Is Silence Golden?

Back in the lower Chihuahuan Desert, Becca and I did a hike on the west side of Tortugas Mountain.  Just after we started off from the Sunset Parking area we were overtaken by two hikers, a young man and a young woman, the latter old enough to be the man's mother.  The woman had her iPhone in her hand, and the device was blaring music.  They were friendly in their greeting to us, but they seemed totally oblivious to the fact that they were disturbing the peace and quiet of the natural world.  It boggles my mind that someone would rather hear music than the sounds of nature.