The Wilderness Has A BIG Problem!
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- Опубликовано: 7 июн 2023
- Silence is disappearing. Even in the largest and most remote wilderness areas it is nearly impossible to find. With the help of Dr. Preston Wilson of UT Austin and Matt Mikkelsen, Wilderness director of Quiet Parks International, I go looking for the last quiet place in America.
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Due to filming permit restrictions no filming was done inside the borders of Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
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I found that total-silence going into Death Valley early one morning. I got out of my car, and there was no wind, no other cars or people, no bird sounds, no insects. It was utterly still and silent; it was wonderful.
I had a similar experience in a dry lake bed in Oregon. I woke up in the middle of the night to see the stars and heard not a sound. No wind or bugs. Even though a few hours before it was very windy.
I enjoy that silent solitude in the Paradox Valley area of Colorado when we get a chance to visit that area! Head up onto Long Park Mesa and it's quiet, not a soul around, still and quiet - so nice!
Yep, lack of air moving is key to total silence.
Death Valley is quiet like no other place I know BUT.... fighter jets buzz and dog fight over the place in the daytime. sonic booms are frequent. Proof that NPS has failed
And here i am, even white noise would be nice since silence means listening to my own thoughts.
As a sound engineer and hiker, the closest thing to an anechoic chamber is probably snow because the density and texture just absorbs sound like nothing else. On the open sea you get harsh reflections from the water surface because of surface tension. On an early morning in fresh snow before the birds wake up... wow.. best feeling ever. Plus your voice sounds incredible in the snow. Thanks for everything you do, I absolutely love your channel and your approach :) Love from across the pond!
I thought of that too. I also wondered if the moss of Olympic would absorb sound.
@@MyLifeOutdoors it would definitely have an effect you could hear, but I think density-wise it wouldn't be as dramatic as heavy snow coverage. Would be awesome to record there!
@@HarmLess7 I heard that little airholes in the snow aborb sound.
If that is what you mean by texture.
A park about an hour outside Las Vegas, I was down in a narrow valley with the floor being a powdery sand. It had the same effect. It was amazing. A few years later I took a friend there. I'd been talking the place up for years about how amazingly quiet it was. We get there and find that there's a photo shoot going on in the valley. Music playing, models laying on the rocks, tables out with catering. That shit made me so sad.
Yes, I have noticed that even in the city in Minneapolis, when it's snowing (and not windy), it gets very quiet. One of those times when I love putting on my jacket and boots and just going out for a walk.
I have tinnitus so my world is never quiet. I was in Rocky Mountain National Park, and I was leaving for the day, so I stopped to have one last look. I got out of my car and hiked to a rock outcropping to take it all in. Complete silence except the ringing in my ears. I could not bring myself to leave. It was the only time I heard nothing but the ringing in my ears. This was and still is one of the best experiences I've ever had in the wilderness. In the wild all the senses are heightened even if they are compromised. Thank you for all that you bring to the hiking community.
Me too, tinnitus means silence is lost forever, and it's only when I developed it that I realised how precious silence is.
That is interesting you mention this because I thought of tinnitus as I watched this Vid. I have it as well, maybe not horribly, but when i went to a hearing Clinic specializing in it their treatment was de-awareness. While it’s not a ideal solution, that matches the “what you don’t notice can’t hurt you” theory and the statement of we’ve now been ruined for ever ;)
Ditto. Tinnitus from a SWAT shooting indoors. Happened in my 30s and I'm in my 60s now. What I'd give to actually 'hear' silence!
@@greyscout01 how u got into that situation?
@@calid. I'm a retired cop of 40-years. Many years on the SWAT Team.
A persistent yearning for quiet is one of my chief motivations for doing outdoor things; it's getting harder and harder to find a place where that quiet exists, and I miss it.
Well said!
"Without wilderness civilization is a cage."
Most outdoor places I go are filled with all kinds of natural noise.
I'm wondering if you're seeking quiet, or if you're really seeking moments to disconnect with the human world.
There are some spots that still have it. You do have to look for them though
I went on my first overnight backpacking trip last weekend and one of the most memorable moments was the morning of the second day. I woke up before the sun came up and I laid in my tent for a long while in absolute silence. No wind. no wildlife. And suddenly I heard one bird call, and before long the entire forest around me was filled with birdsong. It may sound simple but it was a pretty magical moment and one I wont soon forget.
