What did we learn this summer and fall? We learned that people who’d been cooped up, thanks to COVID-19, flocked to our national parks and forests. Once there, many were eager to empty their bucket list of must-do activities in the outdoors.
Consequences ranged from overflowing parking lots, lots of litter and human waste and illegal pets on and off the trails, to campers parking anywhere they wanted, copious graffiti and calls for multiple rescues. At Grand Canyon alone, the summer rescue count exceeded all of last year’s. Visitation on public lands increased as much as 50 percent this summer, while at the same time, enforcement budgets had been slashed.
That makes me propose some bucket-list suggestions that might seem like plain old common sense. First, while chasing fulfillment of your list, approach the outdoors like a designated adult and learn what rules apply. Second, make sure you are trackable – and not because you leave a trail of trash or discarded water bottles. Third, do not under any circumstances celebrate your love or anything else by scratching your name on rocks or onto a tree.
Why must I pick up a person’s detritus or erase their doodles? One big item on my list is to go hiking without playing housemaid to others.
Instead of “things to do before I kick the bucket,” maybe think of “things to do that dump more things into the bucket.”
One young miscreant informed me that she did not know that she was doing anything wrong, everyone else was doing it, and it was a “non-enforceable” law. I suppose if a law enforcement ranger does not observe someone breaking the law it is difficult, though not impossible, to get a conviction. The same can be said for shoplifting, DUIs, or even murder. Somehow that does not make any of those things right.
A big problem with bucket lists is that some goals require a certain level of fitness or expertise, and fulfillment becomes problematic if one lacks either of these qualities. The same people who would quail at running a marathon believe that hiking Half Dome — 16 miles round trip, 4,800 feet of elevation — or climbing Long’s Peak —15 miles round trip, 3,825 feet — will be a walk in the park.
Hiking or running rim-to-rim at Grand Canyon is a big goal for lists. This involves starting at one rim or the other and hiking 21 to 24 miles with an elevation change of 11,000 feet. To get the whole “oh wow” reaction from one’s peers, the goal is to complete this in one day.
I watched rangers plead with one rim-to-rim woman at the bottom of the Canyon to abort her run. She was disoriented and on the verge of blacking out. They offered her a bed in the clinic so she could finish the next day. But, no, she had to finish that day or it would not be marked off her bucket list. She staggered off and had to be rescued two hours later.
How often do we read of climbers on Everest who vanish into the void because they have to summit or die? I do not think the goal of a bucket list is to kick the bucket while accomplishing it.
Checking off items on a list also seems self-limiting. Done with that, what’s next? At Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii, I once drove out at sunset to see the lava fall into the sea. Then we hiked to where we could view the active crater. If we’d had a bucket, it needed to get lots bigger.
Maybe a bucket list could be more of a rabbit hole, with each branch leading to another adventure. One of our rangers tells tourists that visiting the Grand Canyon can change one’s vacation plans forever. First they need to see it. Then they need to hike down. Then they need to spend the night. Then they hear about another trail. They become explorers in no time.
Instead of “things to do before I kick the bucket,” maybe think of “things to do that dump more things into the bucket.”
Meanwhile, whatever we do while enjoying the public lands, and reconnecting with nature, we can show as much respect as we would a friend’s backyard — even if our fun is non-enforceable.
Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. She is an educator at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Top photo: Anqi Lu/Unsplash
Thanks for a responsible well written article. AJ needs more content like this, encouraging people to get outside and respect our environment.
Let’s go Marjorie
Let’s go Marjorie
Let’s go Marjorie
Let’s go Marjorie
Let’s go Marjorie
You get the country you voted for.
I just wanted to take a second to thank you for your article. As someone who works educating visitors to Yellowstone, it’s become more and more common for everyone to have their lists of animals and activities that they simply check off when complete. I’m not here to tell anyone how to enjoy themselves, but I feel that the bigger picture is often missed. I’ve had trouble putting this thought into words and your writing definitely helped with that. Thank you so much for your words. I’ll be looking for more of your writing!
