Aravaipa CreekAravaipa Canyon – Aravaipa Creek at Dawn. Near Klondyke, Arizona. 15 May 2017. Recording and photo © Lang Elliott. Tap photo to view full size.

Note: The recordings featured here are “3D binaural soundscapes”. Please wear headphones for a profound listening experience that will make you think you’re actually out there, immersed in the natural world!

I cannot tell a lie … I am the Aravaipa Dreamer. Day in, day out, I dream of being in Aravaipa Canyon, one of my favorite places on Planet Earth. And now it appears my dreams will come true. I receive my second vaccination tomorrow and I’m feeling confident that I can travel to wild areas without compromising myself and others. So, in early March, I will be embarking on a three-month nature recording expedition to the Southwest. My good friend Beth Bannister will accompany me at first, and I plan to meet up with others later on, including Christine Hass and Kevin Colver, both accomplished nature recordists.

This is the trip I had planned for 2020, but had to cancel due to the pandemic. It will take me to the Hill Country of Texas where I’ll visit Lost Maples State Natural Area, a wonderful wild area that sports a healthy population of land-breeding Barking Frogs. Then on to Kickapoo Cavern State Park, home to around a million Mexican Free-tailed Bats. After that … a week or longer in Big Bend National Park, where Elf Owls and Cactus Wrens will be in full song. Oh my, will that be fun!

After Big Bend, I will travel to Arizona, where I’ll spend the entire month of April exploring the Sonoran Desert and associated canyons and mountains, perhaps with a side excursion into California for Mojave Desert recordings. What’s in store for the month of May I do not know for sure. I might very well spend more time in the Southwest and then slowly saunter home. Or, quite possibly, I’ll head to the Prairie States and then travel northward, maybe ending up in North Dakota or even Manitoba.

But what I look forward to the most, what I’m dreaming about day and night, is my visit to the Aravaipa Canyon, which is located about ninety miles southeast of Phoenix, at least as the crow flies. I discovered this fascinating spot during my 2017 expedition, and I simply cannot wait to be there once again:

Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area

Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness Area
Winkelman, AZ 85192, USA
Direction

Aravaipa Canyon - cliff top silhouette at dusk © Lang ElliottAravaipa Canyon – Turkey Creek Tributary (dry) at Midnight. Near Klondyke, Arizona. 25 May 2017. Photo and recording © Lang Elliott. Tap photo to view full size.

What is it about Aravaipa Canyon that I find so magical? Well, to me it is the perfect embodiment of the desert canyon ecosystem. Flanked by sheer cliff walls rising upward a hundred feet or more, it is a cool and shaded oasis, full of plant life and graced by a permanently flowing stream. Being there refreshes my spirit, big time, and offers a welcome respite from the hot and dry Sonoran Desert landscape.

But there is a caveat. I would consider Aravaipa Canyon to be “heaven on earth” were it not for one big downside for the nature recordist … JET OVERFLIGHTS! I consider them to be the “Curse of Aravaipa,” the one thing that disturbs my experience of this incomparable wild area. Unfortunately, the canyon lies along the flight path between Phoenix and El Paso. As a result, during the day and well into the night, one passenger jet after another pass over the canyon. Even though flying at high altitudes, the rumble of each jet is quite audible and definitely disturbing to one’s sensibilities. It can be so maddening … sometimes one is lucky to experience just ten minutes of silence, before the next jet arrives. Aarrgghh! Jets shouldn’t be allowed to fly over designated wilderness areas!!!

Fortunately, the overflights rapidly dwindle after 10pm, and by midnight nature’s quietude reigns supreme. The calm lasts all through the rest of the night and into the first light of dawn, making it possible for me to gather pristine recordings until the jet activity starts up again, not long after sunrise. Were it not for the jets, I truly believe I would experience “Aravaipa Nirvana,” and perhaps become so transparent and infused with Zen no-mind that I would literally vanish into the ether of the place, never to be heard from again. So maybe it is fortunate that the jets pull me back from my immersion, forcing me to remain here in the ordinary mundane human world, where I am compelled to share occasional peak experiences with others. Life could be worse, I suppose.

As always, I truly appreciate your feedback, so please leave a comment below.

Naturally Yours,

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rachael
rachael
2 months ago

I’ve just now discovered these types of soundscapes while out on a walk. What a mind bending experience!! Thank you so much for creating these.

lorraine
lorraine
2 years ago

The sounds of nature warm the soul. Enjoy your visit, Lang. I hope the weather cooperates.

John Harvey
John Harvey
2 years ago

Lovely soundscapes Lang and so nice to hear on a still winter day. Glad that you will be back on the road and creating more beautiful nature recordings. Good luck on the road.
Re airplane noise we had a brief pandemic caused reduction in noise here in NE PA but notice now that the flights are picking up.

