Further proof: there is no "pristine"

Not even Half Dome, one of the world's wild wonders, in Yosemite National Park, is free of plastic.




Here, en route to the final ascent, above Vernal Falls, I found a handfull of plastic bottles lodged in the rock, discarded by thirsty, "nature loving" hikers. Their short lived purpose served, these bottles will kick around for thousands of years, winding their way downstream, ugly reminders that there is no such thing as "pristine" anymore........





















For an excellent synopsis of this idea, see the Shifting Baselines slideshow here. As we increasingly accept trash in even our most treasured national parks, we begin to think this is "normal", and lose our sense of outrage.


We gotta keep being pissed off - while of course maintaining our sense of humor - or nothin's ever gonna change......