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The Whisper on the Night Wind: The True History of a Wilderness Legend (2021)

by Adam Shoalts

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572459,616 (3.43)4
"Spine-tingling adventure that is stranger than fiction, from Canada's most beloved modern-day explorer. Traverspine is not a place you will find on most maps. A century ago, it stood near the foothills of the remote Mealy Mountains in central Labrador. Today it is an abandoned ghost town, almost all trace of it swallowed up by dark spruce woods that cloak millions of acres. In the 1910s, this isolated little settlement was the scene of an extraordinary haunting by large creatures none could identify. Strange tracks were found in the woods. Unearthly cries were heard in the night. Sled dogs went missing. Children reported being stalked by a terrifying grinning animal. Families slept with cabin doors barred and axes and guns at their bedsides. Tales of things that "go bump in the night" are part of the folklore of the wilderness, told and retold around countless campfires down through the ages. Most seldom seem very tangible. Sasquatch, windigos, and other legends are easily dismissed by skeptics. But what happened at Traverspine a hundred years ago was different. The eye-witness accounts were detailed, and those who reported them included no less than three medical doctors and a wildlife biologist. Something terrifying really did emerge from the wilderness to haunt the little settlement of Traverspine. Adam Shoalts, decorated modern day explorer and an expert on wilderness folklore, picks up the trail from a century ago and sets off into the Labrador wild to investigate the tale. It is a spine-tingling adventure stranger than fiction, straight from a land steeped in legends and lore, where Vikings wandered a thousand years ago and wolves and bears still roam free. In delving into the dark corners of Canada's wild, The Whisper on the Night Wind combines folklore, history, and adventure into a fascinating saga of exploration."--… (more)
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The Whisper on the Night Wind by Adam Shoalts takes the reader on an amazing journey to the wilds of Labrador as he and his companion, Zach, investigate a series of encounters that occurred over a century ago. The small settlement of Taverspine, which today has mostly disappeared, experienced visitations from a creature that no one could identify. There were nameless sounds, unknown tracks, and sightings of a strange creature. Children reported being stalked and sled dogs disappeared. The people who lived in Taverspine were experienced trappers, they were sure that the creature wasn’t a bear and in fact, they eventually felt that that had been the victims of a windigo or a demon.

Shoalts is a skilled woodsman and naturalist with a lot of experience travelling in the Canadian wilderness. He and a friend decided to go to this area of Labrador and see if they could find answers. What follows is a wonderful book that describes the woodlands, rivers and mountains of a land that has not had a lot of attention from man. There is a haunted darkness to these isolated forests and the two travellers had to be careful not to spook themselves. They did come up with a working solution that could explain the Taverspine monster, but were unable to prove it and after they were home and checked their night vision camera they were left with more questions than answers.

The Whisper on the Night Wind was an excellent read that combined folklore, history, natural science, and adventure into one fascinating story. ( )
  DeltaQueen50 | Oct 2, 2023 |
The Whisper on the Night Wind concerns the legend of a mysterious creature in Labrador. Many places have mystery creatures such as Sasquatch or Loch Ness and Labrador has its own. Shoalts uses it as a narrative thread to explore Labrador, and does arrive at a plausible explanation. It's also a travelogue and outdoor journey, first it takes 20+ hours to get there along a dirt road from Quebec. The largest settlement is North West River / Goose Bay and just east of there, south of Melville Bay, are the Mealy Mountains. Within the past 5 years they were made into a new National Park. The park has no roads or official trails and is exceptionally hard going with dense black spruce forests and barren rock mountains. It's been called the largest protected area in eastern North America. Labrador was one of the last areas to be settled by humans, being so far away from the Bering Strait, locked up by glaciers, and generally bypassed by Europeans for better climes south. To this day there are very few people. The Mealy Mountains are adjacent to the largest human settlement in the entire territory but hardly anyone goes there. The mystery of the creature keeps the narrative taught and pages turning while you learn about this fascinating place. ( )
  Stbalbach | Oct 17, 2021 |
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The pale glow of the moon, half hidden in clouds, illuminated the ghostly shapes of the crooked black spruces. (Preface)
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"Spine-tingling adventure that is stranger than fiction, from Canada's most beloved modern-day explorer. Traverspine is not a place you will find on most maps. A century ago, it stood near the foothills of the remote Mealy Mountains in central Labrador. Today it is an abandoned ghost town, almost all trace of it swallowed up by dark spruce woods that cloak millions of acres. In the 1910s, this isolated little settlement was the scene of an extraordinary haunting by large creatures none could identify. Strange tracks were found in the woods. Unearthly cries were heard in the night. Sled dogs went missing. Children reported being stalked by a terrifying grinning animal. Families slept with cabin doors barred and axes and guns at their bedsides. Tales of things that "go bump in the night" are part of the folklore of the wilderness, told and retold around countless campfires down through the ages. Most seldom seem very tangible. Sasquatch, windigos, and other legends are easily dismissed by skeptics. But what happened at Traverspine a hundred years ago was different. The eye-witness accounts were detailed, and those who reported them included no less than three medical doctors and a wildlife biologist. Something terrifying really did emerge from the wilderness to haunt the little settlement of Traverspine. Adam Shoalts, decorated modern day explorer and an expert on wilderness folklore, picks up the trail from a century ago and sets off into the Labrador wild to investigate the tale. It is a spine-tingling adventure stranger than fiction, straight from a land steeped in legends and lore, where Vikings wandered a thousand years ago and wolves and bears still roam free. In delving into the dark corners of Canada's wild, The Whisper on the Night Wind combines folklore, history, and adventure into a fascinating saga of exploration."--

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