Spring is the time of renewal, growth, and in 2019: California Poppy Bloom insanity.

With an unprecedented rainfall this year, poppies (the state flower of California) have sprouted in droves – creating a “super-bloom”. This usually only happens once every decade or so due to the typical lack of rainfall in the California desert. Hillsides in Lake Elsinore, Lancaster, Joshua Tree, and other places around California have turned from a brown scraggly tangle of weeds into a bright orange and purple field of beautiful flowers. Cue the selfie sticks.

Painted lady butterflies have also been out en masse in California lately. So on a quiet Sunday in March, I thought that it would be a good idea to drive to Lake Elsinore for a peaceful morning hike. Boy, was I wrong.

I discovered the insanity at Lake Elsinore as soon as the orange rolling hills came into view. The traffic slowed to a crawl while people in their cars snapped pictures of the flower-covered hills around them, as a 40-minute drive turned into 2 hours. I’m sure there were a ton of accidents throughout the day – and as it got closer to Walker Canyon the freeway became more like a parking lot. As in people were actually parking their cars on the side of the freeway, getting out, and heading into the flowers. After inching forward for what felt like hours, I finally pulled into the parking lot to meet the city-provided shuttle service to Walker Canyon.

A winding, snake-like hour long line later I was stepping off the shuttle bus and into even more crowds walking into the canyon. Scores of people trampling through the blooms for pictures laying in them, sitting on them, or doing yoga with crushed poppies underneath hands and feet; The Disneyland size crowds flocking to Lake Elsinore (whose population is only about 60,000) turned the peaceful hike I had expected into chaos.

Although the vast number of people, and the few who had a complete disregard for the lives of the flowers, was a struggle – the flowers were truly beautiful to behold. It felt like a springtime fairy tale to walk around all the beautiful blossoms in a place that normally looks so dry or barren.

You could even see the bright orange hills from satellites in orbit around the Earth (look!)

The lesson to take from the “Apoppylypse” is the responsibility we hold as visitors to nature and natural habitats. Trampling through the flowers can destroy the delicate ecosystem. It is utterly important that we conserve and protect the nature around us so that we and future generations can continue to enjoy them. Witnessing the Park Rangers desperately trying to prevent people from sliding through the steep hills over poppies and loosening boulders and stones was shocking and sad. We should continue to spread awareness and educate others so that they don’t continue to destroy the beautiful thing they were so desperate to take photos of.

The main rules to follow are easy: Be considerate and thoughtful. Don’t damage nature. Leave the landscape as you would want to find it.

I’m also reminded of New Zealand’s “Tiaki” promise. Tiaki means “to guard” in the Māori language. Visitors to New Zealand make this promise to show their responsibility in protecting and preserving the country – especially nature. I feel like we should all make this promise to ourselves wherever we go because treating the world around us with respect is of utmost importance.