Wonders of Nature - Vasquez Rocks, CA

      Vasquez Rocks - from Star Trek to Planet of the Apes, this park in Southern California has been the host in filming countless movies. This is due to the fact that it is a landscape that can look other-worldly at points. For a transcendentalist, this seemingly barren landscape may at first seem too desolate for there to be much life other than underbrush, but upon closer examination, that is simply not the case. As I was running through the park, competing in orienteering, I was given the opportunity to see much of the park from places other than the trails. Even though I was focused on winning the competition, I could not help but notice all the different animals an plants the park plays host to. From green little lizards to the buzzards circling overhead, and from the prickly cacti to the pointy Yucca plant, this park is surprisingly bio diverse. But back to the feeling of being in Nature.

      There were really two places in this park where I could feel alone and disconnected from the world and the bustles of society, places of peace and tranquility. The first was when I was out on the course running. Orienteering for the varsity runners is meant to be completely in the wilderness and mainly free of trails, and since they separate the starting times of runners on this course by 6-8 minutes, this meant that for the majority of the race, I was alone. Even though I was focused on finding the points and winning the race, I felt surprisingly in touch with nature and almost in harmony with the landscape as I craftily maneuvered through the ravines and across the rocks. The other place I found this feeling was at the top of one of the many rocks in the park. Up on top of the rocks, the tall ones at least, one can see for miles. From up high on the rocks, all the people below really do look like small ants and it gives insight as to how small and insignificant people really are in the grand scheme of things and how vast and expansive nature is. For me personally, The feelings I got while I was up on the rock were more powerful than when I was running. I was overcome with a sense of awe. Looking out over the park, seeing people wandering around the parking lot, the vast expanse of the arid grassland, and the towering hills (practically mountains) out in the distance was truly a humbling experience. It was also an exhilarating one because at the top of the rock, I was straddling the top with one foot on a semi-steep rock face and the other one hanging over a 60-foot drop off.

      These kinds of places are slowing and slowly vanishing in the world, and paces like Vasquez Rocks may soon be completely surrounded by developed cities. This was already occurring while I was there, and if you turned around 180 degrees in the top picture, you would see a growing city not even two miles away. Places like this must be preserved for future generations because they need to have the feeling that I and people that have also climbed the rocks have had. They nee to be able to view nature in all of its glory, untarnished by human influences and interference. These places allow people to escape from society, even if only for a few hours, and return to nature. They can walk the trails, breathe in the fresh air, and observe nature as it was originally created. This is why Vasquez Rocks is important, not because of the fact that Captain Kirk defeated the green spacemen here, but because of the fact that it is a place where people can connect with nature and escape from the busy lives that almost everyone has nowadays.