As I slither out of my sleeping bag an hour after “quiet hours” began at the campground, creeping toward the door of the tent to go ask the people at the next campsite to maybe possibly keep it down, you know, if it’s not too much trouble, I think: this is going to go one of two ways. They’re going to say oops, sorry, we’ll quiet down, or I’m going to have to engage in hand-to-hand combat with up to five men (which will be quick and painful, for me). 

Nobody wants to be that person, the killjoy who walks over to a campsite of people having fun—loud fun—to remind them that this is actually not their backyard, this is a public campground, and other people might be trying to sleep right now. But in the past couple decades, I have been that guy many times. I have used various techniques, have not been physically assaulted or maimed (yet), and have sometimes even succeeded in gently nudging the loud folks to, in the words of Adam Mansbach, read by Samuel L. Jackson, Go the Fuck to Sleep. Here are a few strategies, rated for their effectiveness. 

Denial
You didn’t hear anything. You just woke up. It’s totally quiet out there.
Effectiveness: 2/10

Vigilance
You listen intently, as if a predator might be approaching your tent. You stop breathing. Was that a noise? A car door closing, a camper door slamming shut, someone laughing, someone playing … a flute … at 10 p.m.? Did you hear it again? Yes. Yes, you did. Goddammit.
Effectiveness: 0/10

Earplugs
You put earplugs in your ears. In my experience of working in a loud factory, earplugs are great at minimizing the hearing damage one might suffer working in loud environments where the sound level is pretty constantly uncomfortable, but in a place where relative quiet is abruptly punctured by a loud noise every few minutes, they can be hit or miss.
Effectiveness: Best-case, 10/10. Worst-case, 3/10. 

Gaslighting yourself
That guy’s laugh wasn’t that loud, was it? I mean, it might have just woken you up as you were drifting into sleep, but you’re probably just a bit sensitive. That thump every 20-30 seconds? It’s pretty muted, honestly, and 11 p.m. is a perfectly OK time to split firewood. You’re just being oversensitive.
Effectiveness: 0/10

Anger
This strategy involves getting so mad you could spit, or do spit, or imagine yourself forcefully silencing the loud people, or pouring corn syrup into the fuel tank of their generator that’s been running since 7 p.m., or hastily packing up your entire camp and driving home/somewhere else while shaking your head in disbelief. Not effective.
Effectiveness: -3/10

Not being mad, just being disappointed
As effective as this technique was when I was a teenager and my mom used it on me, it does not work to get people to be considerate of others’ experiences.
Effectiveness: 0/10

Deploying chemical agents that will render them unconscious
Actually haven’t tried this one, but have fantasized about it many times.
Effectiveness: Who’s to say, really. Definitely illegal though.

Complaining, in head
Effectiveness: 0/10

Complaining to tentmate(s)
Effectiveness: 0/10

Self-righteousness
Sure, you’re far from perfect, but you would never be an inconsiderate dickhead like those loud people are! I mean, the nerve. Don’t they realize there are other people here trying to enjoy the sounds of the breeze in the trees, or birdsong, and not a bunch of dipshits playing Wizard Staff and falling into the campfire? Oh, wait. You have been an inconsiderate dickhead, at least that one time. It was years ago, but still.
Effectiveness: 0/10

Approaching their campsite and politely asking them to quiet down
Awkward, really not enjoyable unless you happen to enjoy confrontation, but if you really believe someone has to do it, it might have to be you. You can accidentally shine your headlamp in everyone’s eyes on its brightest setting, but it’s not very diplomatic.
Effectiveness: anywhere from 0/10 to 10/10

Waiting for someone else to ask offending party to quiet down
True story, one time I was climbing at Red Rock Natural Conservation Area near Vegas and we camped there a couple nights, and there was absolutely no vegetation between campsites, so sound traveled pretty far. At like 1:30 a.m., I woke up to someone’s dog barking for a few seconds, maybe at a coyote or something. The dog kept barking, kept barking, kept barking, for a couple minutes. I sighed, resigned to the fact that I was going to have to get out of my sleeping bag, unzip the tent door, walk over there and … suddenly, I heard someone from another campsite scream, “SHUT THAT FUCKING DOG UUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPP!!!!!!” Seconds later, the dog stopped barking. I rolled over and went back to sleep.
Effectiveness: In the above story, 10/10, but results vary per situation. 

—

Trip Report.

I had planned our trip to have a day to explore most sections of the national park to see as much as possible in our limited time. Our third day was designated to exploring the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. If we had time we would make a side trip to Smith Peak lookout on our drive back to camp. This area of the park is located in the north western corner. It required leaving and re-entering the park, so it set us up well to visiting a fire lookout just outside the boundaries. The access to the Hetch Hetchy area is off a steep and narrow road with limited trail options. It seemed like most trails were utilized for access to longer backpacking routes. I settled on sticking to the classic hike along the reservoir to Tueeulala and Wapama falls. The biggest downside to visiting Yosemite this late in the season was most of these waterfalls were dry. The trail follows an old railroad cut that is relatively flat, but offers little reprieve from the sun. Despite Strava only calculating this hike at 4.80 miles with 585′ of elevation gain the heat made it challenging. Our energy was tapped by the time we made it back to the car.

I wanted to head straight back to camp afterwards, but we decided to continue to the Groveland Ranger station to buy a map of the area. Garnet was interested in looking at the routes to other fire lookouts, but they were completely out of the map we wanted. After some debate, we decided to continue on to Smith Peak. The access road was located just behind the ranger station and we were already there. We followed the paved road to the Pines Campground and turned into it. The road turned to dirt and continues beyond the campground. We debated parking here and walking the road since it was close enough, but ended up continuing on for the same reason. If we found the road inaccessible we could always turn around. There were some minor hazards to avoid if you are driving a low clearance vehicle but it is passable. After driving for a mile and a half we reached a 5-way intersection. We parked in a pull out here since we figured the remaining distance to the summit was behind a gate. It was not immediately clear which road led to the summit from here. We took a guess and headed left based on which road looked the most used and angled towards the summit. It was confirmed we made the right selection when we reached the gate farther down the road. From where we parked to the summit was less than half of a mile. Strava calculated this at 0.95 RT with 174′ of elevation gain. If we had decided to park at the campground, the hike would have been closer to 4 miles RT with 680′ of gain.

Our biggest surprise after we reached the summit was meeting the lookout attendant onsite. We figured even if it was still staffed the person would have already been done for the season or have had left for the evening. He invited us up to chat, but not all the way on the catwalk. The view from the ground was about the same as it was from the stairs. Unfortunately neither of us can recall his name, but we chatted with him for awhile about lookouts and the surrounding area before heading back to camp for the night.

History.

In 1931, Smith Peak was selected as an administrative site to build a lookout tower. A wooden 2-story tower was built shortly after it’s selection. Old archive pictures show this structure was reminiscent of a national park style cab with slight variations. It is mentioned that the site has been utilized for fire detection as early as 1910 given it’s proximity to the ranger station. The wooden structure was replaced in 1952 by a metal lookout tower and garage. This burned down in 1987 during the Stanislaus Complex fire and was replaced by the existing structure in 1988. This site continues to be actively staffed every season and is one of only two remaining staffed in the Groveland Ranger District.