Take a Hike, but Leave Your Music at Home

I should start this story by saying that I am a big music lover. My musical tastes cover many different genres. My new job at 88.1 FM WYCE gives me the opportunity to further enjoy and discover new music, for which I am very grateful.

Over the past weekend, I took the opportunity to get out of town to enjoy a little time to myself. It was a chance to leave the busy world behind for a few hours.

I traveled out of state to do some hiking at a state park. I figured it was a great way to spend the weekend — enjoying nature’s beauty while getting some much needed exercise at the same time — all while clearing my head for a bit.

It started out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the temperature was in the low 70s. I had my hiking boots on and I was ready to hit the trail.

Apparently everyone else had the same thought. When I pulled into the parking lot — it was almost filled to capacity. But, I decided to proceed. Besides being a little crowded, I could still enjoy getting away from the crazy city life and enjoy some nature. And, I was going to be there with many other people who had the same thought process.

I started out on my hike and realized just how out of shape I really was. It had been some time since my last hiking experience. No worries, I was in no hurry. It could take me as long as I needed. So I continued to press onward.

About 15 minutes into my journey, I started to hear the bass tones of some music. Where was this coming from in the middle of the woods? As I continued, the music was getting louder. Soon I discovered the source of the sound — some person decided that they couldn’t journey into nature without having to destroy the solitude with a speaker in their backpack. This device was blaring out the music of their choice. The music was so loud, everyone within about 25 yards of this person could hear it.

I immediately thought to myself “how rude” and started to think about my options. I could go say something to the guy, but it was already clear he really didn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone around him. He was going to continue to do what he was doing. If I said something, I was just going to further ruin my day by having an altercation with this guy. I decided my best option was to just walk faster to get away from this guy. And that’s what I did.

Lo and behold about another 20 minutes into my hike, I hear the same thing. Did this jerk catch up with me? But wait, the sound was coming from the other direction. How did he get in front of me?

It didn’t take long for me to figure out what was going on. I had come upon yet another person who couldn’t leave their music behind and felt they needed to share it with all of the others that were out for a nice quiet hike.

At this point I was totally irked, but I decided I wasn’t going to let it get to me. So onward I went…

The sad part of this story…I ended up running into about 5 or 6 people who felt they needed to cancel out nature’s soundtrack with their own.

Why can’t people leave their music behind for an hour or two? At the very least, bring along some ear buds or headphones — then you can listen to your music and no one else around you has to hear it.

My big take away from my weekend hike… If you are going to go hike to enjoy nature — leave your music behind. Or in my case, bring along a pair of ear plugs.