Temporary Rewilding

I’m not happy that the government shutdown has caused nearby Rocky Mountain National Park to close. It means I can’t get up to my favorite winter trails— Dream Lake,  Glacier Gorge or the alpine portion of Trail Ridge Road that’s closed to cars in the winter.

And yet I relish the thought that the park is returning to some wild state—if only temporarily. At Wild Basin in winter, normally the road is plowed half way up to the trailhead (that goes to Ouzel Falls), but with no park staff to plow the road, the gate is now closed at the entrance station. This week, when I skied down the road (below) that I usually drive, it felt like the landscape was returning to some  natural state, with the snow piling up on the dirt road and being pushed around by the wind rather than a plow truck.

Most visitors to the park hike in only a mile or so from the trailhead, so if they are starting at the now closed entrance, that means most of the park is empty of humans.

I wonder if the animals notice the difference. Suddenly, they don’t have to be careful crossing the road and don’t have tourists with cameras following their every move. With the new blanket of snow, the trails and unplowed roads blend into the landscape. Maybe best of all, there’s complete silence—no motor noise, no human chatter, no garbage cans or restroom doors clanging. Maybe even the hibernating bears can get some sleep.

I’ve read that humans have more of an impact on nature than we know, that animals stay clear of human trails. Without humans, maybe the elk feel calmer, or the bobcats and coyotes are better able to hear the sounds of their prey—mice scurrying through the grasses, for example. Maybe the stellar jays are talking among themselves—they love to chatter —about how quiet it is. Where did all the humans go?

We’re waiting, some of us not so patiently, on the edges of the park, for it to reopen. Meanwhile, beyond human reach— in the ponderosa forests, open meadows and high mountains— nature is taking a deep sigh, enjoying the quiet and slow pace before the government opens again, the entrance gates come up, and humans rush in with all our noise, trash, speediness and self-obsession.

 

Comments

[shoney]

You make so many lovely points about giving nature a chance to take a deep sigh....and I agree.
On the other hand, trash builds up, routine tasks that keep the park safe go undone, and especially dedicated people suffer huge economic loss that some may never recover from. I feel for those workers too.
Thank you for this post.

[CherylV]

Yeah, I am one of those federal employees