"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
It's
very sad, IMHO, as many thousands of people have had their Grand
Canyon experience drastically diminished so that a far smaller number
of people can quietly hike into it.

I don't know that that's a bad thing. Such (quiet natural) areas should
exist.

I have mixed emotions on this issue. I agree that places of solitude
should exist, but at what cost?

So few people are able to physically hike down into the canyon, yet
tens of thousands can (and do) fly over the canyon each year. This
majority has had their Grand Canyon experience drastically diminished
(by restrictive overflight laws) in favor of the minority's "right"
to silence.

Do the needs of the many out-weigh the needs of the few?

I suspect it's more a matter of non pilots making the rules, or a small
group of people going to the wall for "perfect preservation". If I was king
it would be a matter of operational hours. Flights down the canyon are a
national resource just as silence and serenity are. Opening the skys to
flights for 4 to 6 hours a day wouldn't harm anyone but the most selfish.