Noisy trail

As a commercial seaplane pilot, I'm used to airplane noise. When I hike on my RV trips, though, I don't want to hear airplanes or anything else except the sounds of nature. A couple of weeks ago I hiked seven miles on a trail from Saguaro National Park to our trailer at Tucson Mountain Park. The trail wound far enough back into the hills so that no road noise reached my ears, but oh the aircraft! Airliners, military jets and private planes roared or buzzed by overhead constantly, harassing me like a swarm of harpies. I had not a single second of peace on the entire hike.

The experience reminded me of a recent friendly disagreement rvtravel.com editor Chuck Woodbury and I had over generator noise at National Park Service campgrounds. I maintained that the NPS should accommodate generator users because the campgrounds are often set in trees, where solar panels are useless for battery recharging. Chuck said generators should be severely restricted or banned at NPS campgrounds so they don't disturb campers' enjoyment of nature.

After that noisy hike, I know how Chuck feels.