Gordon Hempton calls that the dawn chorus. He says the first hour before and two hours after sunrise is when the atmosphere is the calmest. Birds sing because their songs carry the farthest in those conditions. Unfortunately so do other sounds. Thank you for watching. I’m glad you enjoyed your first trip. I hope you have many more.
Being an audio engineer as well as a hiker, this was easily my favorite video of yours. Some of my favorite moments are most memorable because of the rare quiet and peace that I found there. For me, the standout was a snowy day hike to Lake Ptarmigan in Colorado. Thank you very very much for making this.
I agree. I especially remember the many winters where the powder snow has just fallen and all the trees are covered. The only thing you can hear in such a place is your own breathing and the pulse in your inner ear. Yes, you can hear your own blood flowing in your veins :-D I have to say that for me it is absolutely meditative, to feel completely "alone" with oneself without any external disturbances. sadly, these moments will disappear in the near future due to global warming
@@kaaremadsen9278 luckily my tinnitus will always be there to keep me company no matter how silent it gets.
@@Winstonrodney6989 a sad reality for so many of us.
For me the worst is a drone buzzing above while watching a sunset.
Shoot it down 👍
Amen. Flying drones over a natural area which other people are also enjoying is just really rude. Find a way to get your shots that doesn't cast a massive circle of horribly intrusive noise over the beautifully quiet area that we all appreciate!
Witnessed an older gentleman chew out someone for flying a drone at Moraine Lake in Banff. Obviously illegal in a national park on top of being kind of annoying in general
@@connorrothgeb There were drones flying at Reflection Lake in Utah. Imagine arriving to buzzing drones at the end of an 8 mile hike :(
Preach!
I physically felt my heart rate decrease and my shoulders lose tension just from watching this video. Incredible concept! Thanks for the time, energy, and financial commitment you gave for this video. Easily one of my favorites you’ve ever done!
Thank you. It was a bit of a passion project. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
In fact people don't realize to which point being in constant noises affect their mood and behaviors.
As someone who grew up in rural Alaska, noise pollution was rare and I was given many opportunities for silence! Although I have been somewhat desensitized to noise, I do tent to seek out places with the least amount of noise. The High Uinta wilderness is somewhere here in Utah that I feel I have frequently been able to find silence for extended periods of time. Now I will bring a timer and a notebook to take notice!
I don't know how it was back then, but I've read now air traffic over rural Alaska is much greater than people would imagine-whether military or private travel through areas that lack roads.
One of the greatest thing about being in the backcountry is the silence. Did a trip in Big bend this winter there were some places that were pretty much total silence. Idiots that insist on playing music on the trail are extremely annoying. Earbuds were invented for people that can't stand silence. Don't bring your noise pollution with you into the backcountry.
Agree. If I ever run into anyone playing music in the backcountry... well, I won't incriminate myself here.
Big Bend is one of a few places in the US with very little commercial air traffic, BUT the Air Force has recently began pushing for noisy overnight training in the Big Bend area. Google "Notice of intent for Environmental Impact Statement for T-7A recapitalization at Laughlin"
Hiking in winter with snow on the ground, while it’s snowing (more than lightly) is the most quiet I have ever experienced. Aside from anechoic chambers I have been in - those drive me crazy, mostly because there is no echo.
A large owl was perched on a tree limb, in broad daylight, half asleep. When he saw me he got ready to fly away. I thought: Good, I will now hear an owl fly.
I became perfectly still and placed my attention on listening to the owl. The owl lifted himself from the branch in absolute perfect silence.
I had heard the sound of silence.
So true! I am always surprised when seeing one fly off, its as if someone pressed the mute button on reality for a second :D
Wings engineered by nature to be perfectly stealthy...
You put so much effort and passion into this video and it really shows. Thank you for being such an advocate for silence!
Several years ago we took our kids backpacking in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. When we got home, all four of us complained about how noisy our home life was. The droning of the neighbor's air conditioning, the hum of the refrigerator, cars going by on our street and so on. It was quite a shock to us all to realized how much background noise we live with in ordinary life.
Yeah it's so unconsciously conditioned. Products now use phrases like "Quiet generator" or even "super quiet generator/air compressor" which I think is outrageous.
