Jim's Page

May 7, 2012:

Building upon the recent trip to Greenfield, I returned to the Connecticut River. Entering the River north of the French King Bridge, I was enjoying a steady current downstream - and towards the French King Rock. Ah - but river currents can be a tricky thing. Especially for the still 'green' kayaker dude. Upon approaching the Rock I found strong, swirling waters that made a landing pretty much impossible. But on my VERY close encounter (of the hard kind) I did notice French King to be a rock of the conglomerate formation.

Making my way down river, I went under the Bridge, and into the Millers River. Shortly, I disembarked to examine a 'quasi cave formtion' but my return to the river and upstream was short lived as I encountered some impassible white water conditions. So I return to the Connecticut River and muscled my way up stream, examining very marginal quasi cave formtions along the west bank. I stopped opposite the French King Rock once more for few photos before making my way across the River and back to the car.

Barton Cove provided a much more sedate setting as I paddled the shoreline for a pleasant and interesting examination of the local geology. I was finally able to gain access (and float into) another of those 'quasi' cave formations I had seen in years past from an opposite shore. Also seen was a neat little cave that I had visited some years earlier.

April 30, 2012:

An afternoon was spent scrounging the central Berkshire countryside for signs of marble; finding dolomitic, calcitic, and contacts with the local schists. Even a couple quasi-cave formations presented themselves. But the next day, it was time to return to the conglomerates: my somewhat dormant projects within the Connecticut River Valley.

More ledges were examined for long lost formations photographed by John Lovell from Amherst over 140 years ago. No success to be found here. But I returned to a well known site that Lovell also covered at one point. Here a premiere cave formation exists that has long been know to history - for almost two hundred years! I recreated a number of Lovell's views, shot a few of my own modern interpretations, before moving on to another set of ledges.

In returning to Graves Ledge - or Rock Shelter - I came with a much more 'improved' image of Etta's Nook courtesy of a recent internet auction. Although I must have visited Etta's more than a dozen times in the past, I finally got to see exactly where JL had taken his photo from. A modern 'now' photograph is pretty much obscured with tree growth. But before leaving the Valley again, I was able to visit the ledge above Etta's and see it's geologic connection with Graves' Cave. The Cave is formed by gravity assisted movement of a large section of the cliff that is adjacent to Etta's, and forming the Nook's left wall

April 25, 2012:

The central Berkshires, to the north, offers a significant area of Cheshire Quartzite. Of course, the type locale would be Cheshire where a marvelous exposure exists at the Cobbles. This also happens to be somewhat across the valley from the schists and Stockbridge Marble karsts where many of the central Berkshire caves can be found.

So with my vacation plans to the Ocean thwarted by foul weather, I used the opportunity to ascend the Cobbles, accessible via the Appalachian Trail. Notes from the late speleologist Alan R. "Al" Plante suggested crevice cave formations in the vicinity. However, my observations indicate the best opportunity for 'caves' (and I use that tern VERY loosely) may exist in the talus that has come off the face of the Cobbles. Better examples can be found about four and a half miles to the S SW at the Gulf and Wizard's Glen.

But a pretty good (almost 180 degree) view can be had from the quartzite ledges. A view across the Valley that allowed me to see a mass of dark gray rain clouds moving in over Mt. Greylock. Soon, being pelted with freezing rain, I made a quick check of the ledges and talus before descending back down to the trailhead.

[4/28/12] Not wanting to show any 'favorites' amongst the rocks, a long forgotten marble quarry right in central Berkshire County was visited. According to an old geologic bulletin, this was the likely Brodie Quarry.

April 14, 2012:

Greenfield offers up a pretty good postcard show during April, so a chance to visit the Connecticut River Valley. After scooping up a modest bunch of select cards (including a rare 'cave'), I headed out further East. Here I searched out the confluence of the Millers and Connecticut Rivers for possible put in locations. This would allow access to both rivers and a possible visit to the Millers River Cave(s).

Along the way a pretty good land based look was gained of King Philip's (French King) Rock in the Connecticut. There is one story that the first planting of a French flag on American soil was at this location. Seems I've also heard one of those buried treasure stories in connection with the Rock.

March 21, 2012:

The unorthodox 'winter' and its weather has not gone wasted in recent times. Ice recently receeded in local lakes, eventually leaving altogether, allowing me to start up kayaking once again. Time will be devoted to training and testing new equipment for the eventual return to the ocean.

