Music while hiking

[shelley]

Wondering what you all think about listening to music (iPod) while hiking the trail on the way up and on the way down, to get your grove on baby!!!!!
While at the summit however, enjoy the spectacular picturesque view, no doubt about that, no music at the top.

 

[Rik]

Wondering what you all think about listening to music (iPod) while hiking the trail on the way up and on the way down, to get your grove on baby!!!!!
While at the summit however, enjoy the spectacular picturesque view, no doubt about that, no music at the top.

I wear it sometimes when I'm by myself. I don't see any reason to take it off on the summit. The music that is.

 

[Neil]

I eat a lot of wings and Black Bart Chile washed down with beer the night before my hikes so I don't need an Ipod to have music while hiking.

I have a hard time finding hiking partners. Strange.

 

[dr_wu002]

I have pretty bad tinnitus, does that count?

-Dr. Wu

 

[Tom Rankin]

No, to me, the great outdoors does not need music.

There are birds, and animals, and the wind and the water. What more do you need!

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Ipods

I go to the mountains to get away from IPODS.

KDT

 

[DougPaul]

I have pretty bad tinnitus, does that count?

I have some too--the only problem is that it only sings a one note song...

Otherwise, I'd rather listen to the woods.

Doug

 

[sleeping bear]

I despise iPods on the trail. Makes me want to puke.

Also I wonder what the safety implications are of completely distracting your brain from the sounds around you. Think: Aaron Ralston in the slot canyon, he was listening to headphones. Would that situation have been different if he wasn't?

 

[sapblatt]

I despise iPods on the trail. Makes me want to puke.

Also I wonder what the safety implications are of completely distracting your brain from the sounds around you. Think: Aaron Ralston in the slot canyon, he was listening to headphones. Would that situation have been different if he wasn't?

Bravo!
Could not agree more - but I guess to each their own. Hell, why stop there - small tvs, video games, bring it all - I just do not see the point - I like to get away from all of that.

Last year somewhere near the Brookside and the Watson Path I heard music (was hiking with Marty if memory serves me right) - we heard music for many minutes when all of a sudden a hiker appears with an iPod plugged into external speakers!!! I just do not get it...ruin it for yourself - but not for me please.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

The sounds of nature are music. Who needs anything else.

Besides my mind will conjure up just about any music track on demand if nature is having a rare off key day.

 

[cbcbd]

Depends what kinda trip it is. Never while with others, but sometimes while alone. I wished I had some sort of music on the slog up to Chimney Pond this last winter - up to Roaring Brook... would've been nice... I think most of us would agree then.

 

[lattinhill]

Never ever while hiking , I like to hear what's going on around me . But if I'm camping alone I have a very small radio for the long nights in the hammock .

Dave

 

[dentonfabrics]

I got the ipod cranked for the ride up and the ride home, but I wouldn't dream of listening to it while I hike.

 

[una_dogger]

I go to the woods for the sounds of nature.

 

[Adventurous]

It depends on the situation - I have it with me on every hike but rarely use it. I don't listen to it while hiking with others unless I'm struggling and need a real KINTA to keep moving (I can think of one time - the trashed snow on Haystack). At times I listen to it while hiking solo but that's usually to drown out all the huffing and puffing or to move quickly if I need to make up time. Otherwise I prefer to listen to the sounds of nature or converse with my fellow hikers.

 

[dr_wu002]

Give me a break. To each their own... people go hiking for different reasons, who are we to judge if they listen to an Ipod or not. I don't listen to my Ipod while hiking but I can see some situations that I would -- such as mind-numbing through hiking -- but I can give a rats ass what anyone else does.

-Dr. Wu

 

[DrewKnight]

I am generally in the "prefer the sounds of nature" camp, but if it keeps you moving, go for it.

Coincidentally, I tried an experiment last Sunday morning and wore my iPod (Rolling Stones "Exile on Main Street") when I went for a solo mountain-bike ride... ordinarily I ride with friends so it would never occur to me. It was a very odd experience, and I quickly realized how much I depend on my sense of hearing to determine the texture of the terrain... I found myself straining to hear the tires rolling over the sound of the music, and eventually I pulled the plugs and rode without the soundtrack.

 

[Lawn Sale]

I also do not like people who have Ipods on the trail, but have seen many of them. Some people I ride bicycles with even use them, but I think they're a danger on a bike.

To each his own, HYOH, but if you bring your Ipod, not with me.

Two years ago while on the 100-Mile near White House Landing there was a NOBO hiker with external speakers on his Ipod, I was glad he was quickly out of range.

 

[PA Ridgerunner]

I work on a college campus, so when I go for lunch-time walks I like to listen my mp3 player to avoid overhearing the inane cell-phone chatter all around me. I am a musician and value listening to music almost as much as hiking, but in the woods?!?!?! As someone said, to each his own, but I relish the opportunity to be alone with my thoughts, hearing nothing but the sounds of nature and my size 10 1/2 waffle stompers going up the trail. If you "need" the music to get you through a "boring" hike, why bother hiking? Other people listening to their ipod on the trail? Who cares? As long as it is NOT attached to external speakers!! If they don't hear the tree branch crashing down toward their head...well, ever heard of Darwin?

 

[dr_wu002]

I work on a college campus, so when I go for lunch-time walks I like to listen my mp3 player to avoid overhearing the inane cell-phone chatter all around me. I am a musician and value listening to music almost as much as hiking, but in the woods?!?!?! As someone said, to each his own, but I relish the opportunity to be alone with my thoughts, hearing nothing but the sounds of nature and my size 10 1/2 waffle stompers going up the trail. If you "need" the music to get you through a "boring" hike, why bother hiking? Other people listening to their ipod on the trail? Who cares? As long as it is NOT attached to external speakers!! If they don't hear the tree branch crashing down toward their head...well, ever heard of Darwin?

Different strokes for different folks. I don't go hiking to "escape" anything. And to be honest, I get more nature sounds (more birds, more funky bug noises, more wind in the trees) at my house than on most hikes. I find hiking with an ipod annoying because my footsteps reverberate in my brain when I have the earbuds in. It drives me crazy.

As far as hiking while "bored" -- again, not for anyone to judge. Some people might like to do a hike just to get to the summit and find everything else tedious. Sometimes parts of great hikes, such as the Wilderness Trail heading out to Bondcliff, are considered tedious and boring. I've been on some great trails and just had an 'off day' and felt bored but still glad to be out hiking etc.

There are some people that I've hiked with that I wished had an Ipod with them to listen to so that they could listen to that and wouldn't talk to me. Either that or I could shove it down their throat and wrap the cord around their.... no wait, I'm trying to be nice. Be nice be nice be nice.

-Dr. Wu