stay on the path

There are countless lessons to be learned among the trees. 🌳 🌲

And, unfortunately, most people need a lesson.

On a recent trip to Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, California, I was left feeling both awestruck by the absolute magnitude and beauty of the old-growth redwood forest and gobsmacked by the sheer ignorance and entitlement of some of the humans among these giants.

The signs are numerous and their message is clear: Stay on the path.

I was with a group of people I only just met and will likely never see again. A man in our group grabbed his son and said, “Let’s get a picture with that huge one.”

They hopped off the path and ran to lean against a protected coastal redwood that is likely nearing 1,200 years old. The father put one foot up against the tree, pulling his son in tight and smiling big for the photo.

“Ohhhhh, no. You need to get back on the path now,” I said, with conviction.

Of course, the reaction I received from the man and son was exactly as expected. The whole “who do you think you are telling me what to do” look and the hands up in the air, just as most guilty people do when caught. “Ooooooooh, she means business.”

I stood my ground.

“Yes, I do mean business and this is one situation where I’m going to stand up and say something. The signs say to stay on the path for a reason. Stay on the path.”

There was grumbling and giggling. But a voice broke through the awkward moment just in time as a stranger walking by said, “Yeah. Can’t you read?”

There are reasons to stay on the path.

I hesitated to share this because while it doesn’t paint a good picture of the two men breaking the rules, it also makes me seem like a know-it-all pain in the ass.

But honestly, I’m still learning. And only after doing some deep research can I share more about why it’s so important to stay on the path. Here are a few reasons:

🐛 Protect the sensitive habitat. The overstory (trees) protect the understory (plants, fungi, root systems, microbes in the soil). You trample through the forest, you disrupt the sensitive habitat.

💧 Protect the waterways. The redwood and sequoia trees in Muir Woods have roots that spread to waterways, including Redwood Creek. If the roots and soil are damaged, the waterways are affected.

🐟 Protect the coho salmon and steelhead trout. That’s right. Everything is connected. If you leave the path, crumple the soil and disrupt microbes, you can cause changes in the runoff … and suddenly fish are at risk of sickness or even death. The trees help to filter the runoff.

🌳 Protect the trees themselves. These are among the tallest living things on 🌎 and protect many endangered animal species, store more carbon than any other forest on the planet and regulate temperatures for ideal forest growth and animal and plant protection.

There are so many reasons to stay on the path.

And really only one to jump off.

Sunbeams shine through the redwood and sequoia trees along a path in Muir Woods National Monument.