But, tying up one loose end: a return to a shoreline feature in the Central Berkshires at Pulpit Rock.

January 1, 2012:

I would hate to call any trip into the outdoors "routine" but perhaps the term I'm searching for might be "low keyed". Such was First Day, something I always wanted to do an outdoor hike on, but usually I'm socked away hibernating at home for the winter. This year provided no excuses as the most perfect of weather - and most perfect of opportunities - prevailed.

Williamsburg Woodland Trails is one of many organizations who in recent years watch over and protect much outdoor landscape across Massachusetts. They have an annual First Day hike and this one provided just the right opportunity. The beautiful weather brought a record number of walkers (around eighty) to a sponsored hike by WWT and a pleasant surprise to leader Gwen Blodgett. I had met Gwen several years earlier at the local Balance Rock after investigating the Walking Club Plaque farther to the north.

On the return home, I did a more intensive search for the local mineral Cummingtonite at one of the sites looked over recently. Success at locating the mineral in ledges along an old abandoned road.

'11

December 24, 2011:

VERY late into the season, it is often surprising what may lay almost right under your own 'nose'. A local municipal park has a network of trails which include the remnants of a pond that once was a focal point of local activity.

But the trail map for Springside Park mentions something I had not known of previous to this past summer, the mention of 'Indian rocks' at several locations around the perimeter of the pond. I have yet to find how bona fide this 'title' might be - or just some local people having a bit of fun.

At one - the largest - of the Indian rock outcrops, exist a natural stone 'seat' that minus the foliage, can look down upon the old pond. It was here that I was struck with the fact this was a marble outcrop, later to confirm the 'e' unit of Stockbridge Marble.

December 4, 2011:

Rounding out another year in the outdoors was something close to home. Cummington, MA was the location and 1824 the year. Here a mineral was discovered for the first time (other locations later on) and named for the Town as Cummingtonite. Consulting my collection of geologic maps provided to be a lucky decision as a number of fairly precise locations were given.

On this day five were considered for investigation, with at least four of the locations probably located. Several samples were collected along with some quartz and garnets often associated with sites of cummingtonite

November 27, 2011:

A fine stretch of late Autumn weather has allowed me the luxury of returning to old haunts within the Connecticut River Valley. Largely forgotten this past year, it was more due to lack of firm leads than anything else. Mountains and ledges had been gone through, sometimes a multiple of times, searching for the elusive sites photographed some 140 years prior. But the time comes to move on to new goals with the hope of returning to the old one day.

On this day however, it was time to revisit old sites Fern Cascade and the Arch on what wss to eventually be an ascent of Roaring Mountain, lying in the shadows of its slightly taller neighbor Mount Toby. Part of the route I took brought me along the original carriage road that was built mid 1880's to bvring travellers from the nearby railroad station to Toby's summit. A summit house once briefly graced the summit as well. But my path diverged up the Robert Frost Trail and on up a spur trail to Roaring Mountain's summit.

A break for lunch left me with just enough energy for a pleasant stroll down the spectactular set of ledges once know as Graves Ledge. The upper set of ledges with Graves Cave, as well as lower set with all the familar sites beginning with Castle End and running to Fortress Rock were visited. With the foliage now off for the season, a rather interesting, long range photo, of Kittie's Nook was taken.

Enough daylight was reserved so on the return trip a casual exploration in Cummington could be had. Back in 1824 a mineral located in this town was given the name "Cummingtonite". Apparently modern society being what it is today, there is more internet sites devoted to corrupting this into something of a sexual nature as opposed to it's scientific value. However, three locations were quickly checked over (including an apparent old quarry site) without seeing anything that might catch my eye as the mineral.

November 20, 2011:

Poplar Mountain in Erving MA is (as they say) the "type locale" for Poplar Mountain Gneiss. Erving Conservation Commission (with help from Mount Grace Land Trust) has developed a series of trails that presently run up to the bottom of the Mountain's summit where one can view plenty of the gneiss in the exposed ledges. My hike was with mostly local people, some from the conservation commission, and one representative from Mt Grace Land Trust.

For the following hike, I jumped south across the Millers River and on into the Wendell State Forest. A beautiful walk along a secluded brook, a view of Lynn Falls, and a climb up through the Hidden Valley Memorial Forest (once again - Mt Grace Land Trust property) brought me to some VERY impressive rock ledges. Farther along the Metacomet - Monadnock Trail, one crosses a main forest road with significant overhanging ledges and some 'quasi' cave formations. With the main gate at the State Forest entrance locked, it only remained to walk the road back on out.

