Yesterday, it was announced that Keyhole was closed due to four aggressive bears in the area. This is a direct result from irresponsible travelers.

“Food and garbage frequently left at the hot springs have taught these bears to obtain food from humans. These bears now directly associate food with people, are behaving aggressively, and are obtaining food from tents, and backpacks. In this type of situation, bear attacks are VERY likely. Help us ensure your safety and the survival of these bears and DO NOT ENTER THE AREA.” 

For the last while, I made the decision to not geotag many locations of my photos. Often times, there are negative comments about me being “selfish” for not sharing, or that “nature isn’t yours”.  While I strive to encourage people to want to explore the outdoors, I’ve witnessed beautiful places forever ruined because of what stemmed from social media. But while we’re on that topic, I want to be clear on one thing: instagram didn’t ruin these places.

…maybe you did.

So here’s to the selfish ones.  The ones that ruined it for the rest of us.

To be clear, this isn’t a shout out, it’s a call out. A call out for the time you drank beside the fire and left your bottles out. To that time when you thought it’d be ok to throw your sandwich crusts on the side of the trail and to that time you decided to not pick up after yourself. It’s to all of those times when you chose to go into our backyard and not pack out what you packed in. It’s to the time you didn’t take to educate yourself on the rules.

So what do we do to fix this? When we adventure, it our responsibility to do it with respect. It’s time to start taking it as seriously as when you’re out there getting your new profile pic. Start setting examples for the people around you. It’s time to step up and get educated and play your part in keeping things better than when you found them.

RESOURCES

Bear Safety – BC Parks
Leave No Trace
Camping In Bear Country – Parks Canada