I would imagine you’d find some places up in Alaska that are incredibly quiet and experience very little traffic of any sort
From a guy who lives in Alaska I can say that this is true. Cars and trucks are pretty easy to get away from. Like he said the airplanes are the hardest part. However I'm in a spot in Alaska that has a population of 2000 people and we get one airplane in and out a week. It's pretty quiet once you get off the highway.
I'm sitting at camp next to a lake in rural Guizhou, China and watching this video. It made me realize why I like this particular spot so much and come back time after time - it's quiet. Occasionally planes still pop up in the distance, but when it's quiet, I could hear fisherman across the lake clearing his throat, among sounds birds, bugs, and the wind blowing thru the leaves. On quiet nights I get to enjoy silence and it feels magical.
Thanks!
I have noticed this for a long time. I find it pretty much impossible to get away from people anymore in my area, and even when I can, I get air traffic. It is truly maddening...
Love this! As an amateur sound recordist, it is amazing how much human noise there is: our brains usually filter it out heard live, but listening to recordings it is all there. We have lost a world of quiet that most of our ancestors would have known.
I *treasure* the moments where I've gotten to experience *any* level of quiet - during the early morning hours in camp (between airplanes), .or in a desert after a snowfall... As noisy as the wilderness is now, it's sooo much better than what you get in urban areas.
Love this video and it “resonates” with me so much. I definitely seek silence, or at least only the voices of nature, when I go out hiking or camping.
I was just in the boundary waters and experienced that silence the expert talked about. It was magical.
Thank you for showing us where we have at least a chance to enjoy a near total lack of human noise. I'm planning a journey following your footsteps. Fingers crossed.
I've hiked and backpacked all over the country, and I've only got to experience true and total silence a few times. When it happens, it's actually pretty erie and makes your hair stand up. The last time I felt it, I was traveling the "loneliest road" in Nevada, camping for days in the area. I made it to my spot at daylight, and once night hit and I was ready to go to sleep, it happened abruptly. ZERO SOUND. I honestly started freaking out. I kept having to tap my ears to not go crazy and i started seeing things off in the distance in the desert. Whether it was real or hallucinations, I'll never know, but the lack of sound that night made me so afraid. It was like a primal, instinctual fear. I had extreme trouble falling asleep because of it
Back in 2010, when that volcano erupted in Iceland, forcing the air trafic to stop, we were having lunch outside on sunday and... something was wrong. It took us quite a long time to figure out what it was : there were no airplaines over our heads. The usual drone wouldn't be heard. It was _so_ peaceful.
What an interesting experiment. Kudos to you for asking a question and putting in the very real effort into exploring it. It's possibly my favorite video of yours and that's a difficult choice.
As I continued watching, it reminded me of a time I was hiking separate and alone from my JMT thru-hiking group in 2014. I was taking a solo lunch break near Mt. Whitney on the western side. I remember the welcome shade, cool breeze, and the quiet. It may be the most at peace I've ever been in my life. Thanks for that reminder. ☮❤🤝
I live in Minnesota and was going to suggest the Boundary Waters. If you get out in a canoe, you can get get very far off grid there if you really put your mind to it. I also thought of the Hoh rain forest but not Big Bend, even though I've been there. Very legit topic, much like the Dark Sky Parks project. Light and sound are both pollution. Great video and thank you!
This is one of the reasons I love winter. I spent five days hiking and climbing across the English Lake District this winter and over three of those days I only saw five people.
This time of year however is surprisingly hard to come across.
You really speak my mind. It's also the reason why I went camping and filmed my experiences in a silent vlog style, aiming to truly appreciate the truest beauty of nature. I find it incredibly meditative. Fortunately, here in Australia, it's not hard to find peaceful and quiet places. Your video truly enhances my appreciation for the tranquility of nature. Thank you for sharing this!
I love this video!!! I’m with you on this. Incredible storytelling, editing, and the purpose of this video is so on point with today’s issues. One other factor in this… you touched on it briefly, and that’s the importance of silence in mental health. Mental health is at critical heights. I think the lack of quiet places is a big factor in this.
I just want to say you're amazing for the amount of work you put into your content! This was awesome, and reminded me of my last trip to Olympic. We were high up on a ridge, and it was incredible, to have our quiet morning interrupted by a helicopter flying through the basin below us on what looked like a joy ride. It was quite obnoxious and completely took me out of the mental enjoyment I was having being in such a remote, off trail location.
