Mother Nature

What is it about being in the great outdoors and absorbing the beauty that we are presented with –  the beautiful land forms, structures, mesas, sunsets, rivers, lakes, streams, and mountains?  It is the feeling of peace.  Our National Parks system, containing public lands and encompassing remote areas, delivers that peace in a major way.  There are no highways running through the ecosystems with cars barreling by, no strip malls, Starbucks, and office parks. I think all of us deep down crave this nourishment that the National Parks deliver.   Time enough outside helps us to connect with nature in an intentional way – these experiences are a doorway into this connection. When you notice even a tree, a small wildflower, or a majestic canyon,  you become aware of the presence of nature as a whole. These magical moments that you don’t prepare for, can creep up on you and fill your soul. You feel that Nature is not just a collection of trees and rocks and animals, but is a presence unto herself, and you are part of it.  These are the deliverable goods that our National Park system renders.

I am finding, however, that these experiences are becoming a thing of the past, not irretrievable but something that requires a concerted effort to produce.   There are hordes of people who want to have that same experience as you,  who are seeking the comfort that only a stunning canyon, a vast mountain range, or a dense forest can deliver.  As individuals cram for this precious time, a competition beings to develop between us which causes the stress to creep in – what time should we go to the park – can we get there first before anyone else – will there be enough parking?   This turns what should be an enticing day into a logistical nightmare.  It’s no different from lining up for concert tickets, or arriving at a good restaurant early just to get a good seat.

I had a similar experience while hiking in Utah at Arches National Park.  We specifically avoided Arches during the day due to the crowds of visitors.  We pulled into the park around 5:30 pm, looking forward to a less crowded late afternoon/early evening hike accompanied by a gorgeous sunset.  While hiking towards delicate arch,  as we marveled at the stone structures in the distance, we couldn’t help but notice the line of people hiking up the steep incline towards the rocks.   We made it up the trail to the delicate arch, and while there were probably only 40 people up top, we had to wait in line to take a picture of us standing beneath it.  I tried to experience solitude and beauty and drink it all in, but I had to actively tune out a theme park type noise – people laughing, running around, and yelling “Take my picture – I’m under the arch!”  I was happy to be there but it took a concerted effort on my part to appreciate all the beauty I was seeing.  I felt it was compromised in some way by people.

After Arches, we purposefully sought a more obscure hike at Horseshoe Canyon. Annexed into the Canyonlands in 1971, the canyon is a 2 1/2 hour drive from the entrance to the park, with 30 miles of dirt roads.  The hike was nine miles roundtrip with a steep descent and a steep climb back up at the end of the hike.   What made this hike special was that there were just a handful of us scattered throughout the trail.   Words cannot describe how peaceful and tranquil the afternoon was.  We didn’t talk much, and heard the sounds of running water, the wind through the trees, and the call of the Black Throated Gray Warbler.  We marveled at the rugged piñon pine growing out of solid slick rock, meandered through the breathtaking deep canyon that literally dropped suddenly out of the desert, and hiked aimlessly along the riverbed while gazing at magnificent sandstone spires and cliffs.  We just stared at the petroglyphs in total silence, and had a picnic lunch under these stone structures which house these drawings that go back 3,000 years.  We had time to commune, we had time to let the beauty of the place sneak up on us and envelope us with awe and wonder.  This was the experience I craved, and so worth our efforts to find it.

In 1916, when the National Park Service was created, there were a dozen national parks, visited by 326,506 people. Today, 412 parks cover more than 84 million acres and last year were visited more than 307 million times last year.  Some of the most congested places — Zion,  Acadia, Grand Canyon and Yosemite are seeking solutions for the overcrowded conditions with visitors to park their cars near the entrances and tour the park in shuttle buses.  Other approaches to limiting daily visitors, from increasing entry fees or requiring reservations, have been implemented, and I have been told that Arches National Park is considering a lottery  for park entrance tickets.  All these policies, should they be implemented, will have to be balanced against the founding idea that these parks exist for the public’s benefit and enjoyment.