I personally don't mind encountering significant numbers of people on the trails. For those who want to find solitude in the wilderness, I say "Don't expect to find solitude on any trail. All you have to do is make a right-angle turn and walk a quarter mile!"
it's quite simple for me - if I see 1000 hikers a day (last summer going from Sunrise Creek to Happy Isles and back up), I don't really feel I need to talk to anyone and I will probably scratch that location off my future visits list. But if I am in the absolute middle of nowhere and run into another hiker there, I will want to meet that person. We're strange creatures.
