Unknown Places Becoming Popular

Recently my youngest son suggested I watch the movie "Gorging" as he thought I would like it. It is a documentary about canyoning or canyoneering and gives a brief history of the sport. This is something I discovered a little over a year ago when I toured Zion National Park's Subway. I then followed it up a month later by doing Pine Creek Canyon.

For those that don't know, canyoneering is where you follow a dry (or wet) stream bed as it winds its way down. The canyons the water forms in soft sandstone can be very deep and narrow. They can be very visually stunning. The Subway is mostly rock scrambling with only a couple of technical sections requiring a rappel. Pine Creek Canyon is much more involved with the final obstacle being a rappel of around 90 feet or so.

I enjoyed watching the movie as it showcased a number of places I have been. One of the points made by the movie is how the Internet has opened up a number of unknown places. We see a visually spectacular place and post it on a popular social media site. Then all of our friends re-post it until this once remote place is now swarming with tourists. The national park system has addressed this by issuing a limited number of permits for such places. This has helped cut down on some traffic but not all.

I have to agree with the conclusion the movie made. During my canyoneering adventures I have seen quite a few people in areas once thought to be remote. For the most part, people are good about taking care of the environment but that much traffic in a fragile desert environment may not be able to recover. So is this a bad thing? If so, do we blame the Internet or the crowds of passionate tourists?

My daughter suggested we hike The Subway at Zion National Park and until then, I had no idea it even existed. She found out about the hike because of my oldest son. My youngest son is how I found out about Pine Creek Canyon. I am not really sure we can blame the Internet for my interest in canyoneering. However if this is the first time you have heard about those places then we definitely can.

Personally I think the world is filled with a lot of great places to visit. I like reading about them and wouldn't have the chance without the Internet. Therefore I appreciate the ease of finding information on these formerly unknown places. Now it is important for me to treat this information carefully. Before heading into dangerous areas I need to make sure I have the correct training and proper equipment. Without the ubiquity of travel information I might show up ill prepared and that would be bad. Hopefully you agree. If not, let me know.