Thanks, Steven!
Nice to see you here.😊
Go hang out with Jake Morrison somemore
The last time I did any serious backpacking was in a national park and I left in the middle of the night due to air traffic noise every 10 minutes, couldn't sleep. 5 miles in, 5 miles out.
Beautiful video! Please keep making more videos like this. The effort you put into this is incredible. If you ever visit Helsinki, there is the Kamppi Chapel in the heart of a bustling city that is known as the church of silence. It was an incredible experience to be in a noisy city and step off a busy street and be in a completely quiet place. Would love if some sponsors could send you to places around the world to continue this amazing quest!
The most annoying sound for me in the mountains or desert is not the aircraft overhead or a loud motorcycle on a distant highway but rather the sounds of people shouting or partying... Now, it seems, you can't even go into the forest to get away from people or even the sounds of people... Sigh... 😕
This is true. The last time I was in the Hoh rainforest (the time before this) there was a group camped not far from us that kept yelling into the night. I don’t even think they knew we were there…but it was really annoying
@@MyLifeOutdoors Oh absolutely, I had a camp late last summer. Mind you it was a dispersed camp just off of a relatively busy forest road and it was not the road, for the most part, that was the problem. The camp sites were only 50 to 100 yards apart.
My neighbors to my east and west I could easily see through the trees.. The camp to my east went about their business all through the day, evening and night and I never hear a sound from them, however, the camp to the west of mine was non stop noise from the time they pulled in till the wee hours of the night..
Now keep in mind that the camp to my east was the closest and as quiet as can be expected. The other camp, at least twice the distance away, was just the opposite...
I did not check the noisy camp after they left but I have no doubt that they did not abide by LNT.
Great video MLO and an awesome topic.
I’m going to add use of noisy gas generators people bring for conveniences they should have left behind while they’re out enjoying nature w a noisy boondock.
@@anninwhack1998 I Agree !
We encountered this partying late into the night in the backcountry of Algonquin Park in Ontario a few years ago.
No roads, the only way in is canoes and portages.
You would think that would weed out most party animals?
And you'd think those that made that effort to get there, would value that quiet and remoteness as part of that experience.
Apparently not!
I was on a remote island deep in the Antarctic Circle once. It was the quietest thing I ever heard, not a plane or ruffling leaf. The buzzing of my own ears was the loudest thing.
Thank you for sharing and making us aware of the noise pollution. We definitely need to do something about this problem.
I get so frustrated with videos that talk about backpacking gear and it is automatically assumed you must have podcasts or music available instantly and constantly. I truly believe that PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF SILENCE because they would have to live with their own thoughts. Pure nature sights and sounds are the reason I went backpacking. Thankfully it was a time before cell phones, and the idea of music out there...we just listened to water and birds and trees 'breathing' .
I worked at a job site in Las Vegas that was somewhere in the flight path where all those Grand Canyon helicopter tours are flying in/out of. At one point in the day, that helicopter noise is almost constant. If it wasn't that, it was a constant noise of playing music. Vegas is one of the loudest places I've been to.
Haha. I’m sure. I have been in the GC when a helicopter landed near Phantom Ranch. It was the park service and not a tour, but still.
I Did a 3 night backpack trip into the grand canyon; after one day I was sick (and tired) of the sound of helicopters.
A thoughtful essay on seeking the sounds of silence in the wild. Many thanks for taking us to such extraordinarily lovely spaces. On a lighter note, you might chuckle that, as you lay in your tent in the Boundary Waters and observed that "Something interesting just happened . . .", RUclips immediately interrupted my viewing with a commercial that began "The man with raging hemorrhoids enters the room." Hard to get that unfortunate juxtaposition out of my head . . .
That was more interesting than what happened to me 😂
I love to enjoy the silence in the nature, unfortunately very very difficult to find it due to the airplanes traffic everywhere.
So maybe the caving/speleology will be the only activity that can take us to enjoy a really completely quiet environment.
But yes, the air traffic it's insane and they should protect some areas from that.
Congratulations for this amazing content, I really liked it.
Regards from Spain
What a masterpiece. I absolutely enjoyed every second of this! Thanks for bringing awareness to this and for all of the work that went into this… especially all of that beautiful B-Roll! 😅
Thank you for bringing further attention to this important topic! We all have a shared individual, and group responsibility to protect the natural silence!
