Unexplainable Sounds – Near Mount Rainier, Highway 410

Hello US Phenomenon,

I’ve been an avid hiker for over 25 years, exploring the Olympics, Cascades, and just about every trail in between. I’ve spent nights in all kinds of weather, in every season, and I’ve heard my share of odd things in the woods—elk bugling at 2 AM, coyotes yipping in the fog, even the occasional black bear grunting nearby. I thought I’d heard it all.

That changed last weekend.

I was camping solo off Highway 410, east of Greenwater, in a small pull-off spot I’ve used many times before. It’s a quiet place, about 7 miles from the nearest maintained campground, with a creek running close enough to lull you to sleep. That night, the moon was bright enough to cast shadows through the trees.

Around 1:30 AM, I woke up to… well, at first I thought it was wind. A low, almost mournful sound, like air moving through a hollow log. But then it shifted—rising and falling in pitch, almost rhythmic. Three tones, then silence. Three tones again.

I sat up in my tent, unzipped my sleeping bag, and listened. It didn’t sound mechanical, but it didn’t sound like any animal I’ve ever heard in the Northwest. The calls were too clean, too deliberate.

I stepped outside, flashlight in hand. The forest was still. No crunch of branches, no rustling of leaves. The sounds seemed to come from deep in the trees, maybe 200 yards off. Each call lasted 4–5 seconds, followed by total silence for about 30 seconds.

This went on for maybe ten minutes. Then… nothing. The quiet was so complete I could hear my own pulse in my ears.

I stayed awake the rest of the night, sitting by my campfire until sunrise.

When I packed up the next morning, I found nothing unusual—no tracks, no broken branches, nothing to suggest an animal or a person had been anywhere near my site.

I’ve replayed it in my head for days now. It wasn’t elk. It wasn’t an owl. It wasn’t human—at least, not in any normal sense. The pattern, the precision of those sounds… it felt like it had intent behind it.

I’m not claiming it was Bigfoot, or some kind of cryptid, or anything paranormal. But after all my years in the woods, this one left me genuinely unsettled.

Has anyone else reported hearing a “three-tone” call in the Mount Rainier area?

—David H.

Poulsbo, Washington