To greatly over simplify… I think there is an enjoy nature mentality, and a conquer nature mentality.
I’m not much interested in conquering nature. And I think much of the bucket list culture fits into that category.
My new bucket list includes avoiding all national parks.
That photo looks like a trail in Bryce where in 2018 we caught a couple eight or nine year olds throwing pebbles and rocks from the top, out into the canyon. We told them to stop, because they may hit somebody on the switchbacks below. They ran down one switchback and continued to throw rocks downcanyon. Where were the parents/guardians? The Modern Rule of Thumb in America: YOU CAN’T TEACH COMMON SENSE.
’tis indeed Bryce.
I read the article and was in complete agreement, but I have also been on that exact trail at Bryce Canyon, so it is possible, albeit unlikely that I am part of the problem.
I wonder how much the problem of visitors with unrealistic expectations is fed by the national park services meeting many of those expectations.
For example, I was at Isle Royale National Park, and had a plan to hike the island in about a week, which by my estimation was a fairly easy route and trip. When I handed my plan off to a Ranger, he tried to talk me out of it, the route was very difficult, I could get lost, there were easier ways, rescues are difficult, weather can be dangerous… I started to second guess myself, but ultimately decided to forge ahead. It turns out it was easy, and in the whole week, I lost the trail once, for about 20 minutes. It was one of the nicest trails I have ever hiked, plenty of trail markings, cairns on the ridges, nice wide trails, literally a walk in the park.
Like visitors with limited skills and big expectations drive the park to make things as easy as possible for them, which reinforces their expectations that things are easier than one expects. Now this only goes so far, like they can’t make the depth of the grand canyon change. In general though, if there is a prominent feature that is high on the list for tourists, it is generally easy enough for the general public.
Seriously! Who made you the queen of all things outdoorsy. I would agree that there are quite a bit of stupid people traipsing around our national parks. Miscreatant? You sound like a Karen
Rhett, I believe you are missing the point. ‘Leave No Trace’ principles are the norm in the outdoor recreation industry so that we can preserve the nature of the outdoors for future generations.
Consider that some people look at scenes like the Tetons, Half Dome, or the Grand Canyon with a sense of artistic wonderment. Whether you believe it’s part of Creation, or the result of eons of natural forces shaping the land – or something in between – the thoughts and feelings these scenes can provoke are incredible. In many of the same ways, these landscapes connect with us on a level similar to timeless paintings. I’d never think to carve or sign my initials on the Mona Lisa, or the remnants of a lost civilization, so why would I do so in these natural places? Who am I doing it for?
I’m of the mindset that you should always ask yourself, “Why am I doing this? Have I considered my actions?”
As an example, I can only imagine what another person would think if I were to point at some initials carved into a rock or tree, saying, “See that? Those are my initials. I was here in 2018. Cool, huh?” I’m going to guess that no one is going to see those initials in a National Park and think, “Wow, that’s awesome!” Even if someone does, it seems an odd way to share my experience with someone without forcing it on them. If I want to share that experience, I would need to physically take a person there and point it out, explaining its relevance. Doesn’t it make more sense to have photos, or a story to share that doesn’t require that person to make the trip instead? If a vast majority of other trail users are frustrated with my actions, why am I doing them? Is there something else I can do to accomplish the same goal without upsetting others or breaking the rules?
Don’t get me wrong – I’ve found carefully carved initials in obscure places in designated Wilderness areas and thought, “Huh, I wonder what their story is…” I don’t personally mind that as much, and sometimes it’s like finding a hidden shard of history. It does lose its novelty/curiosity when it’s the 100th carving I’ve seen in a 1/4-mile stretch. The same goes for graffiti. But everyone’s tolerance level is different for ‘Leave No Trace’. I personally snap some photos, maybe remove some recent deadfall from the trail while grabbing any pieces of trash on the way. That’s very rewarding for me to think of all the people who don’t have to clamber around a log or tree that was blocking the designated trail and I helped remove. Even better – I get to enjoy that thought every time I use that trail without anyone ever needing to know I was there.