November 13, 2011:

What to do with a late afternoon start and a diminished amount of daylight available? With no long drives possible, it is always a pleasure to return to my roots in the Central Berkshires. And one of the stories that inspired me as a child: that of Elsie Venner by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

A small cave in the broken rocks of a schistose mountainside came to be associated with that story. It was one of my early caving experiences and one of my first three attempts a cave mapping. Not a skill I totally developed as it takes as much artistry as technical know how to produce a 'worthy' map.

Little has changed at Elsie Venner's over the 45 plus years I've visited it off and on. The somewhat gray, overcast skies, of a late Fall day made ideal conditions for photographic pursuits. So I came away from my big nostalgia fix with perhaps the most 'worthy' photographs I've take here. Certainly much better than my map back in 1968 turned out.

November 8, 2011:

The traditional November excursion into Connecticut took the 'scenic route' out of the southern Berkshires to make a stop at the old Rock Schoolhouse. Slightly relocated, the goal was to identify the rock in an old photograph as being the one that lays next to the former schoolhouse location. That being accomplished - I rolled on to the vicinity of Bristol and Waterbury.

Sights taken in on this day were old railroad lines, Connecticut's longest train tunnel, a search for glacial geologic phenomena at Birge Pond. The afternoon was wrapped up at the local carousel museum.

The second day saw the Finch Brook Preserve, Lake Compounce (or - an attempt to access rocky features within), and sections of the Tunxis Trail including a historic graveyard.

November 5, 2011:

On the verge of closing out another season, it is one that has been most unorthodox for me personally. The number of excursions were cut to include primarily my vacations. And, destinations were mostly the seacoast. All this was in 'the plan' but left me missing some of my more traditional haunts. So with that in mind, it's on to the rocky interiors of Massachusetts with what good weather remains.

A large postcard show out in central Massachusetts brought me into Worcester County. Afterwards, I took on a few small sights in the Town of Hardwick associated with the East Quabbin Land Trust.

Swinging northward, I passed by the entrance to Indian Rock which was mostly snowed in from the freak October snowstorm. The next destination was a back road to attempt a different access from past visits for Shelter Ledge (old Indian Cave) and Rum Rock. A fair amount of snow, and plenty of down tree limbs, made for an interesting hike to the two rocky formations. But after a long night of work, and daylight on the wane, it was time to head on home.

October 8, 2011:

October has traditionally been spent up Essex County way and this year was no different. Essentially, it was a continuation of the September visit, this time involving (not quite) four days.

The glacial moraines around Peabody were revisited for measurements on a giant sized erratic spotted there last September. Before leaving the area, a search was made for an erratic once know to local youths as Shoemaker Rock and another look at 'access' to Pirate's Glen. I also rambled through the old Saugus Iron Works with an eye towards learning of other mill sites along that river. One is depicted on an old postcard having a huge boulder nearby. But as I discovered, many mills once lined the mighty Saugus River. Swinging on up to Cape Ann, work was continued in the Pigeon Cove vicinity. Access was checked to one of the larger quarries, and a bit of tourism in downtown Rockport.

Second day was devoted to two Essex County towns where old leads on Cradle Rock and the Nubble Squid were worked in Groveland while Parker River access and Carsey's Rock were looked over in Newbury. Both town libraries were visited.

The third day started in northern Dogtown but soon swung up past one big old quarry finally reaching one of the mammoth Rockport quarries. In days past it was known as the Upper Pit of the Pigeon Hill Quarries but is now a major swimming hole for the local people. Another jaunt up the coastline to Pigeon Cove for more work, finally ending at Pigeon Hill itself with the Profile Rock and checking additional routes into the old quarries.

The fourth day was to be a hot one. So some pleasant, leisurely hiking was done at the Heap of Rocks and old Rattlesnake Dens before heading on home.

September 15, 2011:

Five days out in Essex County became somewhat evenly split between rest - and recreation. The initial stops were in the Lynn-Peabody area where Goliath Rock was the first stop. Turned out to be nothing more than a pretty average rock outcrop. The area is also home to some pretty significant glacial moraines and I continue to make significant finds along these. Included are numerous 'perched' erratics, one gigantic boulder (which I'm quite sure will rank among Essex County's largest), and a couple old quarry sites. Before heading out to the Cape (Ann) I finished up checking into a boulder spotted on aerial imagery. It was a possibility for the old Wigwam Rock but doesn't seem to fit the old photos and description.

