BWCA EP 14 or 16 side adventure / recovery Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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05/30/2020 05:18PM  
So in the LNT spirit, I have a possible project for someone ambitious going into EP 14 or 16.

As of May 22, there was what I now believe is a small weather balloon and/or weather balloon parachute caught in the trees along Pocket Creek between Pocket Lake and Finger Lake.

We saw it - it is bright Orange - hanging at least 15 feet off the ground, a few yards into woods from the edge of the bog alongside the creek. Perhaps 100 yards North-ish of: 48.30741, -92.14139 (we were going from Pocket to Finger, and were a little past the object when we dropped the pin at those coordinates…but still in sight of it I believe).

There was what appeared to be a long white tether dangling through the trees that might come all the way to the ground. Might not.

We were stumped at the time, debating it but we kept going as we were battling exhaustion and daylight.

Now with some hindsight and research I am pretty confident that it’s a small weather balloon…may or may not be NWS, but if it is then there’s likely a Radiosonde there as well. Radiosonde

Seems more like a litter/remove situation as opposed to an interesting novelty that future generations should enjoy, though I am open to debating that.

I don’t think you could miss it with those coordinates - just look north from there. Perhaps someone has already dealt with it in the last week, but I doubt it.

If I were going in to get it (my teenaged son nixed the idea) I’d carry a long pole saw to give me some reach. Again, perhaps you could walk up to the line and pull it down, but perhaps not.

Happy to provide more detail if someone is serious about a recovery effort.
 
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Savage Voyageur
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05/30/2020 07:47PM  
Interesting, I wonder if the weather service is looking for it?
 
andym
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05/30/2020 07:53PM  
If you tell the FS they may go get it.
 
cyclones30
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05/31/2020 01:39PM  
They lose a ton of those over the course of a year so....I doubt it's in high demand to get back. Cool to try and see in person though!
 
06/01/2020 07:28AM  
andym: "If you tell the FS they may go get it. "


This seems like a good idea - I will do so!
 
06/01/2020 07:36AM  
There is usually instructions in sending it back - the instrument package (radiosonde) that is - if one decides to. About 1 in 5 get sent back. I saw one on Iron Lake (near LLC) in 2003. It was in Canada so we let it be.
"The radiosonde will typically have a bag and instructions attached if you happen to find one. According to Weather Service, only 1 out of 5 radiosonde released are recovered. However, if you do find one, please return it because they can be reconditioned and used.May 18, 2018"
 
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