‘Why shouldn’t I cross a guardrail?’
Someone posted a photo of Grand Canyon tourists climbing where they shouldn’t be.
The Reddit post appeared on the r/grandcanyon subreddit, featuring two photos of people admiring the Grand Canyon.
The first photo shows people behind a guardrail on the left, and others climbing further into the canyon on the right. The second photo zoomed in on the people passing the guardrail.
Photo credit: Reddit
The Grand Canyon is fascinating, but it’s best viewed from the safety of designated tourist areas. It is extremely dangerous to cross these guardrails to take a closer look.
These restricted areas can be unstable, so climbing the cliffs could trigger a rockslide. In the worst case scenario, someone could fall and be seriously injured or even die. Disturbance of rock formations also degrades habitats and contributes to abnormal canyon erosion.
The Grand Canyon was carved out over millions of years by the natural erosion of the Colorado River. But the artificial and man-made erosion occurring today is different.
Modern factors, such as dams altering water flow, reduced sediment, drought, and heavy recreational use, can disrupt a river’s natural movement, remove protective sandbars, cause shoreline and soil degradation, and destabilize ecosystems.
Climbing around restricted areas can contribute to these problems. People who do so also risk encountering a wild animal, which could result in distress, injury, or even death to both the individual and the animal. Wild animals may attack if they feel threatened.
Ultimately, it’s best to stay on the right side of the guardrails. You can protect the Grand Canyon, its ecosystems, and yourself by admiring its majesty from the safety of designated areas.
Many editors were upset by the cheeky tourists in the photos.
One wrote sarcastically: “After all, why shouldn’t I cross a guardrail specially installed for my safety, when I can walk 2 minutes to find a safe ledge to take photos.”
Someone else added: “Potato brains,” repeating the title of the original post, “Balls of Steel,” and noting that this behavior showed recklessness, not courage.
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