Sound By Nature

This was recorded while walking on the McCloud River Trail beneath the full moon in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The McCloud River Trail winds along the McCloud River and passes three creatively named yet nonetheless beautiful waterfalls, Upper, Middle, and Lower, the largest being Middle Fall at over fifty feet tall and one hundred feet wide. This recording takes you down the trail from just above Upper Fall, to below Middle Fall. 

Sound By Nature is produced by me with the generous support of listeners like you. If you enjoy these recordings and value natural sound recorded on location with no advertising, which have been gathered mindfully with respect for nature, perhaps you would like to support the podcast as well. Can you help me provide you with these recordings by becoming a supporter? Your support will be used to help me continue giving you ad free natural sounds. I hope that if it is within your means you will consider becoming a supporter. To those of you that are already supporting the podcast, thank you so much. Your support has helped me acquire new equipment, which is hopefully improving your listening experience. 

If you have any questions, comments, or criticisms(hopefully constructive), please e-mail me at [email protected]. And please visit the Facebook page for the podcast, which I have started updating again, and like it while your there. You can find it by searching for Sound By Nature. Thanks!

Please vote. Please vote. Please vote. Thank you for listening.

This was recorded while walking down the Squaw Valley Creek Trail in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California. The trail meanders along Squaw Valley Creek as it descends, over numerous rapids and a couple small waterfalls, into a deep and densely forested canyon studded with massive, old growth conifers, live oaks, and a lush understory of Pacific Dogwood, Vine Maple, California Hazel, Bigleaf Maple, and California Black Oak, which were resplendent with fall color.

I had an interesting black bear encounter while out making this episode. Just after I finished recording, while walking down the trail, I noticed an abundance of fresh bear tracks criss-crossing a stand of short(eight to ten foot tall) and scrubby Oracle Oaks, a hybrid between Interior Live Oak and California Black Oak. As I was stopped and inspecting the tracks, I looked to my left and saw a large black mass in the tops of the short trees, which promptly plopped down onto the ground and scurried away through the undergrowth. I can only guess that it was up there enjoying a snack, as the trees were loaded with acorns.

Sound By Nature is independently produced by me with the generous support of listeners like you. If you enjoy the podcast and appreciate natural sound recorded on location with no advertising, no looping, and no corporate overlords, which have been gathered mindfully and respectfully, perhaps you would like to support the podcast as well. Can you help me by becoming a podcast supporter? Your support will be used to help me continue producing recordings gathered in beautiful and sonically rich environments. To those of you that are already supporting the podcast, thank you. I am so grateful for all of your support, it has helped to acquire new equipment which will enable me to improve the listening experience for you and all listeners, and it gives me a boost of morale to know what I am doing is valued by you. If you have any questions, comments, or criticisms(hopefully constructive) you can email me at [email protected].

I hope you are all staying healthy in body and mind as we all navigate this pandemic and unsettlingly dystopian human world. As our American election nears I hope you are keeping the Earth, our planet, our home, in mind as you head to the polls or complete your mail in ballot. I hope that you will choose candidates that will aggressively fight climate change and enact policies that will preserve, protect, and defend our environment and the natural world for our grandchildren and their grandchildren. And if you live elsewhere in the world, in a country that holds democratic elections, I hope you will keep these thoughts in mind  when you make your choices. Thank you all very much for listening.

This episode was recorded at treeline beneath a stunted cluster of krummholz Whitebark Pine atop the ridge on the north side of upper Ash Creek Canyon on the east side of Mount Shasta in the Mount Shasta Wilderness, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. It was a sunny and clear day, and the wind blew briskly across the top of the short, shield like canopy formed by the twisted, weather beaten trees growing at the cusp of habitability. My production assistant had to sit this one out as his species is prohibited from entering the Mount Shasta Wilderness. He's a dog.

Sound By Nature is independently produced by me with generous support from listeners like you. If you enjoy the podcast and appreciate natural sounds recorded on location with no advertising, no looping, and no corporate overlords, which have been gathered mindfully and reverently, perhaps you would like to support the podcast as well. Can you help me by becoming a supporter? Your support will help me continue making recordings in beautiful and sonically rich environments. Since the last episode I have gained the support of two more listeners! To my five supporters- Soo, Paul, Meta, Alexandra, and Szymon- thank you so very much! Your support has helped me acquire better equipment so that I can hopefully improve your listening experience and continue providing you and all listeners with authentic natural sounds. If you are interested in supporting me as well, you can do so by clicking the support link at the end of this podcast description. 

What a time to be alive. I hope you all are staying as healthy as possible, both mentally and physically, in this increasingly dystopian world. As our American presidential election nears I hope that you will keep the Earth, our planet, our home, in mind as you go to the polls. I hope that you will choose candidates that will fight climate change and enact policies that will protect our environment and preserve the natural world for our grandchildren and their grandchildren. And if you live elsewhere in the world, in a country which holds democratic elections, I hope you will keep these thoughts in mind when you make your choices. Thank you all for listening.

This was recorded at the Upper McCloud River on the McCloud River Trail, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. It was a warm evening for the time of year, and though the sky was otherwise clear, the air was laden with smoke from the many wildfires burning across Northern California which imbued the evening light with a deep golden hue.