This video is amazing. I’m in disbelief and also nearly brought to tears. Such a fantastic job on this. I can’t imagine all the work and time that went into it. Thank you!
Amazing work Steven! Can really tell how much effort you put into editing, shooting, researching this video 👌
Thank you. And thank you for sharing on your community tab. Unfortunately it is underperforming my other videos by a long shot.
@@MyLifeOutdoors prob one of my fav videos you've done so far 🙌views be damned!
Let the other videos support your passions. Thx for the hard work!
Top tier production right here. Intriguing and inspiring. I'm going to find some silence this summer. Thanks for showing me the way.
This is an issue Ive been concerned about for many years. One of the primary reasons I backpack is to find the silence. As you clearly demonstrated, its sadly becoming impossible to find. BUT... In those rare moments I find it, I can literally feel my mind and body relax. I hope the we will awake to the need to protect at least some of these spaces before its too late. Thank you for hard work bringing this issue to light for others to contemplate.
There are only a few places left that I'd even consider going hiking anymore exactly because of the aircraft noise which is almost constant most other places.
Dude. One of the best RUclips videos I've seen. I love that you're covering aspects of the outdoor experience that not everyone on RUclips does. Thank you for the way you present the issues, the data you provide, and the openness with which you explore the issue. I spend a lot of time in quiet places but have to admit I've purposefully gotten perturbed by road noise or airplanes.
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I hope to make more videos like this.
I watch quite a few hiking videos but this was easily the most thought-provoking in a long time. As a geologist and geographer who spends a lot of time outdoors, I've noticed that for the last 50 years, the places I hike, hunt, and camp are always "cultural landscapes". There is always a fenceline, a power pole, a road or trail, or a jet contrail somewhere in the viewscape to remind me of the pervasive influence of humans on our world. Now I'll be listening too.
The same for people. I also started backpacking 50 years ago. Hiking for a week and sometimes more without seeing another soul was common if you picked even somewhat remote hikes. Today, it is very difficult to go more than a day or maybe two without seeing another person or a small group.
Thank you so much for the work that went into this video! This is definitely my favorite yet.
Thanks. I’m Glad you enjoyed it!
Love it! You never really take into account All the things that make noise. Although not your standard content, I really appreciate this one quite a bit.
Thanks so much for going to three epic places to prove your point.
Have been watching these backpacking videos for a year and half now (ever since I got back into hiking)..maybe the best one I have seen yet.
This is an important issue. I am 74 and have lost a great deal of my hearing, so finding quiet is easy for me - i just take my hearing aides out. After talking with audiologists,it is clear that many people are unintentionally destroying their hearing. Just one rock concert can do significant damage. My hearing was probably destroyed by chain saws. I was careless and uninformed about exposing myself to loud noise. I live in Maine and Arizona. Arizona has planes all over the place, but Maine is not under many flight paths so I notice a significant difference.
Your quest is understandable. The silence in the days following 9/11 was incredible. The complete halt in commercial air travel brought the noise level down noticeably, with punctuation added by the startling passes of military jets on patrol.
It is very difficult to find spaces where there is no noise, especially from airplanes. I can regularly find spots without ground or water vehicle noise, but air vehicles make their mark on the soundscape on at least an irregular basis a couple of times a day. But that minimal noise intrusion reminds us that the world is filled with quieter sounds and is very rarely truly silent. Even on the quietest, most still days we can hear the rustle of leaves and even the popping of cones dropping from the trees, and the birds and tiny mammals feeding for energy to build their next generation. Thanks for this moment of quiet contemplation, the garbage truck outside the house seems extremely loud right now 😂
Your comment hit home for me. I worked near Dorval airport in Montréal, under a direct flight path for landing. On 9/11, so many planes were diverted and landed here. It was deafening for a few hours, but the following 48 hours were kinda eerie because of how quiet it was.
During Covid, when travel here in Scotland was by and large restricted to your local area, one of the most striking things I noticed was how quiet and empty the skies were. I live between Glasgow and Edinburgh, with flight paths for both airports in the vicinity, so it was immediately apparent just how much air traffic there was and how much we had become accustomed to their presence. I do find that in many areas of Scotland we can be far enough from roads that we can obtain that "natural silence", and where planes may be visible, but at such a height as to be out of audible range.
Wow, this was so well done. Thanks for creating this, Steven.
