While on a merry hike with the family in Virginia’s historic National Park, we came upon a group of photographers competing for picture time with a picturesque waterfall. While young Colin learned how to slow a hiking trek to a crawl through his frolics in the stream, the photographers were visibly shaken at the sheer volume of visitors at the site, interrupting their images of nature. But what is nature? Sure the waterfall was natural, but was it wild?
Man had inhabited the area for centuries, and had mined, farmed, hunted, and cultured orchards in the vicinity. In the 20th Century, THE MAN came down on already economically depressed property owners and claimed their land was too beautiful for them to possess it. But I digress; the photographers became increasingly annoyed to the point of sighing loudly and ceasing from picture taking with other visitors enjoying the serenity of the place. I surmised that one photographer may have lost some expensive equipment in the falls and was simply upset.
That may be, but true bohemians would have lit up a doobie and claimed it was all part of the experience. We then traversed a less crowded trail to a tall summit (over 1200 meters) and experienced a rat infested shelter where Dad G spent the night once while hitchhiking throughout VA during the last great gas crisis. There were majestic views of New Market Gap, Luray, and other summits in the park from this vantage point. It is also noteworthy in that Colin led the trek, leading us straight to Bambi’s mother. That will be another life lesson for him.
While on a merry hike with the family in Virginia’s historic National Park, we came upon a group of photographers competing for picture time with a picturesque waterfall. While young Colin learned how to slow a hiking trek to a crawl through his frolics in the stream, the photographers were visibly shaken at the sheer volume of visitors at the site, interrupting their images of nature. But what is nature? Sure the waterfall was natural, but was it wild?
Man had inhabited the area for centuries, and had mined, farmed, hunted, and cultured orchards in the vicinity. In the 20th Century, THE MAN came down on already economically depressed property owners and claimed their land was too beautiful for them to possess it. But I digress; the photographers became increasingly annoyed to the point of sighing loudly and ceasing from picture taking with other visitors enjoying the serenity of the place. I surmised that one photographer may have lost some expensive equipment in the falls and was simply upset. 
That may be, but true bohemians would have lit up a doobie and claimed it was all part of the experience. We then traversed a less crowded trail to a tall summit (over 1200 meters) and experienced a rat infested shelter where Dad G spent the night once while hitchhiking throughout VA during the last great gas crisis. There were majestic views of New Market Gap, Luray, and other summits in the park from this vantage point. It is also noteworthy in that Colin led the trek, leading us straight to Bambi’s mother. That will be another life lesson for him.
Actually I was backpacking with two friends from UR during a spring break that happened to fall during the 1974 gas crisis. We hitchhiked from Fredericksburg to the
ReplyDeletefoot of the Shenandoah National Park and then the rest of the week was spent in the park. The night we spent at that shelter the fog was so thick we did not even see the path up to the summit. Another group of campers was in the shelter as well and they spent the week there with a dog that ate one of my friend's glasses. Glad to see you have caught up on the blog. DadG
Uncle Ben would have been proud of your Nature vs. Wilderness. Lindsay on the other hand, turns out to be more interested in Charles's Neagle.
ReplyDelete