I don’t think the author has said anything beyond these ‘Leave No Trace’ principles.
If your complaint is with the way the writer said these things, that’s something else altogether. I didn’t particularly enjoy their approach or assertions regarding motives. My wife and sister-in-law decided to hike the Grand Canyon early this past year. They had hoped to do the North Rim to South Rim trail. Despite planning months out, they realized too late that they would need backcountry overnight permits that take months or up to a year just to secure. Both being exceptionally fit, they opted for attempting the feat in a single stretch. I discouraged that and we came up with an alternative overnight route frequented by less people due to its heightened difficulty (Boucher and Hermit Trails). They were prepared physically and brought the approproate skills/gear for the route. The forecast on the eve of the trio showed temps would be in the 70s, maybe 80s.
An unexpected heat wave pushing triple digits creeped in on their first night. When they saw this news on our GPS communicator, they started early in the morning and attempted to get out of the canyon before temps peaked. The difficult nature of the route made it impossible for them to get out in time, and their filtered water soon ran dry several miles from and thousands of feet below the trailhead. The GPS communicator locked up (of course) and they were lucky to run into the only other hikers they ever saw. They assisted with stabilization and waited until nightfall to continue the climb out of the canyon.
This scenario makes something clear to me: some of the National Parks policies do cause other incidents to take place. Even with triple digits, I am confident my wife and sister-in-law could have made the North to South Rim in a day, but opted not to just to be more safe and avoid overnight restrictions. Not only that, but they didn’t want to do it in a day because it was never about checking it off a list of any sort. They just wanted to share an experience together at the canyon in a way that was safe and allowed their bodies rest. To do so, a feasible but much more risky/difficult route was ironically the only available option, resulting in rescue efforts being required. I would hardly attribute the temptation to do a daytrip Rim to Rim to narcissism or seeking peer approval. This article paints all who choose that option negatively and assumes too much about their motives. Instead, at least for Grand Canyon NP, a more efficient permitting system should be available that doesn’t take literal months while requiring physically mailing in the request for permits.
Using the term miscreant to describe those who leave behind their human waist and other garbage, is being polite to say the least. How about scum, dirt bag, slimeball, oh, wait….better yet, asshole. These self centered, entitled people, who must think that they can treat our cherished public lands as if it were their own private sewer, are despicable human beings. And scratching their names in stone for future generations to see is the height of self agrandisement and narcissism. Those who do such things aren’t worthy of the title…human being. They are the lowest of the animals.
The author is a park ranger whose job it is to enforce park rules and to keep all visitors safe. If a visitor makes a bad decision it is her job to help rescue the visitor – at times endangering her own safety. So the park system who runs the parks, made her “queen”
Who decided that you can do whatever you want, whenever, and where ever you want?
You can teach common sense, but you must tap into empathy and create an emotional connection for learning to take place.
I had the luck of getting the opportunity to check off one of my bucket list items. It was honestly immensely disappointing. Checking that box really didn’t have any appreciable impact on my life, and it certainly did nothing to make me feel more fulfilled. These days, I’m finding looking at things that are fulfilling seem to be much more intrinsically valuable (and often no less challenging) and don’t come at the expense of both my personal relationships or my relationship to nature.
I agree and don’t really have a planned bucket list. My bucket list is created after experiencing an unexpected pleasure as happened amazingly in New York City July 4th weekend this year. Not every experience is a “bucket list” item, but I try to make the best of all I do. Life is so wonderful not to. Just enjoy all, cherish the good and not so good experiences and learn from the bad.
I can’t agree with this article enough. There are simply too many amazing places to visit and things to experience without even having a bucket list. Now that everybody on Instagram has to visit the same places I am more than happy to find my own happy place somewhere that hasn’t been exploited yet. Unfortunately we are loving our parks to death.