Amazing video. Fun content that also makes you think about why things are the way they are. Talking to experts about the “why” takes effort but it elevates this video so much
Great video. Appreciate all the time put into this. I went on a trip and while the views were great, there was a gun range nearby going off during the day and then drag racing at night from a nearby highway. All while jets were flying over. I was solo and there was absolutely nobody around me at the time but it was still one of my worst trips.
I was once hiking in a forest in Victoria, Australia. Beautiful place, full of tall ferns, very tall eucalyptus trees, and lots of bird calls. The trail was narrow and not much else around. No other trails or campsites. Every now and then, I could hear murmurs in the near distance, so I expected to run into another group of hikers. Oddly, I never did. This puzzled me. Later I found out it was Lyrebirds, which were mimicking ‘human noises’. These birds have been known to mimic chainsaws, car alarms, even camera sounds, and yes, people too. I had spotted a few lyrebirds back at camp where I noticed them making kookaburra, magpie, and other bird calls, one right after the other. It was amazing, couldn’t believe my eyes and ears.
Absolutely great video! And a real eye opener too for somebody like me who comes from Finland and is used to experiencing quiet regularly. America is very, very loud and disruptive - especially in everyday places.
How inspiring. I haven't felt a desire to be somewhere like I felt watching your sunset views in Big Bend. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face
I've always hated hearing anthropic noises in wild areas. Most of the places I visited always had the noises of planes, cars, some guy using a chainsaw, barking of dogs...
As you said, it's like these sounds disconnect us from our experience of Nature.
How incredibly sad, the impact we have on the natural environment. Excellent video, excellent content. Thank you🙏
When you have a good camping zen going and a combustion engine breaks it, it's violating. Great piece, well done
It’s amazing how loud it can seem and how much we learn to ignore it in our daily lives. Thanks for watching! I admire your channel.
@@MyLifeOutdoorsmuch appreciated and the feeling is mutual!
This is a wonderful video and needs to be discussed about the true quietness of natural spaces. I’ll never forget winter hiking in Upstate New York, it was softly snowing, no wind, no cars, no planes, no birds. I occasionally would hear a tree give and creak. But, when I stopped and listened. The only thing I could hear was my breath and heart pounding in my chest. Feeling the cold of winter and the blood pumping in my body. I looked up at the sun shining god-rays through the trees. So serene, peaceful and quiet. It was so beautiful, that my full body was overwhelmed with goosebumps and tears filled my eyes. The most purest natural moment of nature I’ve ever experienced.
It is very rare to be able to experience absolute silence anywhere. If it does occur, many folk find the silence disturbing because they're so used to some type of background noise no matter how subtle.
Thank you for this. The result justifies what was obviously a huge effort. For my part, although I knew silence was going the way of dark skies, I was not aware of Quiet Parks International’s worthy efforts.
I think this is my favorite episode yet. Thank you for bringing attention to such an important subject! This was an Awesome Video!! People forget how beautiful silence is.
This may be one of your best videos yet and maybe one of the most important videos people need to hear.
What an amazing video, loved it
MAKE MORE DOCUMENTARIES STYLE VIDEOS LIKE THIS!! I know this is necessarily a documentary but they style reminds me of it and it’s so interesting
Amazing video. Thank you for the call to action. Cheers!
I love when the power goes out and you feel an energy change. there was something I always loved about it.
Loved this video & I am so glad you made it!
I suffer from not being able to filter out human made noises, I seem to hear everything at the same time. When I try to explain how it affects me mentally, (it also affected my learning growing up) most people dont understand. But not here on this thread 💚
For me, human noise has become much worse post-pandemic, the world suddenly became really loud again, And it angers me. I try to manage my feelings by submersing myself in nature as much as possible, this video shows how difficult it is to escape it.
I honestly felt like i was going to have a breakdown when the world started to move again. I have in the past lost my sh@# whilst out hiking because of human made noises, ending up screaming at unseen people, yelling to them to shut the hell up. I feel ashamed of my behaviour & have it back under control (most of the time).
I live in the UK, the midlands & have difficulty finding natures peace & quiet, restricted mostly because of finances & commitments. The UK is such a tiny, but loud place. 😶😵💫
Sorry for the rambling, stay happy & safe out on the trails 💚🏕
This is a phenomenal video, and so needed to bring conscious awareness to this issue. Human-generated noise pollution is often connected to climate change, too, with Air Traffic contributing massive amount of CO2 to our air.