The remaining four days saw two half days out on the Pigeon Cove shoreline continuing on with the identification of historic sites and photographs. Some kayaking was found on the Little and Annisquam Rivers. Red Rocks was hiked. A drive by was made on Sea Rocks the old Estate of Jacob Loose. A couple of the old Rockport quarries and another quick trip into Profile Rock rounded out the tour.

Parts of this - and other recent vacations - have been spent laying the groundwork for future sea going investigations which will only grow with time.

August 11, 2011:

Some good presented itself as I was about to begin another vacation. It appeared I might be able to get my 'travel boat' back on the water again. So this spoke loud and clear about returning to coastal areas. I decided to put part of a day trying to pick up where I left off in Newport, Rhode Island.

But it was not meant to be as upon my arrival the area was shrouded in fog and the seas - just VERY choppy. So after a morning of casual sight seeing, I rolled on up to the area of Fall River for further investigations into Rocky Woods where old King Philip (aka: Metacom) once use to roam.

The second day brought me out to the South Shore coast of Massachusetts, an area I have spent much time over the years. Wanting to keep things on the 'light' side I proceeded to work a series of old leads and sites. First stop was the Cleft Rock near Manomet. Many years since I saw this intriguing split rock formation.

Rolling up the coast I continued on with the investigation of a Devil's Rock. This town reportedly had at least a couple, along with a couple more rocky formations named for old Satan. I'm not altogether convinced this rock that I got a second look at is the real deal. Some scratches (probably glacial) but I don't see 'footprints'. However, it is impossible to tell how much imagination the local people in Colonial times used in seeing these phenomena. But it seems I'm getting closer, as the the rock written of in local history, was in - or near - an old brickyard. There are old bricks here and a hand-drawn map found a couple years back, marks the brickyard as very close by. Likely coming in by river may be necessary.

Library visits were made intermittently as a bit of relief from the scorching heat. After once such stop, I continued my trek up the coast dropping in again on another King Philip's site. This was also to check a legitimate access route across conservation land where previously I had to ask (but much shorter) to cross neighboring territory. One note: this particular King Philip's Rock has one reference to being Pulpit Rock.

Still farther up the coast: low tide, The Nubian Head Rock, a library, and some reconnaissance to see if some type of access might be had to another Cleft Rock written up in local history. Although I have repeatedly tried this many times over the years, the feeling is of being completely stymied. What would have been perfect access, was an old railroad bed. However, recent years has seen that railroad reactivated. The rest of the area is covered with residential neighborhoods and swampy meadows.

The same can mostly be said of nearby Sunset Rock. Once the place to obtain beautiful views, It now has the same railroad line below it, and residential backyards bordering its opposite side.

On the third day, I sat sipping MickeyD's coffee while waiting out some foul weather that had moved in the previous night. Eventually I took to the coast examining a number of rocky sites but also with an eye towards some possible water access routes. I came on in by Kent Rocks, but soon found access to a local river a bit inland where finally I could pull out the kayak. Sailing the lowering tide towards the ocean, I passed a number of fine rock outcroppings. One towering monolith was later identified as Buck Rock. On the return, a trip down a side inlet brought me to Landing Rock where baptisms once took place during the 1800's.

The fourth - and final day - was planned to be a light one. Having secured knowledge of a kayak access point from a local individual, I set out for the Indian Well, Indian Pot, and other glacial potholes. Although these are suppose to be along the shoreline - they never were seen.

August 1, 2011:

Summer heat is here for the foreseeable future so we work minimally. I'm presently trying to come up with a good method for scanning glass slides and negatives that are beyond the normal size a scanner will handle. Think I may found some success there. This also involves taking me to the nearby Gulf to compare my images from 1923 with present conditions there. Some modern day changes to the landscape may make some identification impossible.

However, a major segment of my vacation time approaches and time to ponder its course. If I am able to return to being on the sea - far from certain - that will play a major force in my decision. If not - well it's the usual land based activities.

A new kayak is being 'broken in' but this will be only for local recreational use. It has already proved it's usefulness with my first ever water tour on parts of Onota Lake. Here the long sought after Pulpit Rock was finally found.

