High Sierra Topix

"The other defenders of playing music out loud took the tact of "it's a free country and I'm not bothering anybody anyway."

Anyone who says this is a self-centered A** Even if I like the music at home (for example Grateful Dead), I don't want to hear it in the wilderness. I backpack to escape all of that stuff. If I need music I sing to myself, but only if no one is around to hear me

A couple of years ago I got the classic Sam Cooke song "Cupid" stuck in my head, so I sang that for the next couple of days https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S28tILqie1o

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. While I admit my problem with it is mostly aesthetic---I want to hear wind, moving water, animals, and tumbling scree when I'm in the mountains, not someone else's music---I think that there is a legitimate argument to be made that increasing noise pollution in the wilderness is unethical. Those who are afraid of black bears can whistle or get bear bells, or something along those lines that is less disruptive to everyone else's solitude.

Mostly, though, I just think it's super rude and thoughtless to do anything on the trail that unnecessarily invades other people's space---physical, sonic, or otherwise.

I object to people playing music out loud in public places in general. In the wilderness, it is a travesty. It is a little like hanging colorful laundry across a popular viewshed. I suppose if it is done where no one else will hear it--well we get to the "if a tree falls in a forest" aphorism.

Now, people can listen privately if they wish, but I've commented here before how sad it was when I saw someone hiking past a waterfall with earbuds, staring straight ahead on the trail, and missing both the sights and the sounds. To me that was not rude since it did not affect me, but it was tragic. I smiled and said "hello" and got no response. He was in his music zone and oblivous. He might as well have been on an eliptical machine.

Well, that's how some people relax, they need their music to do so, I know a couple of them and they can't really rest and feel better without it. I do love listening to music myself, but can't bring myself to listen to it while hiking, it's strictly a commuting/at-home thing.

However, my son sometimes brings his guitar to play a little in the woods, and my wife and I have already shocked a couple hikers by singing out loud the songs of our youth... Our youth in the Pioneers in the USSR!

There is a time and place for everything. Once when camped near others, they came over and asked me if I minded that they played music and sang for an hour or so. They assured me they would keep it to an hour, and I said yes, and I actually liked their music choice, so that was a win-win. I was impressed with their politeness in asking.

I do think earbuds on the trail (or riding a bicycle) reduces your safety. It is surprising how much our balance is dependent on hearing. In addition to the good sounds of nature, hearing also alerts us to unsafe conditions ahead; a rustle in the bushes of a bear, the hiss of a rattlesnake, rockfall headed towards us, distant thunder.

Blaring electronic music in the wilderness is rude and completely uncalled for in our age or ear phones and ear buds. It shows a lack of respect for others when you do it on a city bus. When you do it in the wilderness, it also shows how deaf you are to birdsong, windsong, the sound of running water and the other beautiful sounds of the outdoors.

Singing in the wilderness, playing guitar, and playing the fiddle is another matter. I don't mind home-made songs at all. Last summer, on our way down from Kearsarge Pass, me and my crew engaged in an hour-long songfest as we got closer to the trailhead. We were singing happy songs. We got compliments from several day hikers on their way up.

OK so Pietro257 already chimed in on this but I'll put it to everyone. Does it bother you if I play my guitar and sing a bit in camp?

BTW, I'm pretty good.

It's absolutely a violation of leave no trace principles. Here are the principles. Note the seventh principle:

Be Considerate of Other Visitors

• Respect other visitors and protect the quality of their experience.

• Be courteous. Yield to other users on the trail.

• Step to the downhill side of the trail when encountering pack stock.

• Take breaks and camp away from trails and other visitors.

• Let nature's sounds prevail. Avoid loud voices and noises.

I wish more people understood that they're not special. There are billions of us on Earth and we would all benefit from a little bit of reflection about our place in the larger world. The things we do have impact on animals, the wilderness, and other hikers.

maiathebee wrote: ↑Wed Mar 13, 2019 2:55 pm It's absolutely a violation of leave no trace principles. Here are the principles. Note the seventh principle:

Be Considerate of Other Visitors

• Respect other visitors and protect the quality of their experience.

• Be courteous. Yield to other users on the trail.

• Step to the downhill side of the trail when encountering pack stock.

• Take breaks and camp away from trails and other visitors.

• Let nature's sounds prevail. Avoid loud voices and noises.

I wish more people understood that they're not special. There are billions of us on Earth and we would all benefit from a little bit of reflection about our place in the larger world. The things we do have impact on animals, the wilderness, and other hikers.

I feel the same way about dogs...sort of selfish to bring them (unless actually wilderness well-trained) along.

Subjecting others to your music in the backcountry is no less rude and obtrusive than displaying a light show or slide show on a prominent rock face in my opinion. Imagine trying stargaze or photo the milky way while I use my solar powered projector to play cartoons on the face of the dome/cliff you are camped by. If it's uninvited it's a form of pollution to those subjected to it against their will, be it audible or visible. We have addressed drones and bikes in the backcountry in a legal manner and the time is coming that we do the same for music.