Interesting point....thanks!
Yeah, this is another thing I thought of. I've been to mountain wildernesses and seen the shrunken state of the glaciers there, and thought to myself "wait a minute, how much jet fuel and gasoline was burned so that I could see this sad sight?" Even the things we do to try to escape to unspoiled nature contribute in small ways to its destruction. We really need to find ways to travel more sustainably, or future generations won't have the same places to escape to.
This was a really fun and interesting video. My main goal when backpacking is to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for some quiet. I don't know what can ever be done about air traffic but we as visitors of parks and other wilderness areas can make a difference by fully taking in nature during our visit and not blasting our speakers for all to hear (just an example). This was a cool video. Right on, dude.
There is a certain comfort hearing a jet passing on a quiet night in the woods. Reminds us of western civilization our home. It also keeps things in perspective as we lay in our $800 dollar tents using ultra comfortable equipment that in many parts of the world would cost a lifetime to afford. Sufficed to say we can't have everything and sometimes we look foolish wanting things both ways.
I was on the PCT when 9/11 happened.. man, when they closed the airports the wilderness got noticeably quieter, every other aspect of 9/11 is unarguably shit, but that ONE thing was kinda cool.
I would guess people “go crazy” in a quiet room is; they are at the mercy of their own thoughts. Also have heard, waterfronts (lakes, rivers, oceans) offer a soothing/calming sensation that help you relax. Which is probably why property next to them is overpriced. (In theory.) Thank you for the post! Really enjoyed this video!
Yea i would definitely go crazy in a quiet room. Not only do I have trouble maintaining control over my thoughts in regular moments but when it’s quiet it’s so much worse I’ve noticed, so I play white noise to fall asleep for that reason. If my normal room at night is too quiet for me to feel sane, a million dollar quiet room would probably kill me lmao. Not to mention the tinnitus I get when it’s really quiet.
I am really glad you address this subject!
You are great! Thanks for all that you do. 😊
The Olympics are different because there's virtually zero air traffic going over the top. Definitely one of the quietest places out there. EDIT: Made that comment before your air traffic segment. Glad you touched on it! EDIT 2: YESSS! The Hoh is the best! I was in Enchanted Valley last weekend (saw @hungryhiker!).
Love the Olympic National Park and Hoh!
I am quite jealous of the quiet back country that people in the US and Canada have access to. In Germany, there aren't many places where you don't have a street or highway in the vicinity, while also not having other people around.
So far I haven't been in any place that I can remember in the recent past where I didn't hear the distant rumble of a highway in the background. If you are German and have some ideas, I am glad to learn about these places.
That is quite sad. Someone else mentioned the need for more mass transit to solve this problem in the US. But knowing how much their is in Europe maybe that isn’t the solution for this particular problem
@@MyLifeOutdoors more mass transportation is great to reduce the noise pollution in cities, but I'm not sure if it will grant us less noise in the recreational areas where we go hiking, because rural areas depend on cars here, too. And Germany is very densely settled, even the more rural places. Towns are usually 3-6 miles apart, at most.
I'll try my luck in the mountains, because a lot of places are inaccessible by road there.
I live in the Netherlands and over here its even worse. There is literally no place where there are no people and no noise, its one big constant cacophony of sound EVERYWHERE. And yes compared to the US and Canada Germany doesnt have a lot of back country but in the Netherlands we literally have zero pieces of real nature left. I'm also pretty envious of the US and Canada with its big back country and large nature reserves.
@@MyLifeOutdoors sadly, every weekend you see endless lines of cars heading to the alps. People walk half way into the mountains, flying drones everywhere even into protected zones (I.e. breeding zones).
I loved watching this video. Thank you for putting so much effort into this project and taking us along for the ride
Glad you enjoyed it!
We went to San Angelo Texas to see the annular eclipse…. We had pulled over to read a historical marker just to the east of San Angelo. And we were right on the highway and not too far away from a railroad line and not overly far from town maybe 45 minutes out. And in that one moment. There was silence. No birds, no cars, no lawnmowers, no chain saws or other equipment, no planes, no trains, no wind, just our breathing and that was it. It was quite a moment. (This was on the way back from the eclipse) and that was one of the few times I have ever encountered total silence.
yet another reason we should push for more public transport like trains and buses
As long we can appreciate any silence that affords us is grateful.
