Just a couple of weeks ago I was in my tent at night in a remote car campground. At roughly 10 pm I heard a loud prolonged rending, cracking noise, followed by a very heavy thump of a small tree or large branch hitting the ground. It was quite gut-wrenching as it was happening. Woke me up but good.

The air was quite still, not even a breeze, the temps were in high 40s, so there was no apparent reason for whatever fell to fall. I was unharmed. A search of the immediate vicinity in the morning didn't reveal what it was I heard. But it stuck with me when I was choosing campsites during the weeklong backpack I began the next day.

Stay safe out there.