Wondering if anyone can help solve a bit of mystery/curiosity from my recent climb on Mount Hood. Maybe someone out there has had a similar experience and can shed some light on it.
I was ascending just below Devil's Kitchen at about 4am. The sky was crystal clear in every direction and the snow was very firm. From somewhere to my left (West, toward Illumination Rock) I heard a single loud, deep BOOM. (It actually reminded me of a heavy artillery impact from my army days). It's hard to tell how far away it was, but it sounded like it came from beyond Illumination Rock. There was no flash and nothing else that I could hear (like a landslide or rock fall). Just that loud boom.
My first thought was explosive avalanche control, but a) I don't know if they even do that on Hood and b) the conditions didn't seem to warrant that, much less in the middle of the night. Then I thought rock fall, but damn.. if it was, it had to be a HUGE boulder free falling a long way. But then there was no subsequent noise, so that made me question that theory.
So yeah, just curious if anyone has any ideas other than "you were hypoxic/sleep walking/drunk and hearing things."