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The Darabad Canyon
By Asghar Kalani
outdoors@tehranavenue.com
July 2008
به فارسی بخوانيم
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The current article is from Kouh Quarterly, a magazine of mountaineering published in Tehran. To subscribe, write to P.O. Box 19615-686, Tehran, Iran or call +98-21 2271-2816. The magazine is published in Persian with a single English article.

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The beautiful Darabad Canyon with diverse hiking trails is one the best recreational areas near the megalopolis of Tehran. On weekends, thousands of nature lovers, old and young, weary of the modern lifestyle, come to this valley to refresh themselves next to boulders and rock, springs and rivers, and the sumptuous willow trees. Situated at northeastern most part of Tehran, the canyon has unique natural attractions. Compared to other valleys leading to Tehran – like Sangun, Darakeh and Darband – this one is better suited to mountaineers. Here, you won't find the landscape studded with tea-houses and make-shift restaurants that will remind you of where you just left. Here, the city will not interfere with your break. Here, natural formations will not need to compete with man's creations. Here, the air is still breathable.

Darabad Canyon is climatically different from all the other valleys of the Alborz Mountain Range, at whose feet Tehran lets itself grow every so sprawlily. Once you pass the single tea-house down below, you won't see any indications of urban indulgences. Instead, you will stand in awe of the huge rocks that fill your field of vision and soon hide the city from view. The thundering sound of water rushing down is a reminder that here nature is uber alles. Waterfalls, big and small, have pockmarked rocks along their way. Willow trees line up on both sides of the valley, further enforcing the feeling that you are miles away from any urban supremacy. As such, you may enjoy the great opportunity afforded you so near the city.

Behold, though, here, too, overgrazing has taken toll. Here too, weekend hikers freely roam the landscape, seldom realizing the importance of living beings underfoot. The slope on these mountains is simply too steep, the soil too loose, for plants to grow in abandon. The poverty of flora is such that even a non-specialist can detect it. The only signs of joy are the willow trees along the river, which in recent years their branches have seen ravaged at the hands of weekend hikers who use them unknowingly for firewood. Once these transient revelers leave, mounts of disposable cups and utensils stay, a sore to the eye as well as to plants and water.

But the Darabad Canyon may not remain indifferent to this irreverences. The canyon is much like a cone whose tighter end is the Darabad Village. South of that is the city of Tehran in its self-indulgent monstrosity. Considering the huge Darband flood basin, which includes hundreds of smaller valleys, and considering the damages done to the environment, the canyon can well function as a conduit that, with the first heavy downpour, will carry a torrents of mud towards the city.

Since nothing is predictable in nature, the officials of the city of Tehran, environmental organizations, and public service groups must take this threat seriously. On top of preventative measure, they need to mobilize their forces, to start a publicity campaign to inform citizens of dangers facing them. The floods that devastated the Golestan Natural Park in 2002 and 2005 can well happen here.

We can only expect lovers of nature active in various groups and societies to accept more responsibility. They talk to their fellow citizens patiently, make them aware of the consequences of their action without admonishment, and remind them of the importance, indeed the necessity, of “care,” that most basic and now urgent of needs in our lives as well as in that of all creatures on this planet.



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