National Parks Lessons Learned

Above, Bryce Canyon National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

During my recent trip to Idaho to view the eclipse and to visit two national parks, I received a couple of cuts and scrapes. Those didn't happen at any national park, but from banging into something in a truck stop.

However, one man received a few minor injuries while visiting some national parks and he wrote about it in The Huffington Post.

The article by Michael Stark begins with

Somewhere around the halfway point up Zion National Park’s Observation Point trail, which leads to the park’s highest point above the canyon, I took a wrong step, used my right arm to brace myself against the canyon wall, and in the act my left foot slammed against a rock on the path. 

Thankfully, the start to my 10-day trip in Utah’s national parks did not begin with any broken bones or a sprained ankle. My right toenail, however, took the brunt of it. Three months later, it is still a gnarly black bruise. Incurred at my first park of the summer, the “Zion” toenail has left its mark with me as I traveled to nine other parks this summer. 

These types of wounds – bruises, cuts, blisters, scratches – are common. They are the holy marks nature provides. Each wound tells its own story. Yet all are part of the larger, grand narrative that the outdoor space tells: Nature is beautiful, but unrelenting. It demands respect.

To read more, go here.