This particular influencer waited for the skies to turn black, and then he made his way into Vasquez Rocks Natural Area with a gas can, something he could use to start a fire, and a camera. When the can exploded into a ball of fire in front of the area’s iconic rock formations, it created what Agua Dulce resident Halie Cook reluctantly called “a beautiful photo.”
However, the stunt was carried out in what Cook said is a fire hazard severity zone, causing a dangerous situation for himself and those who live in the surrounding communities.
In her new documentary called “Gritstone,” Cook set out to share the fragility of Vasquez Rocks and the difficulty land stewards face when going up against vandals and people who are looking to gain social media views, likes and followers. Cook said graffiti seems to have lessened since the COVID-19 pandemic. But in the past five years, she’s seen an uptick in influencers going to the area and abusing the land in the name of content.
“I grew up in Agua Dulce, and since I was a little kid, I’ve been riding horses in that park,” Cook said in a recent telephone interview. “During COVID, I ended up being over at the park a lot more than I had in the past. I started to notice lots of tagging and a ton of influencers there, stepping all over native plants. It just seemed like people didn’t understand why it was important to make this place stay the way it’s been for the last 100 years.”
Beyond the permitted work done at the site, which is monitored so that the area is protected, social media influencers have been coming into the area looking to capture photos and video of almost anything against the backdrop of the rocks. There’s one social media post of a woman shooting video of herself standing dangerously atop one of the rock peaks, and yet another video showing horror icons Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger at the park performing a choreographed dance to Beyoncé’s song “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
These unpermitted content creators do not respect the area, Cook said. Some might not even know the damage they’re causing.
And so, Cook, an Emmy award-winning photojournalist, pointed her camera at Vasquez Rocks — at its beauty and at the damage people have been causing with graffiti and wear and tear.
“Gritstone” is told through the eyes of two park rangers who try to protect the area. Cook said she hopes that, by educating the public through her documentary, the more than 250,000 to 500,000 people who visit the place every year will be more mindful.
The 20-plus-minute documentary is Cook’s first film, and it’s currently available on her WildTale Media website. She began shooting it in 2020.
The title “Gritstone” refers to the type of stone in the park. It’s a sandstone, Cook said, and it easily degrades when people, for example, walk over it or drive remote-controlled cars over it, a couple of the many problems the park faces. When vandals spray-paint on the stone, cleaning it up is difficult because the traditional way of blasting it off, Cook said, breaks down gritstone.
“I want to do as much good in the world as I possibly can,” Cook added. “The only way I know how to do that is by conveying people’s stories. And that’s really what called to me with journalism.”
Cook has been a journalist for over 10 years. Her video work has been featured on networks such as the Science Channel, MSNBC, NBC and CNBC.
In 2022, she and the team at NBC4 won a Los Angeles Area Regional Emmy for their live coverage of the “South Fire.” In September of the same year, however, she quit her NBC job because she felt she wasn’t able to make as much of a positive impact on the community as she could as a freelance photographer and documentarian. She had a strong desire to help safeguard natural areas like Vasquez Rocks.
“I’ve always loved animals,” she said. “I’ve always had a ton of animals. And I’ve always felt strongly about wild areas staying wild. And so, I want to protect the places that I call home and that these animals call home.”
Cook spent years and hours-long stays at the park trying to capture the natural beauty of the place — different lighting and weather conditions, and many species of animals that aren’t always easy to spot on a one-day visit. She captured rock formations as they might’ve looked millions of years ago, in a place the Tataviam people inhabited thousands of years ago.
In “Gritstone,” Sarah Brewer, regional park superintendent for the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, shared her love for the park with viewers and how that, just because it’s been around for generations, doesn’t mean it’ll continue to exist forever.
“This is like a diamond that has, you know, 50,000 different edges and facets that are all equally as important, all equally as interesting and, you know, surrounded by this amazing geological, natural and indigenous history that come together to make this place,” Brewer said in the documentary. “If continually historic and archeological sites sustain damage here, it’s what you imagine in that they will be gone forever.”
Another subject in “Gritstone” is Ashley Verde, a recreation service supervisor at the park, who’s tasked with, he said, protecting vegetation and helping wildlife. In the documentary, Verde said that watching the sun go down at Vasquez Rocks, watching the darkness envelope the area, is something that can’t be explained, only experienced.
However, the only way others can experience that, he added, is if people keep the place that way, if they take care of it and if they don’t harm it.
Verde is one of the stewards of the area who plays a part in keeping the place as it is. It seems to be a challenge, but it’s working.
Since she began the documentary, Cook said she’s seen enforcement on unpermitted film shoots at the park having a big effect. She’s also seen park rangers crack down on the use of drones in the area, and the surrounding community more active in calling the park if they notice any suspicious activity, all of which Cook hopes continues so that Vasquez Rocks remains to be a special place.
“I think there are a lot of people in this community who are like that,” she said. “We all care a lot about this park because we live right next to it. We’ve all pretty much grown up in it.”
For more information about the documentary or to see it, go to bit.ly/4fLpQBV.
