评论
打印
This is Horseshoe Bend.
这是马蹄湾。
It’s a stunning view of a U-turn in the Colorado River near the border of Arizona and Utah.
科罗拉多河亚利桑那州和犹他州交界附近河段一处绝佳的U型景观。
In the early 90s, this spot was a hidden gem — accessible by an unmarked dirt trail off the side of the highway.
90年代初，这个地方还是一粒沧海遗珠——那时还要靠高速公路旁的一条没有标记的土路才能到达。
Locals described it as “nearly empty”, and that “hardly anybody knew about it.”
当地人形容“几乎什么也没有”，“几乎没人知道。”
But over the years, its popularity grew: first slowly...… and then suddenly.
然而，近几年来，这个地方的人气越来越高了：一开始还增长得很慢......之后突然就火了。
Until it became this.
最后它变成了这个样子。
In this past, this place would get maybe a few thousand visitors every single year.
过去，这个地方每年差不多会有几千名游客光顾。
Now, that number is more like 1.5 million.
现在，这里的年游客量估计在150万左右。
And it keeps growing.
而且还在继续增长。
That change didn’t happen because of any big marketing push.
之所以会发生这一变化，并不是因为这个地方得到了大力宣传。
It happened because of geotagged pictures like these.
而是因为这种带有定位的照片。
Digital popularity is physically changing the landscape.
网络上的流行趋势正在改变我们的自然景观。
This place — and other public lands like it — are trying to adjust.
这个地方——其他类似的公共土地也一样——正在努力调整自身。
Social media, I believe, was the main trigger.
社交媒体，在我看来，是这背后的主要原因。
That explosion just has been overwhelming.
社交媒体的普及的影响是压倒性的。
You can see that social media explosion when you look at the rate of Google searches for Horseshoe Bend.
看看谷歌上关于“马蹄湾”的搜索次数就一目了然了。
But it isn't the only previously-hidden spot that's become internet famous.
但这里并不是唯一一个从前默默无闻后来在网上很火的地方。
Similar increases have happened at Devil’s Bathtub, a swimming hole in Virginia...…
同样的增长也发生在了“魔鬼的浴缸”，弗吉尼亚州的一个水潭……
Kanarraville Falls, a waterfall trail in Utah...… and Vance Creek Bridge, an old railroad overpass in Washington.
卡纳拉维尔瀑布，犹他州的一汪瀑布......还有万斯溪大桥，华盛顿的一架旧铁路立交桥。
So why are these places getting so much attention?
那么，这些地方为什么会受到如此多的关注呢？
For outdoor photographers searching for the perfect shot, Instagram made things easy:
对于醉心于拍摄完美风景的户外摄影师来说，Instagram让事情变得简单起来：
The app’s interface put geotagging — the practice of attaching location data to a picture — front and center.
该软件将定位功能——将位置数据附加到图片上的操作——放到了软件的首要位置。
And if a hidden spot didn’t already have a location tag available, anyone could create one.
而且，如果有一个隐秘的地方还没有被打卡过，任何人都可以为它创建一个位置。
These Instagram hotspots were often located either just outside protected lands, or far off the beaten path.
这些在Ins上很火的地方通常要么在受保护的地区之外，要么在人迹罕至的地方。
So as America’s National Parks became more popular than ever,
尽管美国的各大国家公园已经史无前例的热闹了，
these places started getting National Park-level crowds without having National Park-level infrastructure.
这些没有国家公园级别的基础设施的地方也开始收获国家公园级别的游客量了。
Federally protected areas require a ton of planning and work to keep people and the environment safe.
联邦保护区需要大量的规划和努力来保证游客和环境的安全。
There wasn't a developed trail here. There weren't any restroom facilities. There was no railing. It was an undeveloped site.
这里既没有人工修建的道路，也没有洗手间，也没有栏杆。这里还是一个尚未开发的景点。
Without that infrastructure, the natural landscape can be damaged — and people following geotagging trends are at risk of injury or death.
没有那些基础设施，自然景观就可能受到破坏——跟风打卡的游客也有受伤甚至死亡的风险。
At Conundrum Hot Springs in Colorado, visitors disturbed wildlife, cut down trees for firewood, and left behind an overwhelming amount of human waste.
在科罗拉多州的“谜温泉”，游客们不仅惊扰了野生动植物，砍倒树木作为柴火，还留下了大量的粪便。
And at Kaaterskill Falls in New York, at least four people have died while taking or posing for pictures.
