I’m from a country with lots of bears, the mountain rescue authority here encourages having speakers with music playing. Bear bells are pretty much useless, but wildlife is pretty good at picking up human voices. If I’m going hiking alone I periodically yell out random words.
I feel like this post is more for the trails which are highly unlikely to have bears and have high foot traffic.
I’ve been to Yosemite and walked past people blasting music up a paved trail packed with people to Vernal Falls. There’s no danger of a bear coming for anyone on that trail. I’ve gone on trail runs in the middle of a city park and will come across people who have to blast their music while on a hike. It’s not a common experience, but noticeable.
If you’re hiking through backwoods trails with real bear danger, chances are, you’re not even encountering someone else to be bothered by your music. Does it suck to hike behind someone listening to really bad techno and having to listen to it at the viewpoint? Yeah, yeah it does.
I’m from a country with lots of bears, the mountain rescue authority here encourages having speakers with music playing. Bear bells are pretty much useless, but wildlife is pretty good at picking up human voices. If I’m going hiking alone I periodically yell out random words.
That reminds me of how I was taught to determine which bears are local, by examinimg bear droppings:
“Smells faintly of pepper spray”
This is the recommendation for most places. People just dont want to accept that its safe and want to view you as an asshole.
I feel like this post is more for the trails which are highly unlikely to have bears and have high foot traffic.
I’ve been to Yosemite and walked past people blasting music up a paved trail packed with people to Vernal Falls. There’s no danger of a bear coming for anyone on that trail. I’ve gone on trail runs in the middle of a city park and will come across people who have to blast their music while on a hike. It’s not a common experience, but noticeable.
If you’re hiking through backwoods trails with real bear danger, chances are, you’re not even encountering someone else to be bothered by your music. Does it suck to hike behind someone listening to really bad techno and having to listen to it at the viewpoint? Yeah, yeah it does.