The Beauty of Silence

Everyday life is filled with so much noise and commotion between the traffic, radios, televisions and video games that it’s no wonder that the great outdoors seem so quiet. Today’s younger generation may think it is boring and if an item doesn’t have a motor or computer chip it must be antiquated. We’ve seen some kids along our journey; some run around the campgrounds on their bikes or scooters while others play with their remote controlled cars and hand-held video games. Parents are usually pretty conscientious about the fact that there are other people trying to enjoy the quiet site and generally keep their kids under supervision. When we visit the national parks we intentionally want to hear the silence and take in the scenery. Often we will leave the campground at sunrise or sunset because photographers know that the best light is at the beginning and end of the day. Wildlife is also abundant at these times. In the early morning or upon returning in the late evening we are usually the ones trying to keep quiet so as not to wake the other campers.

One morning we arose at 5am to reach and hike the Sand Dunes before sunrise. Adam wanted to reach the peaks for a particular photo shot. There were a few other people hiking the dunes who, because of the acoustics, we could hear speaking clearly even though their location was probably a mile from us. They looked like ants from our standpoint. As we sat waiting for the morning light and huddled together for warmth we looked for changes in the dunes shapes with any blowing wind and watched how their colors rotated with the changing light. Then we heard an echoing sound. It was the crackling of a motor. Someone dressed in motorcycle gear and a helmet rode towards the dunes on an ATV (all terrain vehicle). I had never seen anyone else riding one of these vehicles here and the noise was distracting. Trying to ignore him to return to our view was impossible. He was as addicting to watch as an action film. We could not take our eyes off of him because we wanted to find out what he was going to do next. He drove towards the dunes, climbed and descended some lower dunes and then took off to the south of us. The motor noise faded and we thought he was finished ruining our visual and auditory scenery. Was that thing even allowed in this park? I wondered.

The sun finally came up and the photo shoot began. Adam positioned himself facing North with the sun illuminating the mountains and dunes alike. The shots were gorgeous and the light magical. Reeeeeerrrrrr…putt putt putt…..reeeeeeeeeerrrrr! The sound of a giant weed whacker was back. It was the ATV heading our way. Still located towards the base of the dunes he was not in our immediate view, but the noise grew louder as he came closer. We could not believe that he was allowed to disrupt this peaceful site with his noise pollution! Isn’t anyone going to complain and do something about this annoyance? Where are the rangers when we need them? He continued on his trajectory towards us until he was out of site again behind a dune now directly ahead of us. We thought that he couldn’t be as insensitive as to drive up over a dune right in front of our view and ruin the pictures. He must be going around our area. No one is that oblivious to the goals others may have when visiting a park like this one. But, up the dune he came and headed right towards us. Maybe he thought he was being considerate by taking a wide tour around our location to circle back to his original path. Without a hint of wind his tracks were left imprinted in the sand in front of us permanently marring Adam’s shot. The sound faded and he was once again out of site and range. Unbelievable! There is a time and a place for ATV’s and it’s not in a National Park in my opinion; maybe they are ok in a national forest if they serve a useful purpose, but mainly they are noisy, smelly motorcycles on four wheels. I wouldn’t drive my car up the dunes, why should he be allowed to drive a bike?

As we gathered the gear and wrapped up the morning photos the noise and the annoyance returned. This time, three rangers headed towards him. Finally! Someone complained or he had been spotted and hopefully they were going to redirect his misguided notions that ATVs belong on the dunes. They corralled him and made him cut the motor and get off the bike. I still couldn’t tell his age even after he removed his helmet, but he looked older than a teenager and possibly an adult. The next thing we know he was pushing the four-wheeled vehicle manually from the spot in the sand and heading towards the parking lot. That was a long haul and a more than fair punishment for breaking the rules and the silence. Hopefully he was taught a good lesson. Silence is golden. You break it, you pay.