| DAVE�S AZT TOP TEN NIGHT SOUNDS 1. Nothing � just yourself moving, breathing, thinking. It�s one of the reasons you are on the AZT. 2. Planes � they are there. Two spots in particular: the northern end of the Mazatzals and near Oracle State Park 3. Streams � they drown out most other noises. Amazingly steady and constant. Some times they are too steady and I want to get up and shut it off. 4. Trains � I grew up near the tracks. The sound of trains jostling and tooting in the night is like a sweet elixir to me. At the Colossal Cave Campground, the far distant train sounds in the middle of the night brought back a warm feeling of my childhood. 5. Trees falling � Such an eerie sound. The years after affects of the Lone Pine fire in the Four Peaks Wilderness were worthy of my attention. The setting among the charred forest was spooky enough but hearing more than one tree falling in the near distance made me get up and check the close-by trees. 6. Coyotes yipping � The pack yipping and howling in the early evening and morning always give me a call-of-the-wild charge. 7. Something moving in the brush � This is always a scary sound. Usually it�s some small animal snooping around, dragging its feet in the leaves or brush. Of, course, the noise seems much more monstrous than it is but it always gets your attention. 8. Tape Playing - I carry a small tape recorder with me to capture my thoughts. It�s one of the last things I do before falling asleep. One night while asleep on the AZT I rolled onto the tape recorder and accidently turned it on, and suddenly my wife Patricia was speaking. It took a few seconds to realize that she wasn�t there but an old telephone recorder tape was being replayed on my recorder. Man, was I ever lonely then. 9. Cows mooing� The AZT crosses a lot of cattle country. And the cows stroll near the campsite in the middle of the night. Don't worry only a few cows in history have been carnivorous. 10. Deer on Trail � Near Bathtub Spring two different groups of deer passed by the tent on their way to the spring for a middle-of-the-night drink of water. My wife thought it was a group of Ft. Huachuca soldiers out jogging. HOME EMAIL ME NEXT CHAPTER |