There are definitely a lot of boats around Sitka. Both commercial,
semi-commercial (Charters), and private sport fishing in addition to
pleasure boating are all very popular. The topography is such that if you
can get into a bay with little boat traffic, I would think the noise would
not be too bad, but here is where my lack of experience is telling
(hopefully I will get some experience soon; I have the cable to connect my
Shure WL183s to my Sharp minidisc recorder on order - Thanks Dan Dugan! -
and maybe as soon as later this week I'll have a chance to try it out).
It is my impression that quiet to the hiker is not necessarily quiet to
the recordist. I'm reminded of a story a friend of mine told. He used to
go hunting with another friend and that friend's dad. They would be going
up a steep hillside well away from town, and the friend's dad would say
"there's a seiner going by" but my friend couldn't hear anything and they
were in the woods where they could not see. A short time later they would
break out of the trees and look down, and what do you know, there was a
seiner cruising along down below. The low rumble of the diesel engine is
audible for a long distance to those who know what to listen for.
One advantage to Indian River Trail is that once you get a couple miles up
the trail, the valley curves around behind a ridge that probably blocks
most of the noise from town and the water. I'll have to check out that
theory when I get a chance. Of course that does not help with the light
aircraft which fly over more often than I would prefer even without trying
to record; especially in the summer.
I guess that brings up a more general question, however; to what extent
can topography be relied upon to block undesirable sources of noise? It
seems that topography can make a significant difference potentially, as I
know that when I hike up one of the mountains right near town the noise of
traffic, dogs, machinery, etc. drops dramatically once the trail goes to
the side of the ridge facing away from town (the sounds are very audible
at the 1800 foot level or so, just a few steps up and over the ridge line
and it seems very quiet).
Matt
On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 15:57:34 -0900, Wild Sanctuary
<> wrote:
> The problem I had around Sitka, Matt, was the incessant noise of
> watercraft...even far into the woods. On Chichagoff Id, we'd
> sometimes hike four or five miles and still hear the drone from the
> water. And if that didn't happen, it was light aircraft. So, from my
> perspective, it's a bit iffy but doable if one is very, very patient.
>
> Bernie
>
>> If you don't mind hiking, that would probably be your best bet for
>> getting
>> away from the noise. One difficulty I have in making recommendations is
>> that I have not yet experienced the frustrations of trying to record
>> with
>> distant noises. I know that when you get back on the trails it gets a
>> lot
>> quieter than in town, but I suspect that it might not be quiet by nature
>> recordists standards. That said, the most accessible (by foot)
>> possibility is Indian River Trail. The trail starts about 15-25 minutes
>> walk from downtown and follows Indian River back about 4-5 miles up
>> valley
>> to a decent sized waterfall. There's a brief trail description here:
>> http://www.nawwal.org/mrgoff/hiking/sitkatrailguide/indriv/falls.html
>> If you go at least a couple miles up the trail, you should be far enough
>> back to have the sounds from town greatly diminished or totally gone
>> (the
>> exception is heavy machinery that occasionally operates not too far from
>> the beginning of the trail). It's old growth forest plus the river, so
>> there will be some birds (I'm not sure what exactly, at that time of
>> year)
>> and of course the river itself. Other possibilities would be further
>> out
>> the road, and you would probably want to take a cab to get to those
>> trails
>> (and arrange for a ride back). If you're interested in knowing more
>> about
>> Sitka in particular (I can't help so much with other places), let me
>> know
>> and I'll be happy to tell you what I know.
>>
>> Matt
>>
>> On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 12:31:43 -0900, Debbi B <>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> With about 6-7hours available in
>>>> town, you might have
>>>> time to get back into the woods where things should
>>>> be quieter. What kind
>>>> of things are you interested in recording?
>>>
>>> Thanks to Bernie and you. Pretty much anything in
>>> nature is open for recording.
>>>
>>> Debbi
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Microphones are not ears,
>>> Loudspeakers are not birds,
>>> A listening room is not nature."
>>> Klas Strandberg
>>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Microphones are not ears,
>> Loudspeakers are not birds,
>> A listening room is not nature."
>> Klas Strandberg
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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