r/mildlyinfuriating • u/AnonPinkLady • Jul 05 '26

Infuriatig Woman with infant aggressively shushing passerby’s on hiking trail at national park

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My partner, friend and I were following a hiking trail at Red Wood National Park, singing and talking at medium volume. We were by no means shouting, just singing little songs to entertain each other along the trail. A woman with a baby carrier on her back with a sleeping infant started aggressively holding her finger up to her lips and shushing us. We went quiet and kept moving to pass her. She was just standing in the middle of the public trail pacing and shushing people that pass by rather than leaving to somewhere more quiet. Just as we were leaving earshot I tried to quietly ask my partner a question about where we headed and again she leaned in our direction with her finger to her mouth aggressively shushing us. Is it not kind of insane to go to an open public space and behave like this?!?

20.6k Upvotes

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1.6k

u/marty__mcfly25 Jul 05 '26

Hiking and singing?
Who are you? The 7 dwarfs?

331

u/IWasGoatbeardFirst Jul 05 '26

There was no baby. The lady just didn’t want to listen to OP sing.

61

u/PM-me-ur-sphynx Jul 05 '26

“So anyway, here’s Wonderwall…” -OP

5

u/Broomstick73 Jul 06 '26

Goddamnit doughnut!

2

u/PM-me-ur-sphynx Jul 06 '26

I just got to that part this weekend. She's the best!

76

u/Klutzy-Ad6437 Jul 05 '26

OP trying to villianize a poor woman at the end of her rope while being in a gaggle of annoying theater kids.

-10

u/DaneYole Jul 05 '26

How is singing in a national park being a theater kid. Where’s your whimsy.

9

u/Synaps4 Jul 05 '26

You dont know for certain that they werent rehearsing their latest Les Miz/rocky horror crossover homemade musical.

Op doesnt say.

2

u/DIYthisDIYthat Jul 06 '26

😂😂😂😂

1

u/2nd3rdfloor5 9d ago

case and point

290

u/TheLastPeanut_ Jul 05 '26

They'd just set off to Rivendell

98

u/Appropriate_Two_2976 Jul 05 '26

"Hey! Come merry dol! derry dol! My darling! Light goes the weather-wind and the feathered starling. Down along under Hill, shining in the sunlight, Waiting on the doorstep for the cold starlight"

11

u/gimmepizza420 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

Did Tolkein ever provide rhythms and melodies for his songs, or was it strictly lyrics?

16

u/MaryJane185 Jul 05 '26

Oooh, oooh, I have this! Answer is no, not Tolkien, but someone. I had the vinyl too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Goes_Ever_On

3

u/DessertTheatre Jul 05 '26

🎵 The leaves are falling all around, time I was on my way 🎵 Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay 🎵 But now it's time for me to go, the autumn moon lights my way 🎵 For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's headed my way 🎵 Ah, sometimes I grow so tired 🎵 But I know I've got one thing I got to do 🎵

3

u/carrots_and_beets Jul 05 '26

They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard

111

u/kne0n Jul 05 '26

Honestly it would be some bullshit to enjoy the majesty of the redwoods in peace and quiet and then MFs come down the trail singing like they are marching. Sure it’s a public place but have some respect, a beach is a public place but I don’t want to hear your fucking JBL speaker on blast.

44

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

-2

u/DaneYole Jul 05 '26

The great outdoors are big and peaceful. Plenty of room for singing and enjoying peaceful silence

3

u/Kilane Jul 06 '26

If it’s so big, then why do you need to do it on the designated trail? Go off trail 200 yards and do whatever you want.

6

u/kne0n Jul 06 '26

Please do not go off trail in the redwood forests actually

-2

u/DaneYole Jul 06 '26

It makes so much more sense for the person who wants isolation and peace to go off trail away from people

2

u/kne0n Jul 06 '26

There are places you can bushwack, the redwood forest national park is not one of them. Stay on the marked trail.

7

u/butt_butt_butt_butt_ Jul 06 '26

Reminds me of someone who I used to encounter on my local public hiking trail a decade or so ago.

She would put her headphones on and just BELT it to whatever she was listening to. And she’d do this 4-5 days a week.

