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kiluam
Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 11 Location: gilbert
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Posted: 3/3/2003, 12:40 am Post subject: music or sounds of nature |
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who listens to mini discs or cds or radio or whatever while hiking? ive always found it to be intriguing because to me the idea of hking is to exercise obviously but mainly to get away from everyday stuff..yet i see hiker after hiker with their headphones on..even people hiking together..i dont bother myself with music on hiking trips, unless of couse its natures music. |
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Arizonaheat Got Supes Juice?
Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 1741 Location: Mesa, AZ
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Posted: 3/3/2003, 5:13 am Post subject: |
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I agree with you, the whole idea is to commute with nature and enjoy the sights and sounds around you. |
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desert dweller
Joined: 06 Jan 2003 Posts: 46 Location: Tucson
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Posted: 3/3/2003, 8:57 am Post subject: |
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I think that some folks have trouble being left alone with their own thoughts. When I first started backpacking, 25 years ago, I tried to bring along some classical music. My thought was to experience the hike like I was watching an outdoor/nature documentary with an orchestrated musical soundtrack. What I realized, very quickly, was that listening to music, or any other recorded sounds, greatly reduced the "wilderness experience".
I have carried on this opinion to what some would consider an extreme. That is, when hiking with a group, I try to limit the conversation to about ten sentences per hour. Once I explain the reasoning behind this strategy, the folks usually comply.
One sees and hears so much more wildlife when there is little or no talking. (Of course, to carry the extreme a little further, a campfire is the greatest barrier to experiencing Nature. Also dogs (no offence to anyone who brings along their pups) affects how one experiences nature.
So, I guess I am a purist in some way. When backpacking alone, silence isn't a problem and I stopped having a campfire years ago. When hiking with someone else, I explain the philosophy and get them to try it out. |
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Canyon Dweller
Joined: 06 Jan 2003 Posts: 712 Location: Denver, CO
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Posted: 3/3/2003, 10:14 am Post subject: |
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I have always found that music on the trail is not nessasary. For me a good backpackin trip is getting away from our modern commodities.
I don't go to the extreem of ten sentences per hour tho. _________________ Mountains are there to be climbed!
"Meaningless! Meaningless," says the teacher, "Utterly Meaningless, Everything is meaningless."-Ecclesiastes 1:2 |
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desertgirl
Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 3350 Location: Chandler, AZ
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Posted: 3/3/2003, 10:27 am Post subject: |
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I totally agree with desert_dweller on his thoughts in this regard.....& have had the opportunity of sharing his thoughts on this subject! Desert_Dweller led us on a moonlight hike while at Reavis Ranch & it was a definitely magical time -- no lights (headlights that is), no banter --just the sounds of nature....It was great!
1) Headphones -- You are killing your senses when you have a constant feed of music/noise into your ears! It takes away from hearing the birds, trees, babble of water and any thing else that make music in nature. I am not into having headphones on even when I run/workout so this is not a big deal.
2) Pets -- I used to hike quite a bit before I had a dog & I always saw wildlife on most hikes. Since I have a dog now ( & ocassionally take him with me) -- any hike he goes on I have not see any wildlife I'd prefer to hike without pets - its easier on the pet, me & wildlife around me!
3) Campfires -- Personally I'd do without them for the most part. It leaves a mark on nature that stays for 1000's of years, depletes scarce resources & drives away night life with light/smoke and kills your night vision. It leaves a smoke smell in yor gear that takes quite a bit to get rid off & on extended hikes it makes you smell of stale wood smoke.
If you are prepared for the weather, you really do not need a fire to keep warm. A few layers & you are toasty!
However, its a great coming together for a group.....again depends on your objectives for the hike. If you must have a fire, please put it out 100%! I have come across too many fires that still have glowing embers ....
4) Trail Banter -- Minimized talking & spacing out your hiking party lends to a much better experience of the solitude of wilderness. I was hiking alone this weekend at Catalinas (Ponatoc Canyon trail - low use, no dogs allowed since it is Bighorn Sheep Area) & had the opportunity to see many big horn sheep at close quarter -- may be too close for comfort!)
5) Trail Trash -- It just aggravats me to see apple cores, orange peels strewn along trails..Even though it is biodegradable, these things need to be packed out
6) Camp Improvements -- Do not build semi-permanent structures. Its one thing to clean up the site for the tent (remove big rocks /sticks - may be you should look for the best possible site w/o improvements) but entirely another matter when you start leveling the site! If you build fire pits ( I'd much prefer there are no fire rings built -- since they tend to signal its Ok to build a fire!); dismantle them when you leave the site. and please pack out your trash -- includes cans, foil etc. Do not attemp to burn them. _________________ Photos: http://www.pbase.com/desertgirl/galleries
Life is but a dream ...there is no end to what you can dream! |
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kiluam
Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 11 Location: gilbert
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Posted: 3/3/2003, 12:53 pm Post subject: |
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i saw a funny, but a rather disturbing family on saturday on the flatiron trail. there was the mother and father, and two young kids, must have been about 8-10 yrs old. as i moved to the side a little to let them pass they also stopped for a breather..i asked them if they were going all the way to the top. they said very enthusiastically "you betcha" i wasnt so sure if the two younger kids would have the easiest time getting up there, as they looked kinda bony. the disturbing part, they all had headphones on and between the four of them, they had one really small thermos for water..i was pretty sure they were going to come back prett quickly..THE ENTIRE FAMILY HAD HEADPHONES ON!!!! why??!! they might as well just walk around the house a few thousand times with the radio on..anyways as jim morrison said: "people are strange" |
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plummer150
Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 542 Location: Jersey City, New Jersey
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Posted: 3/3/2003, 2:35 pm Post subject: re: |
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I couldn't even imagine listening to any kind of music while i'm hiking. Just the sound of absolutly nothing but quietness and the wind is enough and perfect for me. _________________ "IRONMAN" cometh, hiketh, destroyeth |
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Daddee I once was a slug.
Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 2815 Location: Mesa, AZ
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Posted: 3/3/2003, 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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For me - it depends on what type of hiking I'm doing. If I'm going to just run up Squaw Peak or Camelback - well, there isn't much peace on the trail, and I don't much like listening to all the other conversations around me, so I put on the music and do the hike.
However, if I'm going somewhere where I CAN commune with nature - then all bets are off - I have to be able to hear the sounds of nature - the wonderful non-silence that you find in the wilderness that can tell you so much about what is going on around you. _________________ "Only small minds want always to be right."
- Louis XIV
"...haven't you lived long enough to know that two men may honestly differ about a question and both be right?"
- Abraham Lincoln |
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maryphyl Grand Canyon Enchantress
Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 669 Location: Flagstaff
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Posted: 3/4/2003, 6:20 am Post subject: |
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I like both--sometimes it is fun to have music in my ears and race along. Most of the time it does not occur to me. _________________ Shikekeh hozhoogo naasha.
I walk in beauty. |
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Nighthiker
Joined: 05 Jan 2003 Posts: 1714
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Posted: 3/4/2003, 8:14 am Post subject: |
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Their is a lot of music to enjoy along the trail, the phainopepla and its quiet love song, the pyrrhuloxia annoucing your arrival if you trail winds thru wolfberry bushes and the owl, the original varmit caller. The hoot will make its prey nervous and cause it to bolt from its hiding place and the owl will eat.
Hiking in canyon country above the Mogollon Rim and below the ledge of some unnamed canyon snaking off to the Little Colorado, the wind will echo off the rock.
Campfires ? I seldom have a campfire, the aroma of the sycamore after a late spring rain, the yellow flowers of the palo verde and the vanilla aroma of the pine trees; all are pleasant to inhale. |
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ck1
Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 1331 Location: Mesa
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Posted: 3/4/2003, 9:54 am Post subject: |
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I've never considered headphones as backcountry gear, though I do agree with Daddee..if you have to do Camelback(which I personally don't consider "hiking", perhaps better called "urban rock running") then headphones might be the way to go...
I respectfully don't agree with Desertgirl on pets...
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2) Pets -- I used to hike quite a bit before I had a dog & I always saw wildlife on most hikes. Since I have a dog now ( & ocassionally take him with me) -- any hike he goes on I have not see any wildlife I'd prefer to hike without pets - its easier on the pet, me & wildlife around me!
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I'm not certain what you mean by "easier" on the pet (though I do admiit it is more "work" for the ownder) and as for wildlife encounters, I've had plenty with Buffett along...however, I'm not a big fan of pets on group hikes...we brought Buffett with for GTG's recent Boulder Canyon Bash, and although I think she was well behaved (would those of you on the hike agree? ) I don't think I'd bring her with on a group hike again...don't want to distract from the experience of others.
I'm curious...how many of you bring your cell phone with on hikes? If so, is it for emergency or do you actually use it? _________________ -Colin
"The Journey is the Destination" |
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evenstar
Joined: 03 Jan 2003 Posts: 5548 Location: SCW by way of CA
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Posted: 3/4/2003, 10:15 am Post subject: |
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I take my cell phone if I'm gonna be hiking where I can get a signal, but have never turned it on. Strictly for emergancies.
As to the music on the trail, can't see it. Hiking, to me, is a meditative experience when I'm alone just like running was back in my running days. When I'm with others, prefer their company. _________________ John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.html
http://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902 |
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Canyon Dweller
Joined: 06 Jan 2003 Posts: 712 Location: Denver, CO
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Posted: 3/4/2003, 10:24 am Post subject: |
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I have found cell phones to be irritating. I can understand taking them for emergancies, but not just to talk on. I was in Colorado on top of a 12,000 foot pass and somebody from Texas pulled out his cell phone and started talking away about how he is up on this "high pass in Colorado." It was very irritating, and the guy was loud. _________________ Mountains are there to be climbed!
"Meaningless! Meaningless," says the teacher, "Utterly Meaningless, Everything is meaningless."-Ecclesiastes 1:2 |
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ck1
Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 1331 Location: Mesa
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Posted: 3/4/2003, 11:05 am Post subject: |
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"Guess where I'm calling you from?"! _________________ -Colin
"The Journey is the Destination" |
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cactuscat
Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 459 Location: Phoenix
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Posted: 3/4/2003, 11:21 am Post subject: |
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Music : no. Cellphones : no. Dogs : BIG NO!!
I can't enjoy my hike with a dog along, and will never go on a hike if I know there will be one.
I might bring a cellphone in case of emergency, but I only have a Cricket phone, and they don't work anywhere I hike, so I don't worry about it. I think my hiking partner usually has one along.
I occasionally bring a certain CD along to listen to when I get where I'm going, but not while hiking.
LNT for life! |
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