Date Hiked: Monday, January 25, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 2.86 miles
Weather: 35°F, sunny
Resources: McLean Game Refuge, Refuge Map
Highlights of the trip: ice sounds
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals: 7/52 hikes; 20.45/250 miles
Not too much to report. It was a beautiful day, so I decided to do a short hike before lunch. The trails had a dusting of snow on them, but that was about it. The kids were sorely disappointed we didn't get more.
The game refuge is a fairly common hiking spot for me. I love being out in the woods and it is always beautiful, but because I hike here so often, I find it hard to come up with something unique to comment on. Well today, I didn't see something unique, but I did hear something a bit unusual. I'm not really sure how to describe it other than to say it was almost other-worldly. As I came down the hill toward Spring Pond, I heard this bizarre twanging (not really the right word) noise. I assumed it was something that was going on farther away - some construction site noise or something. When I got down to the pond, I heard it again. It was definitely coming from the pond. I decided it was the ice shifting. There would be a loud noise and then it would echo around the pond which is surrounded on three sides by hills.
Here is a video that someone else made that captures the sound I heard.
Lower Sardine Ice Cracking or, as I like to think of it, alien ice sounds: YouTube video
I'm sure those are lightsabers I hear.
ReplyDeleteI was having a hard time describing the sound - it made me think of aliens for some reason. I would think it could be very unsettling if the light was getting dim, but maybe it would be colder then and the ice wouldn't make that sound.
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