John Sebastion and the Lovin’ Spoonful recorded the song Younger Generation and one of the lines in the song is:
“And still he’ll stick his finger in the fan.”
I always interpreted that line to mean that no matter what you tell someone, they often need to learn for themselves. Over the years, I have seen this validated numerous times via news stories and accounts of individuals who have done things without thinking them through.
Unfortunately, many people arrive at our national parks and because they might serve Peet’s Coffee in the snack bar, and there are souvenir shops and stores with sundries for purchase, there is a tendency to forget that these are wild places that CAN be dangerous.
This is brought home by signs like the one above. On this day, I did not witness anyone in the fast-flowing water, but I may have more to share about this topic in a later post.
Visitors need to be educated that while we need wild spaces to experience nature completely, cautions must be taken; heed the signs and warnings!
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
*All photographs Copyright by Jeffrey B. Ross with all rights reserved.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.