July 17, 2011:

Recent projects have involved sifting through enormous amounts of old photographic material. Eventually this will translate into a large amount of field activity. I've been helping out the Granddaughter of Frank DeMars with identification on some of her Granddad's old photographic images. Frank was a prolific photographer and postcard producer, mostly active in northwest Connecticut and southwest Massachusetts.

My own collection has grown with the addition of photographic negatives. First of the Oven Mouth in Norfolk County - circa 1930's. Second are a few glass slides from the travels of Mary Constance Todd and her husband to the East Coast during 1923. I have obtained those of Mary's visited to the "Gulf Rocks" or what is better known as Wizard's Glen which includes Lucky 7 Cave, amongst others.

June 9, 2011:

Five days out on the road evenly split between the Newport, Rhode Island area and Cape Ann. This was intended to be primarily a seafaring adventure, but problems, both moderate and severe, beached me early on. So some of the time in the Newport area was spent trying to resolve those issues (unable) and the rest - more like a normal tourist.

But before problems sent me to shore, I was able to explore the area of Purgatory, revisiting Negro Head, the adjacent Lovers Pass, some small cave formations, and finally entering the interior of Purgatory itself. Some of the aforementioned problems were temporarily resolved to allow me to investigate a reported cave site on the east side of the Sakonnet River. Shoreline visits were also made to the vicinity of Profile Rock and Pirate Caves Also: a marvelous hike in the woods of Tiverton to High Rock while waiting for low tide on the Sakonnet River.

Before pulling out of Town on the third morning, I went off to old favorite in the 40 steps at the Cliff Walk. Photographed here were more historic sites that have surfaced in antique photography.

On into Cape Ann, camp was set up to prepare for an early morning call next morning. That call brought me back into examining old quarrying activity in Gloucester. Also being the site of the Chief Wingaersheek formation. Breakfast with an old friend charged me up to take on the Rockport shoreline. What ensued was six plus hours 'cooking' under the sun while slowly making my way up the rocky coastline visiting, and confirming, historic sites that included the Swimming/Bathing Place, with its marvelous Stone Bathtub, and Pulpit Rock. Along the way I once again got a gander at the sites visited - and passed - during April including Cathedral Rocks, Singers Rock, Chapin's Gully, finally ending by Dick's Dream. Spouting rocks abounded and a marvelous pegmatite deposit exists among these rocks. On the return, I was stunned to see the previously, nearly empty, Stone Bathtub completely submerged. Ah - the power of the mighty tides!

Fifth and final day brought intense heat. I weathered it for a short duration, returning to the Stone Bathtub for more photos and to examine it during its emptying phase. One final trek was made through the sun to visit the Halibut Point shoreline and a couple sea-boulder caves.

May 10, 2011:

Over the winter an interesting antique postcard surfaced revealing a view from "Indian Rock" in Dalton, central Berkshires. Although the image did not show the rock itself, I did not let that discourage me from searching out the location of this heretofore unknown (to me - anyways) site.

Using a former Appalachian Trail access, I worked my way into the area that would possibly line up the view seen in the postcard. It did not take very long to come upon a large glacial boulder with a nearly smooth, level surface. Certainly would make for a good meeting site. And - another source had mention a "Meeting Rock" in the general vicinity, that also having a Native American background.

Reconnaissance of the area both before - and after - the photo session, revealed nothing more than that several token, small erratics. Nothing on the order of what I assume to be Indian Rock.

On the hike back, I scouted the old AT route but it has all been obliterated in recent years. But down near the Housatonic River, I discovered an old dam site that had been breached in the attempt to return the mighty river to its more natural state.

April 20, 2011:

Spring has come very, VERY slowly. Good days seem all too far and few between. But a roll of the dice and on up to Essex County to see how far I could go.

Day One: Working information that surfaced just after my last visit to Essex County, I trolled through the moraine containing Ship Rock in search of Kimball Rock. A few good sized boulders were encountered, although nothing nearly equaling the size of Ship Rock. At a location marked on my source map (albeit: somewhat of a small scale) the 'largest' of these boulders was found and I assume this to be Kimball Rock. Now to determine the source of its name.

Lookout Rock (mentioned as being a boulder) was given a second go now that a more definitive location was found. Several erratic extended from the crest of a hill downward. The largest, at the top, was assumed to be Lookout Rock. However, views were mostly obscured due to newer growth. A nearby outcrop along the hillside offered just a slightly better view.

