>

I just want more opportunities for people to experience nature. Cutting it off is unfortunate, we should be looking for ways to support and accommodate it.
Is this where everyone was taking those Instagram photos a few years back? >

I live near here. It was insane. People were stopping along the sides of the I-15 freeway to get out of their car and walk up to the hills for pictures. Bunch of idiots >

Just drove through here over the weekend and the poppies are definitely on their way. Saw some “influencers” trampling them between an on ramp and the freeway. >

All it would take is a tow truck driver and spotter team to sit around the area and swoop in for the tow. >

City should pass an ordinance to do that, and part of the fine is to pose for a picture with a sign held up saying "I was selfish and tried to destroy nature for a goddamn social media post" and then put it up on a website. >

People on these apps should comment shame any photos that appear. Or report them. >

Definitely don’t comment shame. Comments count as engagement, which furthers their reach. Best to report/block to reduce the spread. >

I'm glad I got to be in the area back in 2019. Was just a happy coincidence, I was there for a soils* competition. It's a beautiful area
**Soil judging competition >

I have never heard of a soils competition before. I googled it, and it sounds fascinating. Genuinely curious: how did you get into it? Seems like a very niche hobby. >

My university had a team! I wasn't that great (probably the weakest link tbh, my degree focus was water), but my former boss was the coach.   Cal poly-SLO hosted regionals that year. It was a beautiful town/region and a beautiful time of year, and I got a free trip to California out of it.
I also got to see wild sea otters in Morro Bay which was fantastic >

I have a hat and shirt from the Cal Poly soil club, lol. They say "I grow grass" on one side and "Cal Poly Soil Science Club" on the other. 18 year old me thought it was the peak of comedy >

Maybe arrest and charge the shitbags who landed a helicopter on them four years ago. >

I remember seeing that video and how they scampered off back the the helicopter and took off when confronted.  Fuck those people. >

I happened to be backpacking during 2019. 
Millions of painted lady butterflies followed me throughout the blooming of the desert as I headed north. 
Skipped the Instagram crowd entirely as I was pretty far out there. Simply magical watching them ride the wind. 
Never going to forget that. 
Plus I got to see a lot of cacti and Joshua trees blooming. >

Sometimes it's easy to forget that there are people out there living for the moment instead of documenting everything on social media, because you just don't see them lol >

We had a joke that the easier an area is to get to, the worse it is. 
Past what people can reach during an overnighter the trash and signs of humans (mostly) disappear. 
I think a lot of it has to do with how past that limit, you start to get more exposure to the community where "leave no trace" is the rule. 
The other factoid I relate it to is how chimpanzees will build a new nest periodically, because past one season it's so full of filth and garbage as to make it inhospitable. 
Most of the population doesn't seem to have gotten past that phase. >

Likewise. I have hiked through Yosemite, Zion, Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon. Once you get more than a day's hike into the park, it is sooo quiet. Seems like 99.9% of the people never venture deeper than a day hike. >

I lived in Lake Elsinore for 12 years. Lake Elsinore makes national news almost annually, usually for a meth lab blowing up, grow house raids, murder suicide pacts, gun caches, etc.  LE has some of the lowest ranked schools in the state, and the Lake itself is usually not safe for swimming.    
In Southern California, when someone from the Beach Cities or LA hears you live in LE, you are usually met with a mix of pity and disdain.     
The Superbloom was incredibly special for the people that lived there, as it was a rare moment where the city was recognized for something truly beautiful and unique. And it was. If you visited in 2019 you would see an expanse of emerald green foothills blanketed with the most vivid array of swirling orange among an endless sea of poppies.     
And then a police officer was struck and killed by a drunk driver while working on the side of an off highway road, managing the crowd of visitors to see the flowers.      
This year LE will be shutting out visitors. The mayor would like to make LE as inhospitable as possible, arguing the town doesn’t want the inconvenience of a crowd.     
I wish the mayor would reconsider. What happened to the police officer was tragic. But the Superbloom demonstrates that beauty can sprout from the most barren landscape, and that there is a dignity in everything, if you can take the time to find it. >

Well, I just hope folks from Lake Elsinore stay home this summer and don’t go be tourists anywhere else... I’m sure they wouldn’t want to impose the hassles on other towns that they aren’t willing to accept to accommodate others. >

It clogs up the only exit to the north of the town. It’s bad for emergency services.  The whole town gets jammed from the one bottleneck. Infrastructure isn’t there for that many people at one time >

Well, all the problems happened 4 years ago. The mayor and town could have spent the last 4 years improving infrastructure and making better plans to accommodate people who want to experience nature. That's how a functional society would handle this. But it's easier to just cut off access. >

"Won't someone think of the influencers!" He cried.