I live in a town in the high desert of Southern California just north of Ontario airport. Airplanes fly over to approach Ontario.
One night few years ago about 2am I could not sleep so went outside, put my lawn chair in middle of my property and waited. It took about 10 min for no cars going down the 2 lane road, no dogs barking at shadows or coyotes howling, and all other desert noises to stop. For approximately 1 minute I had complete silence and heard the gentle wind. Perfect. Then the dogs bark…
I've hiked in SBNF, constantly hear planes
I experienced this kind of feeling while on the side of a mountain in Alaska. Once you notice the silence, you never forget it.
I like the way you put it. Maybe that's the formula--get as many people to experience silence, and they will join our movement. Most haven't experienced natural silence in their entire lives--refrigerator, HVAC, etc.
This was a great video - such a gift for story-telling! Looking forward to future projects like this if you do more
Big bend NP was already on my bucket list of places to backpack. Thank you for confirming that! 👍
The production quality is so good on this. Love the edit! Well done.
Very well put together. This is absolutely superb! It is very scary that we have to search so hard to find complete silence...
A highly significant issue for discussion and for generating more awareness. Excellent episode.
Amazing work. Important topic. Thank you for such effort and care.
Thank you so much for bringing up this topic! My boyfriend and I have been hiking and camping for a few years in Denmark, and we started hiking because we wanted to get some peace and quiet away from the major cities - but quickly found that that is almost impossible!
Now we rate all of our hikes on how little human noise we could hear, and honestly, only one hike has come close to silence. It was in Tresticklan National Park in eastern Sweden in the fall. It seemed like all birds had started their journey south, and there was no human activity around. The only thing we could hear was the ringing in our ears and the beating of our hearts. Truly an incredible experience, that I believe everyone should be able to have!
what a great video! Thank you so much for your effort !!! Much love from Austria
This is my favorite video of yours! It’s such an important topic.
To me the worst thing is people listening to music or talking on speakerphone. Do that at home, don’t disturb other people!
Really good. Please do more like This.. I loved the production..
Fantastic video and topic! Thank you 😊
The best theme and video I've seen in a long time. You are awesome!
Wow, thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
Top tier video! Love your level of commitment to practically travel the entire country just to find peace and quiet.
The best thing about the first lockdown here in the UK was the total absence of car and plane noise. The silence was glorious.
Enjoyed the video! You made me laugh OUT LOUD with your comments at the end. Haha! I definitely pay attention to this when hiking and as a family we talk about it as well. Silence is Golden! Thanks and take care.
Bravo! 👏 This is an incredible video. It’s like all of the work and skills developed from your entire channel has suddenly pivoted into this deeply personal content at a whole new level.
I became disturbed by the constant human interruption when hiking the Guadalupe Mountains. Such a remote and ancient feeling place, with a constant barrage of airplanes overhead.
I remember reading many pieces during the beginning of the Covid Pandemic about scientists scrambling to study the earth nearly devoid of human intrusion. The surface of the Earth literally stopped vibrating. Animals of all kinds were making more sounds. Sea creatures interacted differently.
Thank you again. I fully support this work.
Thanks! I’d like to make more videos like this. Unfortunately it is underperforming. Less than half the views of my other videos the same age. *Sigh*
Guadalupe peak was my very first backpacking trip BTW.
@@MyLifeOutdoors If it makes it any better, I think this is the best piece of content from your channel I've ever seen. I think some people save longer videos like this one to watch when they have more time later in the day (which removes the immediacy of the view statistic), but they watch and enjoy it nonetheless.
@@MyLifeOutdoors I’m sorry to hear that, but unfortunately not surprised. The subject doesn’t fit your channel’s usual subject matter for the algorithm and doesn’t engage with our consumerist culture. *sigh*
@@MyLifeOutdoors hmmm, underperforming? Numbers are not everything and to be honest it is videos like these that keep me seeking you out. I do not have 'instant gratification computing', am not on a computer every day so I make the time to catch up when I can and am always grateful for the people that forge their own path regardless of 'what sells'... Revel in your quality, not your quantity and again Thanks for all you do!
Steven, loved this one, thank you. Even if it’s not 15 minutes, those moments of natural silence are a big part of what calls me to the wilds.