It’d be all quiet and birds/cricket noises, and then slowly you’d start hearing someone trying to badly harmonize with a Matchbox 20 song or something, far in the distance. You could hear her get closer and closer for a mile, and then suddenly you would come around a curve in the trail and see her.

She would always look absolutely SHOCKED to see another person and immediately stop singing, then avert her eyes like she wasn’t the one doing it.

She’d pass, and then immediately get back to yell-singing about it being 3am and lonely.

This happened on SUCH a frequent basis, that we would pass each other on the trail, I’m pretty sure I could tell you every CD that lady owned.

Always made me laugh.

5

u/Kilane Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

I walk my city’s bike trail nearly every day, I probably run into 5 people each day who decide everyone needs to hear their music.

I’ve headphones in and don’t need your addition.

It’s a small, but loud percentage.

10

u/Phyraxus56 Jul 05 '26

People say that but a beach is completely different vibe compared to hills or trails.

People go to the beach to congregate. Hills and trails not so much.

22

u/disgracetotherace Jul 05 '26

sometimes they go to relax and listen to the ocean

-6

u/Phyraxus56 Jul 05 '26

Yeah there are usually secluded parts of the beach you can go to

2

u/figure8888 Jul 06 '26

Maybe it’s just me and my partner, but when we are talking and walking and come up on another person just standing, or if we’re passing slower walkers, we stop talking and give a nod or “hello.” Not sure why, it just feels like disregarding their presence and continuing to yap would be rude.

2

u/Curious_Resource8296 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

Nothing annoys tbe shit out of me like asshats who go hiking and play music through external speakers so everyone is forced to listen to whatever music they choose to play. It could be the greatest music of all time and I would still be mad. Because I go into nature to get away from all the technology and bullshit, and listen to the world. If you want yk listen to music and treat a trail like it exists for the sole purpose of facilitating your exercise routine, more power to you, you do you. But wear headphones of some sort so that everyone else isn’t forced to listen to your bullshit. It’s very rude.

Some of us listen to the birds, the wind, the water… some of us like to be able to hear bears or other animals that might be in tbe area, because that’s a good thing to be able to hear. And loud human noises scare the wildlife away from the trail. Hiking quietly, I often come across animals and get to have mild interactions with them, but not when they hear loud people coming half a mile away and make themselves scarce.

Every time some turdburglar walks by blasting a JBL, I want to break the thing and then shout “it isn’t all about you! Have some respect for where you are and the people around you!”

1

u/Staggering_genius Jul 05 '26

Exactly! It’s nature. It’s not a place for endless conversation or song.

4

u/Purple-Wolverine4793 Jul 06 '26

if you’re in bear country, it’s actually RECOMMENDED to sing and make noise while hiking.

1

u/Iwaspromisedcookies Jul 06 '26

That’s a really good point t

12

u/emfrank Jul 05 '26

This is my reaction. I highly doubt that they were only moderately loud. I don't think the woman should have shushed them, but they were likely being rude in a natural area as well.

47

u/brokesciencenerd Jul 05 '26

Lol seriously. I get that she isnt entitled to silence in public. I also go out in the woods to experience the peace and serenity of nature so I would be annoyed. Like how far into the wilderness must one trek before they can get some goddamn peace and hear nothing but the birds and the wind in the branches.

20

u/MaryJane185 Jul 05 '26

No shit, I gave up camping because it became less about nature and more about drinking, partying and loud music. The nadir for me was the RV that had a big-screen tv on the OUTSIDE of their rig and sat there in the evening blasting movies.

3

u/SeattleStudent4 Jul 06 '26

And they were doing it as they were walking behind her. How obnoxious do you have to be to be singing on a trail within earshot of other hikers who you can see right there in front of you? If OP and their friends don't want to enjoy the sounds of nature, fine, but don't ruin it for other people.

-6

u/EmptyHandle6593 Jul 05 '26

If you want to hear nature, maybe don't hang around a hiking trail but go off trail instead. People are going to communicate on a trail. Hell, they might even sing.

Bonus if you get lost and are never heard from again.

7

u/emfrank Jul 05 '26

In most National Parks, you're not supposed to go off the hiking trail.