As a native of Colorado who has cimbed 30 some of the state’s 14 ers, I decided a number of yeats ago that this bucket list was damaging the alpine ecosystem because of the numbers of people who have added this pursuit to their bucket list. Colorado has scores of peaks from 12,000 to 13,000+ feet to climb that receive little pressure from us climbers. Sumitting these peaks can be equally memorable with more solitude and much less impact. Bucket lists driven by social media can be environmentally very harmful!
The vagaries of youth aside (our younger selves are all likely all guilty of thoughtless, stoopid acts), correcting the bucket list checkbox mentality and preventing the casual defacing of rocks/trees are truly Sisyphean tasks until/unless we share a common understanding of our relationship to the rest of the universe. That understanding is in turn driven by our perspectives on how this all got here in the first place. Any thoughts on how to roll that stone to the top and keep it there?
If only we could install Idiot-Stupidity-Jerk Testers at each entrance. But what we could install…or more correctly “instill” is a campaign teaching respect, reverence, LNT, sacred land and a sense of awe when entering a park. Even if a reservation system is widely deployed you still need that respect.
Thanks AJ. Our most memorable outings are those without hashtags. We try to steer our clients away from the crowds, and will share this article to reinforce our stance.
In this digital age I still keep a physical photo album. I also journal. So I tend to look at my travels as less of a bucket list and more of a book and I want those pages many and that book thick when I eventually depart.
Sadly, I don’t believe most of the offenders referenced in this article are readers of Adventure Journal. You are preaching to choir here. Due to the pandemic and population pressure in general, there are ever increasing hordes exploring national parks and other public lands. Much of this population is new to the outdoors and have little sense of outdoor etiquette or respect for the natural environment. National parks while available to all are simply too easy to access. Signage is excellent, and the trails surrounding visitor centers require no skills or fitness to navigate. I know that sounds elitist but it is the truth. We are loving our lands to death. Reservation systems and such are inevitable. Make people walk into the National Parks. Social media is driving ever increasing stupid, ego fueled behavior as well. Fortunately most people are generally lazy and the vast majority will not take the time to venture beyond where the signs point them.
Your comment regarding becoming an explorer hit home with me. I had a knee replacement 10 years ago and began hiking the Grand Canyon the following year. The first trip (staying at Phantom Ranch) was awe inspiring for me. Since then, I have hiked over 500 backcountry miles in the canyon including the Nankoweep trail. I dragged my husband on a 2 week rafting trip (he actually loved it) and have escalated from 1-2 backpacking permits/year to 4-5. I’ve done rim to rim to rim…in 6 days. No one got hurt and we had a blast! The Grand Canyon is a very spiritual place and sacred ground to native peoples. Slow down and take the time to be immersed in it.
Agreed
Really appreciate your article! We were shocked last year on a TRNP/Yellowstone/Tetons trip to see the amount of trash – everywhere. And this year – not so much trash but hikers on 7-10 mile trails in Glacier without proper footwear or even water – “do you know how much further?” I will say the more places I see the longer my list gets.
Thank you for writing this article. We definitely need more responsibility and respect in the mountains and wilderness. Also, just so you know, Longs peak is 15 miles but is about 5000 vertical feet of climbing. 3700 just to the boulder field campsite.
I thought the same on photo. We just hiked it in June. Four seniors, two 74 and two 71-72. As rookies we had one 16 oz. Bottle of water. Did not know that “water at visitor center” meant bring your own container. 3+ miles and 4.5 hours later we we finished, I consider very luckily. A young family provided two bottles of gatorade on the way back up, recognizing one of the “Girls” was suffering, Took our time. Will know better next time. Great memory now that we luckily survived.
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Rangers are needed inside the park, not only at gates and visitor centers.
People need to SEE someone I S. W A T C H I N G.
On my 3+ mile, 4.5 “adventure” noted above in Bryce Canyon, I only saw one Ranger on the trail? Seemed odd but likely not. Was in June so a busy season. Maybe ask the current Congress to hire more Rangers and other Parks employees rather than the more proposed IRS agents to squeeze tax dollars out of the taxpayers to use on questionable purposes.
