Started in: Sunset Campground, Bryce Canyon, UT
Ended in: Sunset Campground, Bryce Canyon, UT
Total Distance: Hiking: 8.2 miles, Driving: 3 miles
Today we did our most intense hike and was the first day we didn't have to take down our tent after camping. Bryce Canyon is beautiful and manages to possess a unique beauty compared to everywhere we've seen so far. It also possesses the most mild climate. But I want to take a minute to talk about prairie dogs.
I'll admit it. Last night, I was charmed by the little rodents. They would walk right up to you and stand up on two legs. Just like people. The prairie dog will twitch it's little nose and I am in its trance.
That was last night. Don't get me wrong, these prairie dogs are adorable, but their abject aggression in the face of people is a clear indication that the signs around the park that read, "Don't feed the animals" do not work. I will take this moment then to implore everyone, those reading and those not reading, do not feed the animals. There are numerous reasons to do this I suppose. We know it isn't good for the animals--they can't really subsist off of most processed human food, they need to be able to forage on their own, they are wild animals and despite their inherent adorableness they are not your pets and could harm you. Need more? I've never seen anything more ridiculous than a grown man holding out a granola bar--larger than the prairie dog itself--waiting for the breathtaking site of... an animal eating. At the end of the day, the best reason not to do this is because there should be a code. If the park says, "Hey, don't do this," can we agree that we just won't?
While we were climbing up the Navajo Loop--an arduous climb that at a point becomes a wall straight up of a zig-zagging path, a young man kicked a rock down from the top. As this rock approaches the base off the wall, a good four or five hundred feet down, it is moving fast, has knocked over other rocks, and narrowly missed clobbering a man working his way up.
I guess the feeding the animals thing bothers me so much because it feels a little bit like the imposition of what we as the human visitors want this park to be. We want it to be populated with adorable little animals that we can feed and pet. And while it is impossible not to impose our wants and desires onto the natural landscape, I hope we can all agree to some set of norms to some code. Don't kick rocks down a cliff. Don't feed the animals. Enjoy the park.