Back around 2013, people began flocking to a remote Blue Pool in the Oregon Cascades – after it was publicized on Instagram. Many visitors dive into the water, not realizing the shallow water and dangers, or that the water temperature is 37 degrees F. When injuries occur, it takes an hour to hike to to reach cell phone service and call 9-1-1. An overall rescue operation can then take all day as fire and volunteer rescuers drive for hours to reach the trailhead.

The National Forest now plans to ban swimming in the pool, will re=arrange the two mile hike in trail, and install barriers to prevent access to parts of the pool.

Oregon’s famed Blue Pool will see swimming ban, eventually; 5 people are rescued in 3 days – oregonlive.com

This is not social media’s fault – except to the extent that people are engaging in hike risk activities to grab another selfie for IG or FB. I have lived in the Pacific Northwest for decades. Long before social media, more hikers died each year, hiking in Washington State than all the other lower 47 states combined. Why? Easy access to the Cascade and Olympic mountains from the Puget Sound metro area – and rapidly changing weather conditions. The combination means a lot of ill prepared and inexperienced hikers getting injured on steep trails, or caught in changing weather conditions. A sunny day can end up raining. With heavy, thick forests, it is easy to lose one’s bearings and soon be lost.

Footnote – I was once a volunteer with SAR in Washington State.