Seeking quiet in eastern Nevada

I recently returned to Arizona, after spending the entire summer in northern Nevada.  My first stop on my way south was in the newly designated Basin and Range National Monument in southern Nevada.   I spent the first night at a little campground on the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, which comprises a series of wetlands near the farming community of Alamo.  Most of the campsites are right on Upper Pahranagat Lake, so you get an excellent view of the wildlife on the lake.  I had hope to catch some of the waterfowl migration, but based on the few grebes, ducks, and cormorants around, I was way too early.

I was also treated to a beautiful sunset, right from my camp.

The downside of this lovely site was that it was right along Highway 93 – a major trucking route out of Las Vegas.  The highway was literally less than 75 yards from my camp, and big semis roared by all night long.  No chance of any sound recording.  I spent the next day checking out several rock art sites, then headed for Beaver Dam State Park, which I’ve heard from several nature sound recordists is a really quiet place.

It was late afternoon by the time I finished the long dirt road that climbs into the mountains east of Caliente.  There was only one other party camped in the campground, so I had a whole section to myself.  It was beginning to look like a much quieter evening than the night before.   The campground is perched on a mesa quite a ways above the river, so the only sounds as night fell were the faint whispers of the pinyon and juniper trees.  I love the silence that settles over the Great Basin in the evening.  The sage and pinyon, bitterbrush and juniper are all quiet plants, seeming to muffle the breeze, sucking the sound right out of the air.

Soon the crickets started calling, creating a nice relaxing chorus to sleep by.  The crickets were joined by Great Horned and Western Screech owls during the night.  Here’s a short clip of the crickets and some screech owls:

About 3:30 in the morning, I was awakened by rumble of a train rolling by about 5 miles down the canyon.  The sound was audible for quite awhile, and loud enough to drown out the owls.  But once the train was gone, it was back to the crickets and owls.

Even the sounds of the dawn were subdued.  The jays, nutcrackers, and chickadees muttered to themselves.  I recorded them, but was not happy with the recording.  I blame it on equipment failure, but I’m not sure if the mics failed to accurately record the quiet, or my ears filters out the extra noise.  Either way, I’ll spare you the result.

My time at Beaver Dam was short; I still had a lot of miles to cover.  But I’d like to go back sometime and hear what critters live along the river.

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