BWCA Strange sounds on Jordan narrows Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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TechnoScout
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09/20/2019 07:13AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Just got back from an 8-day trip basecamped on Ashigan. Took a day trip to Jordan (up to Ima portage). We heard the strangest eerie sound while paddling the narrow passage heading to the Ima portage. It lasted for the full length and back of the narrows. We were convinced that it was NOT natural. The cadence and tones were pretty much random. We thought that perhaps there was a structure of reeds or vibrating bands being modulated by the wind. The sound was not faint...in fact loud at times. I have paddled that stretch a couple of times and never heard this sound. Very strange.
 
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missmolly
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09/20/2019 09:22AM  
There are lots of youtube videos of strange sounds in the northwoods. Lots!
 
09/20/2019 09:22AM  
I have a maybe strange sounding question, but I've had this happen and it took me a while to figure out. Did you have fishing rods in the boat? Was the wind blowing enough to cause sounds to come from the guides on the rods? That can make quite a variety of sounds, but normally a higher pitched whistling sound. Its loud enough to hear from a nearby canoe, and especially loud enough for the people in the canoe its coming from. Without more to go on, that's all I could think of.
 
flynn
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09/20/2019 09:43AM  
Yes, wind through fishing line and/or guides can make whistling noises and it can sound kinda eerie even when you know what it is.

Was it a thumping sound? I finally learned what a grouse sounds like this year. Like an airplane engine trying to start up and then failing. Crazy low frequencies coming from those guys... heard 'em all around Ensign and Vera.
 
TechnoScout
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09/20/2019 10:22AM  
Yes, we did have our poles with us and that is a plausible explanation. Given that wind is focused in that channel (no cross winds), it kinda makes sense--we did not hear it elsewhere.
 
inspector13
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09/20/2019 10:24AM  

Don’t listen to them sirens! They’ll love you up and turn you into a horny toad...

 
TechnoScout
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09/20/2019 10:27AM  
flynn: "Was it a thumping sound? I finally learned what a grouse sounds like this year. Like an airplane engine trying to start up and then failing. Crazy low frequencies coming from those guys... heard 'em all around Ensign and Vera."


No thumping...
 
bottomtothetap
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09/20/2019 12:20PM  
Memegwesi or Windigo!
 
missmolly
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09/20/2019 12:23PM  
inspector13: "
Don’t listen to them sirens! They’ll love you up and turn you into a horny toad...


"


Well played, sir, well played. You win the Internet for a day!
 
missmolly
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09/20/2019 12:34PM  
I've had my graphite rods hum before a thunderstorm. Was there electricity in the air?
 
DKalis
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09/20/2019 12:40PM  
I am thinking it was the fishing rods as well. They can really make some noise, especially when leaned on the gunwale of an aluminum canoe!

On our last trip to Swan, we had a forest service float plane land and ask us if we had seen a missing person. After we had told them no and they departed, we heard what sounded like a siren of some sort, with varying frequencies, coming from Vernon. Turns out it was just our rods in the wind.
 
TechnoScout
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09/20/2019 12:43PM  
missmolly: "I've had my graphite rods hum before a thunderstorm. Was there electricity in the air?"


Hmmm (pardon the pun), that is interesting. Graphite is conductive, but we are talking low frequencies here, so electromagnetism is unlikely. Perhaps low-frequency ground waves caused by thunder??
 
TechnoScout
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09/20/2019 12:52PM  
DKalis: "I am thinking it was the fishing rods as well. They can really make some noise, especially when leaned on the gunwale of an aluminum canoe!
"


I am feeling stupider and stupider by every response to my question. It's got to be the rods, and I, or my buddy, should have figured that out!

I will, nevertheless, do an experiment when I get my rod back...we have wind in Texas too!
 
missmolly
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09/20/2019 01:24PM  
TechnoScout: "
missmolly: "I've had my graphite rods hum before a thunderstorm. Was there electricity in the air?"



Hmmm (pardon the pun), that is interesting. Graphite is conductive, but we are talking low frequencies here, so electromagnetism is unlikely. Perhaps low-frequency ground waves caused by thunder?? "


Fun pun!
 
justpaddlin
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09/20/2019 02:27PM  
Probably just UAP's. Did it sound like a gravity wave propulsion system?
link
 
09/20/2019 06:26PM  
I often hear a rod or two humming when trolling for lake trout... we call it the Laker Hum.
 
yogi59weedr
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09/20/2019 09:18PM  
Aaron's back.
He stubbed his toe on a rock.
 
09/20/2019 09:22PM  
Took me a couple times to figure out the rod noise. I stick mine behind my stern seat, pointing up and out the stern. The wind can really create some funny noises with them....and it was chasing me!
 
old_salt
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09/20/2019 11:21PM  
Ghosts of paddlers past.
 
09/21/2019 07:56AM  
Thanks for posting this and the responses. Great thoughts all. Never heard rod noise, but now I'll have some information if that happens.
 
TechnoScout
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09/22/2019 12:59PM  
I just got the video and pictures from my buddy last night. Does not have audio of the sounds. But you can see in this picture that our rods have a significant bow and they are almost orthogonal to the canoe...a perfect setup for some good string vibration.

 
podgeo
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09/22/2019 09:01PM  
bottomtothetap: "Memegwesi or Windigo!"



+1
 
TechnoScout
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10/07/2019 09:31AM  
CONFIRMED
I setup my rod and reel as it was on Jordon that day. Went outside to a windy morning. Bingo! There was the sound!. I am going to record it by simulating in a vehicle (more reliable wind).
 
TechnoScout
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10/07/2019 03:44PM  
Here is the spirit singing

Jordan spirit
 
10/09/2019 09:43PM  
Well, you were paddling right past the pictographs there.
 
TechnoScout
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06/12/2022 07:58AM  
Went back to Jordan in May and camped there for 10 days.

Ran the fishing rod experiment with the expected results: the Jordan Singing Spirit.

LOL...what a hoot!
 
MikeinMpls
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06/13/2022 09:33AM  
TechnoScout: "Went back to Jordan in May and camped there for 10 days.


Ran the fishing rod experiment with the expected results: the Jordan Singing Spirit.


LOL...what a hoot!"


I'm very glad you figured it out! It can be a creepy sound at times, and can vary based on the relative tension on the line, the position of the pole in the canoe, very subtle changes in the orientation of the canoe relative the winds...and of course wind fluctuations.

Mike
 
06/13/2022 01:14PM  
Just last weekend we pulled out to hit the road and heard some high-pitched whistling on the roof. I wasn't worried but I realize now that it was the rods tied up under the canoe.



 
06/16/2022 06:57PM  

Bigfoot .. there is no other explanation. Maybe its me but I've been seeing him everywhere I go these days.
 
TaylorRN
member (38)member
  
06/17/2022 09:16PM  
Did you see the pictographs on Jordan narrows?!
 
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