07/11/2026
What a difference COVID makes. This image is from a familiar location in Death Valley NP called Zabriskie's Point. I took it in early June of 2011 and there were only 4 folks there including myself. There was a older couple who came grabbed a couple of pictures and left. That left another photographer from the Netherlands and myself. Except for the enjoyable few moments we had chatting with each other, our time was spent trying to capture and interpret with our cameras what we were seeing with our eyes. Over an hour later we each said our goodbyes and drove off in different directions. this pattern of folks lingering over God's creation, whether they knew it was or not, was repeated throughout my six week trip through the western national parks. And except for Yellowstone NP, I had almost unlimited opportunities to be alone.
Fast Forward to May 2025 and I was at this same location with my Grandson and there were more folks there than I wanted to try and count. Granted, it was not at sunrise like the first time I was there, but many came and went before we left. And most places we went were crowded with folks wanting to take their selfies with amazing scenes in the background. Then they quickly moved to the next best selfie opportunity. Often there were so many trying to get to that one picture it made it difficult to linger for fear you were stealing someone else's chance at a selfie to prove they were there. It seems they were more interested to be there instead of seeing there.
I really don't have a good answer to the crowds; they have as much right to see all the amazing places as I do. But I wonder if folks were to slow down to really see what's in front of them and not hide part of it with their faces, they might see fewer places but perhaps see so much more of where they are.