Sound By Nature is independently produced by me with production help from my dog and the generous support of listeners like you. If you enjoy the podcast and appreciate natural sounds recorded live on location with no looping, no advertisements, and no corporate overlords, which have been gathered mindfully while strictly following Leave No Trace ethics, perhaps you would like to support the podcast as well. I currently have three supporters, to whom I am extremely grateful, and I would really like to have some more. Can you help me out? I will use your support to improve the listening experience for you and all listeners, and to continue producing episodes in sonically rich natural environments. You can do so by clicking the support link at the end of this podcast description. I have recently used the support I have thus far received to contribute to upgrading my sound equipment which will hopefully result in a noticeable improvement in sound quality in future episodes. Thank you very much to my supporters for your help in making this happen, it's something I have wanted to do for a while now. You can also support the podcast by rating and reviewing it, thank you very much to everyone that already has. 

I hope that everyone is staying healthy, both physically and mentally, and I hope that these recordings are able to provide you with a bit of solace during these uncertain and tumultuous times. If these recordings do help you, I would really like to hear about it. I'm also curious how you use the podcast, whether for meditation, sleep, ambience or something else. You can tell me by emailing the podcast at [email protected]. Thank you for listening.

This was recorded on a sunny afternoon at Butcherknife Creek near the Pacific Crest Trail in Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Shasta County, California.

Sound By Nature is produced by me with production help from my dog and generous support from listeners like you. If you would like to support the podcast as well and help me to continue to provide you with natural sound recorded on location with no advertisements, you can do so by clicking the support link at the end of this description. Your support will go towards improving the production quality of the podcast for you and all listeners, and producing future episodes in wild and natural environments. You can also support the podcast by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform. Thank you to those of you that have rated it, especially to those who have written such kind reviews. I really appreciate how much you appreciate what I do.

It's been an uneasy time living in my neck of the woods, the wildfires have been extremely unsettling and I am heartbroken for everybody that has lost everything to the flames, and for the destruction of so much forest and wilderness. I really hope that people will open their eyes to the effects of climate change that are happening all around us and are directly, and cruelly, impacting the lives of people right now. It's not just here, and it's not just wildfires, but it is many  different things that are happening worldwide, things which we had been told for years would happen and are happening right now. People are dying, ecosystems are collapsing, and wildlife is going extinct at an alarming rate. We must act now. Wherever you are in the world, vote for people that are aware of this crisis and are willing and able to take action. There is no time left to lose. 

This was recorded beside upper South Fork Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, Klamath National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. Thunderstorms passed by over the ridge east of the lake, then rumbled off into the distance, while a few light rain showers passed overhead, with breezes which stirred up wind ripples that lapped gently at the rocky shoreline. The occasional splash you'll hear are trout jumping.

This podcast is entirely produced by me with production help from my dog and is supported by listeners like you. Your support is greatly appreciated and is currently being set aside until I have enough funds to purchase a higher quality microphone so that I can provide all my listeners with an overall better listening experience. If you would like to help me reach my goal, you can do so by clicking the support link at the end of this podcast description. These are tough times and I understand that most people don't really have enough money to donate to a silly nature sounds podcast, but for those of you that do I am extremely grateful. I am committed to putting every last bit towards improving the podcast for you and all listeners. Thank you. 

I haven't been updating the Facebook page for the podcast. I aim to provide you with a break from the anthropocentric world, and nothing could be more anthropocentric than Facebook and social media in general. But I would still like to be able to share pictures of the locations I record and podcast updates. When I figure out a way to do that I will let you know.

I hope that, if you can, you have been able to get out into nature yourself and find some peace and solitude. Just as live music is better than a recording, live nature is infinitely better than any recording. And I hope that if you did get out into nature you practiced Leave No Trace ethics, which means that you took only pictures and left only footprints, you placed your feet mindfully and didn't trample vegetation and compact delicate soils, you didn't disturb or approach wildlife, if you packed it in you packed it out, you picked up any litter that previous visitors carelessly discarded, that you did what you could to leave the area better than you found it for the next visitors, and that you observed and followed all of the rules and regulations for the area you are visiting which were put in place to ensure an enjoyable outdoor experience for everyone. 

This is a stressful and chaotic time we are living through right now, I hope that everyone is doing what they can to stay healthy both mentally and physically. Thank you all for listening. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay sound.

While recording Episode 46 I left my recording set up within sight of the trail and some curious hikers stopped to inspect it. Thankfully they didn't take it with them! 

This was recorded at Shastine Crater in the Medicine Lake Highlands area of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Siskiyou County, California. The recording starts as thunder and rain pass directly overhead and then drift off into the distance. Unfortunately lightning strikes from these storms caused several wildfires which forced the closure of Lava Beds National Monument and a mandatory evacuation of the Medicine Lake Area in the days following the date of this recording. 

Sound By Nature is produced by me with generous support from listeners like you. If you enjoy the podcast and feel that it provides you with a little relief from the stress of daily life, I hope you'll consider supporting it if you can. Your contribution will go towards improving the sound quality of the recordings and producing future episodes in wild and natural environments. You can do so by clicking the support link at the end of this podcast description. You can also support the podcast by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform. Thank you!!  

I hope everyone is staying healthy in body and mind, and I hope these recordings can help you give yourself a break from social media, the continuous news cycle, and the everyday stresses of the world and the ongoing pandemic. Thank you all for listening. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay sound.