It’s not unusual. I used to volunteer in Bryce. You’d hardly see a ranger on the trail – especially deep into the trail. The same goes for most parks. You’re most likely to see them in the parking lot at popular trailheads but you’re not going to be running into them. It is part of the larger problem. As much as I don’t want to see a “police force” on the trails, there needs to be better monitoring and enforcement.
Maybe they should hand out tote bags for hikers to “keep their world clean” and pick up trash on the way.
It’s still better for ppl to get off the couch and have time enjoying actual nature. Maybe they’ll fall in love with hiking, clean it up, hit more trails. We all started somewhere!
I’m triggered.
I would like to recognize the many, including many young people who are enjoying our National and State Parks and treating them with respect. That is the majority of folks. Same for other attractions, public and private. Just common sense and deciency.
We were in Arches this summer and a group of European foreigners were knocking down the Cairns that mark the trails. We silently reassembled them as they stared at us .I don’t know if they are ignorant or disrespectful either way not cool
I’d bet ignorance, not malice. It was a couple years of hiking out west until I learned why there were always piles of rocks on certain types of trails. Growing up where trails were self-evident paths through grass/trees I’d had no experience with cairns as a trail guide.
Just common sense in general has gone out the window since the pandemic. I see it on my local trail, people 4 wide walking not a care in the world and you pass them running or on a bike and they look at you like you are an alien. People have no sense of what is going on around them. They have had to install all these signs because my trail became over populated but the police wouldn’t enforce anything. The only thing that worked was I would take pictures of kids jumping off the bridge into the creek and send them directly to the mayor. They don’t want a law suit on their hands so that was the only time I saw any action, even then, once the cops leave, the people come right back. I dread summer, I love winter when they all go away.
As a regular hiker, I often fume over how disregard for other visitors is rampant in parks. When I visit a park I don’t want to pick up everyone else’s litter. I don’t want to see your dog chase a chipmunk. And I don’t want to smell you smoking weed. I visit parks to enjoy the beauty of nature. All too often my visits are marred by the disgusting nature of some people.
I learned about Leave No Trace as a youngster and it has great outdoor ethics that align with this article. Thanks for telling it like it is.
A simple set of solutions: employ the local people (including the indigenous youth) as wilderness guides, and require every aspiring visitor to get trained and certified in Leave No Trace, get certified by a licensed Physician and a Fitness Professional for a particularly difficult adventure, and require them to use the certified guides. Also, establish a bounty program for reporting the offenders, and publish their names and faces on a shame wall on a website, together with a lifetime ban on federal lands. Petition your representative to make it happen.
We native Montanans have to contend with the native and non native morons who yearly debase our wildlife and their habitat. So it’s discouraging, but not unexpected, to read stores like this.
A good number of our fellow humans are not worthy of nature’s beauty and should just remain indoors.
We booked our trip to Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Valley of Fire, Death Valley, Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon late January 2020. I was just a casual novice hiker, but my older cousin decided we should try to get permits to hike the cables at ‘Halfdome”! It seemed like a Longshot, and most of us were in Pillsbury dough boy shape. 5 of us committed to give it a shot if we could get the permit. Only 1 of us won the lottery for the permit! It was my 280 lb older brother. I kinda laughed at the time cause I said “He will never make it”! I kept working out on the treadmill religiously, walking miles and miles at the maximum incline. I assumed that we got the permits for everyone in the group. However the hiking group leader that has the permit is required to show identification to the park ranger at the subdome. Our local rec center closed for Covid in May. My brother didn’t have a way to train! There are zero trails in Missouri that compare to the Halfdome Trail! We ended up carrying his backpack, constantly offering words of encouragement. I Gave him all of my 4 Gatorades. I had a 3 liter camelback, and a filtration system. He was and still is out of shape! However I have a photo of my out of shape brother with his hands on the Halfdome Cables! If he hadn’t made it, none of our group would have been allowed up the cables. Im so proud of him! On a side note, 16 miles is BS! We went up the mist trail, then down the John Muir Trail. The parking lot is almost a mile away from the trailhead!