One of my pet peeves is people taking short cuts when there is a perfectly good path to be followed. The distance saved is seldom more than a few metres. The time, given that the short cut is often steeper and less stable terrain, may be even longer than the original path… the end result either way is that the short cut of today becomes a swathe of erosion tomorrow!
This is a perfect example of the stupidity of short cuts. It may have saved a few metres – in this case probably about 20-30. The long term effect though is destruction of the environment!
“Use only the marked paths. Do not take short cuts to avoid erosion.” These type of signs appear all over on popular hikes! Apparently it is written in a language that many people who walk these paths do not understand…
Yesterday’s shortcut – short cuts cause erosion Today’s erosion – short cuts cause erosion
