Is It Art or Vandalism? Again.
plus, is Aramark ruining Yosemite? P-22 stars in a documentary, and getting ready for fall color
howdy
Back in the ancient, early days of the early aughts, when we took to the internet to find joy and community and not to police the behavior of others with ever more inflammatory tactics for the dopamine rush of online engagement, someone I didn’t know reached out to me and asked if I wanted to help him be part of an art project.
I still don’t really know who, exactly this was, but they seemed like an older guy and in this stage in their life they had taken to hand-painting small pebbles with nature scenes. He was leaving them along the trails he frequented but, as he got older, it was tougher for him to get out there (and he wanted to reach out to other hikers to get the art into other places, too). There was no URL attached, no social media profile, no
monetization of any kind—it was just something he was doing to spread what he considered to be a bit of trail magic.
I didn’t really see any harm in that project, but as I learned more about the ideas behind Leave No Trace, I did taper off and end my participation with the pebbles. Later, I got wrapped up in some very high-profile instances of so-called artists leaving their “work” in national parks. Both the street artist Mr. Andre and the Tumblr / Instagram artist Casey Nockett were different than these pebbles, for sure. They both signed their work, pointing to their own profiles or portfolios, and their “art” (if you can call it that, and art is subjective and I’m not getting into that again) was inherently destructive and intrusive.
Maybe learning how to hike in a heavily-populated and heavily-used area like Southern California made me a little more sensitive to individual activities that could be amplified and copied by many, many others: one piece of trash on the trail, one piece of spray-painted graffiti on an old check dam, one stacked rock-pile next to a river, one selfie in a field of wildflowers isn’t a lot of damage—but multiply that by hundreds or thousands of followers and yeah, you can see how that would rouse the ire of the outdoor community.
And like a lot of things, I think some of us took it a little too far. Honestly, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had someone send me a picture of some random person doing something “wrong” in the outdoors with the expectation that I would post it publicly, ideally shaming them into oblivion. Was the person talked to? Did someone explain—in a friendly manner—why whatever they were doing wasn’t great? Most often the answer was no.
I don’t think people who are ‘reporting’ bad behavior are in the wrong here—and I totally get the draw of a public shaming. When agencies and public land managers won’t or can’t enforce their own laws and rules and you continue to see people breaking those rules on the trail, that’s incredibly frustrating. If nothing gets done, at least we can shame them, says the wisdom of the mob.
But I don’t know. As I get older, I see stories like this one from Backpacker about a kerfuffle on Facebook (that’s your first warning sign) about an artist leaving small, unfired clay sculptures along the Pacific Crest Trail with messages like “Hello PCT hikers, enjoy your journey!” and warnings about nearby poison oak, and I’m starting to think “this is really not a big deal, and making it a big deal just makes the outdoor community look like humorless scolds.”
And again, not that I think Leave No Trace shouldn’t be taken seriously—I’m one of the people who pushed hard for the organization to adopt a set of “Digital Leave No Trace Principles” along with the classic guidelines. I just think it’s worth approaching these things with a bit of nuance, like Leave No Trace did when they tried to find a way to write about “responsible rock stacking” on the trail. And we hikers would do well to approach people with good intentions and compassion instead of scowling shame. The message we are hoping to send has a better chance of getting across, and when we’re coming across mostly harmless things like these unfired clay sculptures, let’s not forget all of our own impacts to the outdoors, from the fossil fuels we use to get to the trailhead to the microplastics our Vibram soles and synthetic wicking layers leave behind.
RELATED:
Have you read the book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed? It’s very good!
Your Parks
Your Places
Is Aramark Ruining Yosemite?
If you’ve visited Yosemite National Park in the past few years, the stunning scenery and idyllic trails are still as inspirational as they’ve ever been, but you may have noticed a bit of a downgrade in the services in Yosemite Valley itself. Bloomberg has an in-depth investigation into Aramark, a private contractor that runs most of the hospitality as the official concessionaire.
The piece is pretty damning, detailing poor safety and hygienic practices, historic buildings left to rot, and worker complaints left unheard … and it also goes into the interesting history behind why concessionaires are allowed to operate so many aspects of our public lands as well as some of the shady behind-closed-door dealings that let them continue to operate even when they’re clearly failing at their mission. Aramark’s lackluster track record isn’t just tied to Yosemite, either—earlier this year, they bungled operations at Crater Lake so badly they just got kicked out of the park.
Tech Talk
Gadgets, Technology, and Hype
A Summer Spruce-Up for the Fall
If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know once late summer rolls around it’s about time for me to start talking about one of my favorite ongoing web projects: California Fall Color. As a New Englander who moved to Southern California, learning about the different places and times I could experience beautiful foliage in the Golden State was a revelation and site founder John Poimiroo was always a delight to chat with. Last year, he retired and handed the reins to Lara Kaylor. She did a bang-up job last season, and I’m thrilled to see she gave the site a much-needed redesign for the 2024 season.
Check out the new site and be sure to bookmark this if you live within spitting distance of any of California’s mountain ranges. They are still my absolute #1 recommended source for planning your fall color trips there and their beta is responsible for some of my all-time favorite California hiking memories.
Wildlife Crossing
Wildlife and the Outdoors
P-22 Featured on Wild Hope
L.A.’s own P-22 was featured on a recent episode of the documentary series Wild Hope, which showcases biodiversity hotspots with a focus on stories with a more inspirational angle (we all get enough of the doom and gloom from other places). Even if you’re familiar with the story, the short-form episode is worth your time. You’ll learn how National Geographic photographer Steve Winter got that iconic photo of P-22 in front of the Hollywood Sign, get insight into wildlife tracking from Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area biologist Jeff Sikich, and see what the wildlife crossing will do for all kind of animals in the region from the National Wildlife Federation’s Beth Pratt. These folks are all superstars, and all inspiring in their own ways, and I will always be grateful that I was in L.A. while all this was going on (and got to meet them all, too!). I’m not tearing up—you’re tearing up!
One More Thing
Oh yeah, before I go …
Keeping things a little quick this week, as I’ve got family from the east coast and Texas coming to stay with us for a bit. If I miss next week’s deadline, know that it was for a good cause: showing three little kiddos how much fun the Pacific Northwest can be!
Until next time,
Happy Trails