在纽约的卡特斯基尔瀑布，至少有四人在拍照或者为拍照摆姿势时丧失了生命。
So at Horseshoe Bend, trail designers are getting to work.
于是，马蹄湾的小路设计师们开始忙碌起来了。
The park service and the city of Page are creating over 400 parking spaces, a welcome center, bathrooms, a viewing deck with safety railings, and laser-equipped signs to count attendance.
公园服务部门和佩奇市在这里合作修建了400多个停车位，一个迎宾中心，多个洗手间，一个带安全栏杆的观景台，以及可以统计游客量的激光标志。
And they’re building a new ADA-compliant trail,
目前他们正在修建一条符合ADA标准的道路，
lined with limestone to protect the surrounding environment and reinforced with magnesium chloride to keep gravel in place.
修这条路时为了保护周围环境还铺了石灰石路基，为了固定碎石的位置还用了氯化镁加固。
Throughout the trail, all the improvements that we're doing are aimed at creating as natural an environment as possible.
这整条道路，我们所做的所有改进都旨在创造尽可能自然的环境。
It's a difficult balance.
这是一个艰难的平衡过程。
You're not going to stop people from going to the rim's edge and trying to capture that iconic photo.
我们不忍心阻止人们把身子探到边缘只为艰难地拍出那张标志性的照片。
We don't want to wall it off.
我们不想让这个地方失去它的魅力。
So all we can do is implore that people be safe.
我们能做的就是恳求大家注意安全。
For places like Kanarraville Falls in Utah, that concern for safety extends to their residents, too.
对于犹他州的卡纳拉维尔瀑布这样的地方，对安全的考虑也适用于当地的居民。
The town’s water comes from a spring near the falls, where’s it’s piped to tanks near the canyon entrance.
镇上的用水来自瀑布附近的一汪泉水，泉水经管道输送到峡谷附近的蓄水池。
It used to be a local secret, but in 2016, 40,000 people hiked that trail, disturbing the water source and leaving debris behind.
这一水源从前是当地人的一个秘密，然而，2016年有4万名相继走上那条路，水源受到了干扰，最后只留下了满目的疮痍。
It shares so quick, and it gets out there so fast, that people can look at it and say “Oh wow, look at that!”
消息传播得无比快，很快水源的位置就被发现了，人们看到它，说一句，“哇，看那儿！”
Then they tap on the photo, and it’ll tell where it was from or where it was taken.
然而，他们按下镜头，拍摄照片的位置，水源的位置信息就被泄露了。
Things like that, and people go wild over it.
诸如此类，但大家对此还乐此不疲。
You can imagine what that does to the canyon floor, the trail, the water — people in and out.
大家进进出出会对峡谷的地表，对我们的小路，对水产生怎样的影响，大家可想而知。
We've just tried to take adequate measures to try to work with the ecosystem, and not have it ruin our water source.
我们才刚刚开始尝试采取适当的措施来和我们的生态系统合作，从而避免让我们的水源受到破坏。
Others are taking a different approach: there’s now a growing movement in the nature photography scene against geotagging.
其他地方则采取了不同的应对措施：现在自然摄影圈正在掀起一场声势越来越大的反定位运动。
So, in 1999 this organization called Leave No Trace came up with a set of guidelines for people to use while they’re in the outdoors.
比如，1999年，这个名为“不留痕迹”的组织想出了一套供人们在室外使用的指南。
These are things like don’t leave trash behind, don’t interfere with wildlife, leave everything as it was when you saw it.
包括不要留下垃圾，不要干扰野生动物，让一切保持原样之类的建议。
And now in 2018 they’ve announced that they’re encouraging people not to geotag photos while they’re in nature.
现在，2018年，他们又宣布他们鼓励人们在大自然欣赏风景的时候不要对照片进行定位。
We’ve always had the tendency to explore — and sometimes be irresponsible in nature.
我们总是有探索新事物的倾向——有时还会因此对自然做出不负责任的行为。
Modern technology just amplifies those urges.
现代技术只是放大了这些冲动。
With so many natural wonders at our fingertips today, it’s even more urgent that we treat them with respect and care — before it’s too late.
今天，无数的自然奇观都已经触手可及，而一个日益迫切的问题就是我们要尊重、爱护那些景观——趁还来得及。
