Once again, way too busy to post recently. However, I have just returned from a trip to the mountains, specifically Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While I was there I was baffled by what I perceive to be some unusual behaviors. What I want to know is: why do people go to a beautiful, natural environment and feel compelled to tour the area by Harley Davidson motorcycles? I am certain that riding a motorcycle through some of the most achingly beautiful scenery in the nation would have a certain appeal, the noise level produced by these conveyances is completely out of control.
While standing beside a stream just off one of the roads, cars would occasionally pass and there would be a slight noise. When a motorcycle passed it was deafening. This cannot be good for people or the wildlife. At one point, standing on a high ridge, the only sound were the birds, the wind in the tree and the roar of motorcycles passing below.
I am not a "purist" when it comes to wilderness or to our National Parks. But can't we have a little quiet without the roar of the accountant-dentist-lawyer-over the hill guy on a Harley?