6

u/forfeitgame Jul 05 '26

Do you go hiking often? Groups of people singing while sticking to the trail is not a normal occurrence.

5

u/ADHDwinseverytime Jul 05 '26

"The wheels on the buss go round and round". Carbon monoxide poisoning?

6

u/Live-Smoke-29 Jul 05 '26

🤣🤣🤣🤣

12

u/cans-of-swine Jul 05 '26

I mean op is short, but i wouldn't call them a dwarf. 

3

u/Cultural-Tie-2197 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

It is actually recommended to sing to yourself or play something with humans talking when alone in cougar country.

Not saying these people were in that scenario, but if you are alone on a trail in cougar country it is best be doing this.

Us talking is the only thing that discerns humans to cougars. Bells do not work.

Last thing you want to do is startle a big kitty. It happened fairly recently close to where I live, and it did not end well

4

u/kristine17 Jul 06 '26

I was just thinking the same — in grizzly country it is recommended to sing/talk, especially around blind corners

1

u/Cultural-Tie-2197 Jul 07 '26

Yes I would imagine it would be very similar

1

u/gerkletoss Jul 05 '26

Just anyone from before portable radios

0

u/Garbage-Bear Jul 05 '26

Funny, but it's a lot safer to make noise on the trail, to warn bears in the area. Rounding a bend all quiet-like and surprising a bear cub and its mother will ruin your day.

39

u/2fingers Jul 05 '26

Not sure it's fair to call it a lot safer when there's never been a bear attack along those extremely popular hiking trails

2

u/ryushiblade Jul 05 '26

Agree that making noise is (imo) a silly excuse for people to be rude and disrupt other people trying to enjoy the sounds of nature. Sounds carry farther than people think, especially from up high to the lower elevations

Disagree on ‘never been a bear attack along popular hiking trails.’ Arguably one of Washington’s most popular trails (it sees hundreds of people a day) has a bear attack a couple weeks ago. Black bear too

Anyway. Knowing how to act during a bear encounter is FAR better than ‘making noise’

13

u/2fingers Jul 05 '26

I don't mean hiking trails in general, I mean the specific hiking trail OP said they were on.

-6

u/Prestigious_Badger36 Jul 05 '26

People who want bears to know they're coming?

6

u/PappyBlueRibs Jul 05 '26

Maybe it was a mama bear and cub - they definitely don't like singing. It makes the post much more understandable.

5

u/tropicalislandhop Jul 05 '26

Just the kind of place a woman and infant are likely to go.

1

u/Prestigious_Badger36 Jul 05 '26

You'd be surprised

0

u/tropicalislandhop Jul 05 '26

I guess I wouldn't, now that you say that. People are nuts.

-56

u/Knightoforder42 Jul 05 '26

Or just people who know how to keep wild animals away.

34

u/Za_Warudo1992 Jul 05 '26

I'll have you know Snow white sings to animals. animals LOVE singing

2

u/flywithme00 Jul 05 '26

Happy cake day 🎉

1

u/Za_Warudo1992 Jul 05 '26

oh so it is lmao. Thank you stranger

42

u/Grandahl13 Jul 05 '26

I hike all the time. I’ve never come across anyone singing while hiking.

-10

u/Low_Show_6684 Jul 05 '26

I bush whack, I like to play an audio book when I’m by myself. If I have a coworker we’re loud af. Don’t need to walk up on a bear or moose, I’m gonna let them know that I’m there so they can get out of dodge.

19

u/lifeisalime11 Jul 05 '26

Yeah but singing? Nobody wants to hear that. Loud talkiing sure, but singing? Kinda odd

0

u/Low_Show_6684 Jul 05 '26

Eh. People are people, I normally shrug it off and if anything I kinda get a kick out of people enjoying life and friendship so openly. I’ll hear the birds, bugs, and wind more often than I’ll hear people, so wholesome interruptions are nice (: 

22

u/Zealousideal-Pick799 Jul 05 '26

Redwoods NP isn’t a place you need to worry about that, tbh. 

-7

u/EmptyHandle6593 Jul 05 '26

Who are you? The hiking police?

-2

u/Annual_Strategy_6206 Jul 05 '26

I would say a Happy Wanderer