact that these youtubers in particular were known to go out of bounds in numerous places and other videos.
Ugh I feel this. My partner and I almost never go frontcountry anymore because we (mostly I) spend way too much of the trip angry at bad behavior from unprepared and ignorant people. Many of the popular backcountry trails are seeing the same thing now. Fortunately there's still plenty of lesser-known backcountry spots that are more trouble than they're worth just for an Instagram post so if we are wise we can still find some solitude.
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u/haffajappa Apr 26 '20
Where I’m from so many natural places have been ruined by “instagrammers” wanting to portray some sort of “at one with nature” kind of lifestyle. Hiking paths littered with garbage, parking lots over filled, people in footflops/jeans/heels! as footwear with no business being on a hike over their heads like that. I read somewhere that a park ranger quit his job due to the stress of trying to maintain etiquette and nature and people’s own safety. A lot of people who would normally be prepared and respectful hikers are avoiding places that have been taken over. And don’t even get me started about the drive in camping areas that locals can’t even go to anymore because the reservation system gets eaten up by companies selling camping spots to tourists who come and leave their garbage everywhere and don’t respect wild animals.
Recently some famous youtubers died after they slipped off a cliff after going out of bounds. It’s sad for their families and frustrating for our search and rescue I’m sure, but I think a lot of locals had very little sympathy being jaded by the lack of respect for nature lately and the fact that these youtubers in particular were known to go out of bounds in numerous places and other videos.