Parks To Wreck

Social media has made natural spaces more popular. It could also destroy them

- Joel Barde

At 8:30 a.m. on a summer week-end, the parking lot for Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, a few hours’ drive north of Vancouver, is already full. A couple dozen visitors — a cross-section of local residents and international tourists, some in hiking gear and some in street clothing — have lined up by the outhouses and portapotties. A park ranger stands by the trailhead, asking visitors to leave behind any food containers (usually, it seems, Tim Hortons takeout). And a woman grips two golf irons, using them as makeshift hiking poles for her journey up the five-kilometer trail that leads visitors past three picturesque, glacier-fed lakes.

At the last lake, a group is spread out on a channel of boulders — a popular spot from which to view the mountains and glacial debris that wrap around the water. The sun is shining, and nearly everyone is taking photos. A woman wearing a pink top wades into the water and climbs onto a partially submerged boulder, inviting her friend to take a photo. But her foot slips on the wet surface, and she tumbles into the lake. Everyone pauses. A moment later, she emerges from the water, smiles, and raises her hands in victory. Relieved, the crowd erupts in applause.