Sounds you love in the woods

[dug]

The first "ssspfffft" of a post-hike social being popped at the trailhead.

 

[BobC]

Water gurgling in a brook.

I've gotta second this, I just love the sound of water flowing over rocks. My second favorite sound would be silence, though.

 

[Puck]

The song of the bicknells...hearing a saw whet owl in th enight. Hearing thrushes moving through the brush during migration. The sound of friend discovering a spruce trap. the sound of ice breaking off a cliff. A head banging on the beam in Guyot shelter. The two words "coffee's ready"

 

[Elizabeth]

Several have mentioned burbling brooks already. I think they sound best in winter, under a layer of ice. Even if you are not a winter hiker, I recommend finding a frozen brook this winter and stopping just to listen. If you get to see a nice half-frozen waterfall at the same time, so much the better.

 

[Elizabeth]

Does silence count as a sound?

According to Simon and Garfunkel it does.

 

[Chip]

I enjoy the mindbendingly terrifying distortions of noise that can occur in the woods, especially at night. Camping here in a tent on the AT one fall, at about 5am I heard a deer or horse or moose heading for the tent through the woods. It came on like a freight train, louder and closer and eventually nearly missed the tent. When I got up and had a chance to look around our site I realized the animal could not have been bigger than a racoon and was probably a chipmunk. Another time I was hiking in fog with a friend. My dog had wandered off and after calling to him, we started to here the clomp, clomp, clomp of horse hooves heading up towards us. It kept on coming through the fog, getting louder and closer, to the point where I turned off the trail and pushed my friend off the trail also... expecting to see a galloping horse emerge quickly upon us through the fog...we were greeted by my wandering mutt.

 

[Peakbagr]

Wow, very evocative replies.

Also, the little tick, tick, tick or frozen rain or sleet on a hard snow crust.
The 'clunk' of one of the old, metal ADK 46r cannister lids shutting.

 

[erugs]

It's not a sound of nature, really, but I like the noise a climbing carabiner makes.

This is another favorite: Crunching thin white ice on the trail.

 

[DrewKnight]

Cool thread.

Rattle of dead oak leaves in the wind late in stick season.

Crunch of mountain bike tires rolling over frosty ground and dry leaves (once tried riding with an iPod on... couldn't do it. I realized how much I count on auditory feedback).

My daughter's voice keeping up a constant quiet rap as we hike... straight-through processing of topics, just talking keeps her going (she turns 11 today).

The sound of snowguns lighting up in mid-November (not exactly natural, but full of promise to me).

 

[Little Rickie]

How about that loud crack trees make when it's super cold and the air is dry in the woods.

Ever hear the ice on a lake crack/boom under the same conditions?

Ever happen to you while standing on the lake?

 

[erugs]

How about that loud crack trees make when it's super cold and the air is dry in the woods.

Ever hear the ice on a lake crack/boom under the same conditions?

Ever happen to you while standing on the lake?

Yes, yes, and yes. It's scarey!

 

[Tom Rankin]

...we were greeted by my wandering mutt.

I saw a bear run away from me once, and it really did sound like a galloping horse!

This is a GREAT thread! Sound is a big part of why I enjoy hiking.

 

[REK]

That profound "all alone" silence that you get above tree line

 

[marty]

So many great posts . One that I don't think anyone posted is the sound of the American Bittern. I heard one daily while wilderness camping at Richardson Lake in Western Maine several years ago. Took me a long time to identify what it was.

The American Bittern produces this pumping sound that is otherworldly. If anyone has time to spare, here is a two minute Youtube video about this bird, including its wild sound. You can also fast forward to the one minute mark to get to the pumping sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAxAEoAVmuc

Great thread!

Marty

 

[erugs]

The American Bittern produces this pumping sound that is otherworldly. If anyone has time to spare, here is a two minute Youtube video about this bird, including its wild sound. You can also fast forward to the one minute mark to get to the pumping sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAxAEoAVmuc

Marty

That is a strange one. Thanks for sharing the link. Is it a loud sound or more obscure in real life? I subscribe to Laura Erickson's podcast on birding. Her presentation style takes a little getting used to, but now I feel I'm hearing good information from a friend. My favorite of hers is one where she talks about "twitterpated" chickadees, the Norwegian bachelor of birds.

 

[marty]

That is a strange one. Thanks for sharing the link. Is it a loud sound or more obscure in real life?

Hi, the Bittern is loud and it was easy to identify the direction where the sound is coming from. In our case, we were staying at a point on the lake and the bittern was in the neighboring cove.

Would love to hear one again!

Marty

 

[NorthShore]

The subtle sound of snowflakes bouncing off of old brown leaves still clinging to their trees.

 

[NewHampshire]

Most of my favorite sounds come from the hunting woods (it is a different world from hiking....hiking you are always moving and wildlife encounters tend to be more accidental whereas sitting in one spot for hours allows you to become "one" with the woods and they really come alive)

The gobble and clucks of turkeys in the cool spring morning air.

Squirrels and chipmunks scruffling in the freshly fallen fall leaves

The grunt of a mature buck carrying for dozens of yards in the sharp cold fall air.

The honks of migrating geese.

The creak of frozen trees swaying in the cold air.

The splash of a largemouth bass cutting across the glassy waters of a humid summer day

And of course who doesn't love the happy sounds of songbirds coming back to life on a spring morning!?

Brian

 

[BF]

The sound of silence at 3:00 in the afternoon after the crowds have left the peak.

 

[cooperhill]

One more that I forgot.

The "Thooock" of my axe as it hits into a blowdown.