Two couples were soaking up rays au naturel one sunny day last summer when the unmistakable "WHOP, WHOP, WHOP" of a whirlybird could be heard reverberating in the not-so-distant distance.
Within moments, the chopper hovered above the nude sunbathers, catching them in all their glory. Adding insult to insult, a passenger in the aircraft began shooting photographs.The sunbathers, along with many other Moab residents, have vowed not to get caught with their pants down again, so to speak.
Calling themselves "Citizens for a Heli Free Moab," a broad cross-section of residents organized this week to seek a ban - or, at least, restrictions - on Moab's recreational helicopter business, which got off the ground in earnest just last spring.
With helicopters, say members of the citizens group, solitude and privacy, which helped make the region an international mecca for back-country enthusiasts, are harder to find.
"(Helicopters) are becoming all too common," said Moab resident Jose Knighton, an avid hiker. "You go into the backcountry on any given weekend and they are down in the canyons, making as much noise as they can. One helicopter can trash the experience for everyone else who's out there."
In some cases, the choppers have created danger.
David Whidden, of Moab, and a friend were rappelling down a 1,000-foot cliff in Castle Valley in April when he was circled by a helicopter that hovered above him so the tourists inside could take pictures.
"They came so close that the air produced by the propellers was blowing us around on our ropes," Whidden said. "It was a hyper-stupid situation they put us in."
Knighton said the helicopter racket on Columbus Day weekend not only spoiled the serenity of his hike but nearly led to snakebite.
"I was completely befuddled by the assault of the helicopter noise. But as the noise is going on, there is a rattler at my feet rattling ferociously," Knighton said. "I wasn't even aware it was there until the helicopter was gone."
The citizens group has launched a letter-writing campaign, urging Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah, and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to pressure the Federal Aviation Administration to prohibit flights beneath 2,000 feet above the ground, said Lu Warner, a mountain-biking tour guide and spokesman for the citizens group.
Currently, there are no restrictions on the airspace over the canyon country. The FAA only has an "advisory" of 2,000 feet over national parks.
Ideally, Warner said, the FAA would prohibit any kind of recreational helicopter flights over national parks and wilderness areas, which most visitors value as places of solitude.
The Manti-LaSal National Forest has already banned helicopter skiing from the La Sal Mountains southeast of Moab.
"(Helicopter touring) is not a vital part of the community," Warner said. "People don't come here to ride helicopters."
Knighton, who runs a Moab bookstore, said he fears the recreational helicopter industry, which began just last spring in Moab, may scare visitors away from Grand County, whose economy relies heavily on tourism.
Warner said if a total ban doesn't work, perhaps the federal land-management agencies would restrict the helicopters to certain areas.
Canyonlands National Park has received a "fair amount" of public comment from people opposed to helicopters over the park, said park spokesman Larry Frederick. But opposing the helicopter companies may put the park in an uncomfortable situation because the park often hires them for search-and-rescue operations, maintenance work and surveys of wildlife.
"Inevitably, it's going to come down to getting Congress involved to decide if airspace over national parks will be treated differently than airspace over other areas," Frederick said.
In addition to getting helicopters out of the backcountry, a more immediate concern to Moab residents is getting the companies away from town. The two operators are currently based along Highway 191, just north of Moab.
The Grand County Council is considering ways to get the companies to move to the airport, about 12 miles further north.
Neither helicopter company could be reached for comment.