About a month ago I spent a few days chasing dog teams during the 2009
John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon -- 374 miles from Duluth, Minnesota
to the Canadian border and back again. Temps were sub-zero (F) most of
the time, but my AT3032s worked perfectly. The dual challenge I had
was keeping my batteries warm while recording outdoors for hours at a
time, and keeping my mics cold while traveling between checkpoints.
Thankfully, I managed to do both.
On day three, after most of the field had dropped out, I was out on
the west end of Devil Track Lake (12 miles or so up the Gunflint Trail
from Grand Marais, MN), about 1/2 mile from shore. It was just past
noon. Temp was only slightly above zero (F), winds were about 10 mph
from the southwest. Sun was shining brightly. Those few tough mushers
who remained in the race were beginning their down-bound run back to
Duluth after resting a few hours from a long night of mushing that
took them all the way to Gunflint Lake on the international border in
-30 degree cold.
Is this getting too far off topic for you? Please hang on for another
sentence or two.
I set up my recording gear out on the lake ice, near the marked race
trail, and walked a couple hundred yards in the direction from which
the teams would be coming. After a long wait, the first musher
approached, his dogs barked when they saw me. We waved to each other.
Little did I know, but at that exact time, a large bird flew right
over my mic rig. I presume it was a raven, as it seemed to react to
the dogs barking -- almost mimicking them.
Can anyone confirm this for me, or steer me toward a more accurate ID?
http://www.trackseventeen.com/soundblog/xq090127b-stetson_pass.mp3
-or-
http://tinyurl.com/dcxojo
Thank you in advance,
Curt Olson
PS: For anyone who might be interested, I have a few other quick-and-
dirty clips from the race at:
http://www.trackseventeen.com/media/beargrease/
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