Frank Momberg
Frank Momberg
2 years ago

Hey Lang, I consider Jets as Part of our ecosystem. In my Zen courses I tell the participants, that they should Look on the “artifical” soundscapes made by man without prejudice as Aliens would do. They would not separate our species from the others, so Railways and Highways would be regarded by them as well natural as an Ant line. Take e.G. the beginning of the Album Substrata by Biosphere, where there are a Lot of noises incl. a Jet flying by. Trains and Plains can invoke feelings of yearning and width. Humans are also Part of the ecosystem, things… Read more »

Bt bell
Bt bell
2 years ago

Such exquisite recordings. I can understand how being there would nourish the soul. Are these part of any of your recordings for sale? Good luck on your journey, will look forward to what it produces. And I truly understand the crazy frustration of intrusive noise when attempting to record. I’ll never forget the many hours I tried to get a segment of thrush song in patuxent river park near DC

Todd B.
Todd B.
2 years ago

Aravaipa is a magical place. Visited there back in 1990 on a desert ecology field course on a two day hike through. This was our first stop in the 3 week class and where we were introduced to the Sonoran Desert, where we also visited Organ Pipe National Monument, Mount Lemon (outside Tuscon), and the Grand Canyon. On your return through the Midwest, if you are passing through Illinois, consider visiting Nachusa Grasslands – definitely another bucket list natural area. Looking forward to your posts Lang.

Marilee Reyes
Marilee Reyes
2 years ago

I can imagine how distracting the jets can be, but you apparently found a window for this wonderful recording. Thanks for sharing it. I live in Eugene, Oregon, near the flight path of both commuter jets and flocks of Canadian geese. One is somewhat irritating, the other is always a pleasant reminder that nature is holding its own in one small way, even when we have to hose down the “fuel deposits” from the geese on the car. Looking forward to your future shares.

Susanne Shrader
Susanne Shrader
2 years ago

Consider the jets as predators. Just lay low and let them pass over. I have been told it makes you more aware of living to have the threat of death present. That might take you out of your Zen State for a little while and make you really hyper aware . Very different from the threat of the cancer.

Susanne Shrader
Susanne Shrader
2 years ago
Reply to  Lang Elliott

Me, too.

Lisa
Lisa
2 years ago

Hi Lang. I look forward to your aural sojourn to the desert Southwest! It is a beloved landscape for me as well – as I lived for a time in Albuquerque and traveled several times to northern AZ & southern UT. A special fondness for the Grand Canyon region. Safe travels & happy listening! ~ Lisa from CA

Lisa
Lisa
2 years ago
Reply to  Lisa

I also love that you go to out-of-the-way places that most of us will never visit. It truly nourishes me just to listen to your soundscapes and imagine I am there. Thank you again for sharing your journey & gifts with us.

John Rogers
John Rogers
2 years ago

Yay Lang!! Excellent adventure ahead and thanks for sharing your love and connection with our natural world through photos, posts, and recordings; truly magical and much needed in reaching a more balanced and healthy relationship between us and mother earth! Go with our support and enthusiasm sir!

Colin Hunter
2 years ago

Sounds like a fantastic trip Lang. I do hope you enjoy your travels and can’t wait to hear the recordings!

Parker Davis
2 years ago

Sounds like a great trip Lang. Even though I live in Phoenix, I’ll have to add Aravaipa to my to do list – I’ve never been! That recording of the Chat singing at midnight with the crickets is INCREDIBLE! One of my favorite birds… hearing a lone chat at midnight over a bed of crickets is now definitely on my to do list. Thanks for sharing.

John P
2 years ago

music of nature indeed. pristine & beautiful recordings, Lang. can’t wait to hear more…… btw, i’m curious, on these trips are you camping or rv’ing or what ?

John P
2 years ago
Reply to  Lang Elliott

understood completely. great to know and to be able to visualize the journey……..

Sharon
Sharon
2 years ago

Please enjoy every moment of your trip but while away know that you are travelling daily through areas where the deadly rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHDV2) has exploded, extremely high mortality rates among all wild lagomorphs and domestic pet rabbits. The disease is extremely robust and travels on transit vehicles from state to state. There is no outbreak of this killer in NY state yet, but it will reach here, decimating wild and domestic rabbits in all the states between. Hardship extends as well to the predator populations who depend on wild rabbits, mother nature’s ‘free lunch’ to so many. Not… Read more »

Sharon
Sharon
2 years ago
Reply to  Lang Elliott

Well, clearly that won’t work for you! It’s just another something we have to live with. RHDV2 is in AZ, CO, NM, NV, TX (UT and WA not on your loop this time).

Sharon
Sharon
2 years ago
Reply to  Lang Elliott

Thanks for your awareness, Lang. State wildlife agencies also request being advised of dead rabbit sightings; helps them in mapping the spread.

Jan heminger
Jan heminger
2 years ago

Safe travels. I look forward to hearing the recordings.

Eliza
2 years ago

These recordings are wonderful!
Have a great trip, Lang. With jet travel still reduced due to Covid, let’s hope that perhaps you’ll have better luck with your recordings.

Eliza
2 years ago
Reply to  Lang Elliott

Rats! 😉

Trudy Gerlach
Trudy Gerlach
2 years ago

Love it!

FINTAN O BRIEN
2 years ago

Sounds like that area ticks all the boxes.

FINTAN O BRIEN
2 years ago
Reply to  Lang Elliott

Yes, there is something too easy about recording streams.

Mike Shalter
Mike Shalter
2 years ago

Hiya Lang,

  • God, how I’d like to be in your shoes headed off for three months in God’s country! I can’t get out of my country even for a day! France has closed its borders in and out, which puts my intended spring visit to Mauritius and the Seychelles on the back burner til who knows when. My second Covid shot is next week so after that I’ll be ready to roll whenever there’s a green deck. I’m gettin’ fed up up with cabin fever!
  • Cheers and Bon Voyage
Gail Shapiro
Gail Shapiro
2 years ago

Well this is an enviable trip Lang! Safe travels and I look forward to hearing and listening to parts of your adventure. Gail

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