People love to explore and go on adventures to beautiful areas. It is a pastime I share as well being raised to love the outdoors through Boy Scouts as a kid. While there are many of us, there are few that really understand how much we can have an impact on the land around us while hiking, running, camping, etc…
I have posted several blogs about how we impact the land like “Leave No Trace” and “Conservation vs Preservation”, but I haven’t done as much of showing real world examples. When people start to go to a location the effects are minimal at first like a trail being where there once wasn’t one, but over time, the consequences become more evident and irreversible.
The Example:
One of the once more hidden gems of the gorge area is being slowly trampled and overrun. The waterfall has had a viewpoint built in for a long time now as well as a rope going to the base of the falls. This waterfall has been well known for a long time! However, the location was not the most convenient nor the route down too easy.
As of late last year when the Gorge area was severely damaged in a wildfire this particular location has gained more and more attention. While the moss that was once everywhere here is being slowly squashed by foot traffic it is still one of only a handful of large accessible waterfalls to see in the area that remains untouched by fire.
Correction: it was one of the few that remains untouched by fire.
It was not burned completely. The actual view of the falls is still equally beautiful. There are several trees, though with the outer bark turned into charcoal that probably happened late in 2017 when someone decided to have a campfire here. It is unfortunate that this location too, may be not long for this world due to overcrowding and disrespectful people.