# @kirstenalana on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/BvT8DlTBjm7
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/2429650-kirstenalana-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/8dd2bf1368.jpg
- **Posted:** 2019-03-22T13:02:07.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Kirsten Alana (@KirstenAlana) — https://gondola.cc/KirstenAlana

## Caption

So the California #Superbloom is something I wasn’t even going to post about it. After @dante.vincent so sweetly drove me the 5 + hours round trip that it takes to get to/from Walker Canyon from where we live in Los Angeles to see the largest wildflower event in the state because he knows how much I love flowers and how much just seeing them makes me happy — I spent days pondering the question of whether my posting about it would help or further hurt the delicately balanced ecosystem that is the superbloom. I saw so many people walking on, laying on, pulling from the ground and trampling flowers just for their photos & it caused me to wonder, “Even if I am doing the right thing by staying on the trail and not even touching any flowers, will it still somehow inadvertently spread the wrong message just by posting about this at all?!” Well I still don’t know. I’m pushing publish on this post in the hopes that by sharing this photo that I managed to take without damaging any poppies, it will help spread awareness about how we all — myself included — need to constantly think about preserving and protecting nature, not just appreciating it. While it would have always been out of character for me to lay down in flowers and make myself the focus of the moment, in truth even I didn’t know how delicate the superbloom ecosystem is until I did research about how and when to experience it. It’s very delicate! Interacting with the blooms in almost any way can cause them never to return or regrow in the future. Meaning we can literally love the superbloom to death if we don’t just enjoy it from a distance. The Center for Outdoor Ethics, aka ‘Leave No Trace, as well as Casey Schreiner and Grown in L.A. advise that you follow these guidelines: Don’t go off-trail, Leave the flowers as you found them, Don’t damage any other trails or habitat to get your images and Share this philosophy in the text of your photo. If we all follow those guidelines, there should be no controversy and the wild flowers that make California so beautiful will always be there for all of us to enjoy each Spring. 🧡 #leavenotrace #californiapoppies #walkercanyon #poppyfields

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 2,254
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 165

## Tags

leavenotrace, californiapoppies, poppyfields, walkercanyon, superbloom

---
Copyright (c) Gondola