After a long and steep climb on a hot day, there's nothing better than sitting by a cool creek and cooling off your feet. Join me for a break as I relax and cool down on day five of our backpacking trip along the High Sierra Trail.

This is a short recording taken on the High Sierra Trail, between Junction and Crabtree Meadows. One of the surprises on this backpack trip was how quiet the Sierra can be. While that was a fantastic experience, it did not lend itself to as many opportunities to record.

I wasn't planning on making a recording in this location, but I walked into this area where my favorite bird song (The Wood Thrush) was so bright and cheerful, I had to stop a log on the trail and make this recording. When I started recording, there was a plane overhead, and I thought to myself. I'll make the recording a little longer so I can have more tape without the plane. To my surprise, there was very little quiet time between one plane and the next, so it was also interesting to really listen to how much plane traffic there is above Shenandoah National Park.

This is a great park to take a break from the beach when visiting North Carolina's Outer Banks. It's not crowded and is a short 5-minute drive from the main strip. The preserve features "lushly wooded dunes, peaceful ponds and brackish marsh, all teeming with plant and animal life." The ponds are covered in a layer of Duckweed, giving them a bright green appearance. This is a gem of a park and a great place to reset, watch birds, and walk under the shade of "one of the largest remaining maritime forests on the East Coast".

#nagsheadwoodspreserve, #OBX, #TheNatureConservancy, #Hiking

This was taken on the shore of "The Point" in the middle of Lake Moomaw. It's a challenging and steep hike out to The Point. The reward is the relatively quiet and peaceful shore. You can hear a passing fishing boat for a young couple aboard, and at the end it starts to rain before I walk over and turn off the recorder.

A short break along this delightful but steep trail out to the remote Point campground on Lake Moomaw. Toward the end of the recording, the wood thrush returns, so I let the recording run a little longer to capture it.

This field recording was taken by the side of the Riprap Creek in Shenandoah National Park.

The recordings are in stereo. I would love to hear from you and know which direction the water is moving in your mind when you listen to the recording. Note that the cover photo is taken close to but not at the location where the recording was made, so no cheating.

This recording was taken about 2 miles into the Wildcat Ridge Trail at the peak of the Mountain Laurel bloom.