With a bit of time to kill, I quickly drove up the interstate into the more northerly portions of the county to try once again and identify the Ordway Boulder. A local history expert verified, on my last pass through the area, it would be in the same section of woods as the previously visited Haystack Boulder. Still no luck on this one and seeing the property is being carved up for development, I have to wonder how long future visits may be possible.

Day Two: Early morning and time to roll on to Cape Ann and Pigeon Cove. Very quickly gaining access the sea shore rocks, I began the process of identifying sites from old images. Chapin's (Great Gully) is well know, down to Singer's Rock, and on to Cathedral Rocks and the Bathing/Swimming Place. Reversing direction, I passed the Gargoyle, and looked extensively for a much sought out prize: Dick's Dream. I got up as far as the Frog (completely swamped by a ferocious surf). An abundance of marvelous dikes were to be seen along the way, but could not find what Dick might have been dreaming of.

Coming down the coast, I was pleasantly surprised to find a rock depicted on an old postcard of Pigeon Hill. In one version of this postcard, it is called Profile Rock. A somewhat marginal example of this phenomenon. But there it was, once standing proudly against the backdrop of the vista below, now surrounded by the growth of recent generations. Down below, I took in the sites available from the Granite Pier.

One longer hike out to the Devil's Den, and a short jaunt on the Old Rockport Road, finished the day.

Days Three and Four: Ah - the almighty rains rolled in over night but were light enough for me to slip out in the morning to the very rocky Poles Hill. The next morning saw very slight improvement, so I ran with it, stopping off at the Stone Chair and swinging up and around Halibut Point to Pigeon Cove once again. Despite the constant threat that rain would descend upon me, I went back out on the rocks in a slightly different area from two days previous. I came back by the Frog, spied something that looked like Dick's Dream, but gave it a thumbs down on my previous pass by two days earlier. Not having my printouts with me, I shot a couple of photos to look over later.

Meteoric Rock was listed on the back of an old stereoview as being among these rocks. One local, theorized it to be an elevated gabbro dike which I did find. However, without the actual photo - it's hard to complete the identification. I worked back down the coast to photograph (again) Singer's Rock which had been washed out by the sunlight two days previous.

I usually like to include a Dogtown hike on each visit, but threatening weather made long treks out into the open iffy at best. Finally a decision was made to go for the Briar Swamp area and Racoon Rocks. Destination reached: the rain started slow and steady. So retreating to the car, the long journey home was made once again.

April 9, 2011:

A pretty straightforward visit to the Connecticut River Valley. I decided to take in a postcard show in Greenfield then head South down the Valley and see how far I could get. Not too far really, but considering this was after working the whole week previous and all night too, I got in a nice trip.

The afternoon was spent hiking the southern end of the Pocumtuck Range once again ending at a small cave formation that has been called King Philip's Cave. It is but a small alcove eroded out of the Sugarloaf Arkose but it comes with spectacular views of the valley below.

April 3, 2011:

The weekend start off with a brief jaunt to the central Berkshires. This was to give my cameras a 'test run' after the long winter layoff. It also gave me a chance to look over a rather large boulder mentioned to me by a co worker. Afterwards a drive along the back road confirmed plenty of snow still on the ground as well as sections of rock that looked to be from the mountain looming behind. Final destination was good old Reynolds Rock, a fine photographic test, standing amongst the snow still spitting from the previous day's northeaster that never fully materialized.

Sunday started in earnest as I was out in central Massachusetts as the sun rose. The first destination was way out in Middlesex County - the Boston Antique Photo Show. A couple hours here was enough before moving on to the area in and around the Wachusetts Reservoir. I basically worked the area visited back in February when snow and wind were the order of the day. First sought out was an Indian Rock first visited some years back. It apparently is now a decoration in front of a newer home.

Off in the nearby woods, I worked the story of two Tory Caves. Like many stories of history, there are discrepancies as to location. In the past I looked at one location which was basically a bit of a ledge outcropping. No cave passage of any sort. But I was told a new location might hold more promise. After a walk through the woods, and some intensive searching of ledges and glacial boulders, little was to be found. Possible two overlapping erratics might provide a bit of shelter. I confirmed my observations with two young men I ran into and then looked over a monstrous sized boulder before moving on.

Over on the other side of Wachusetts, I returned to the "Clamshell Cut" which was the site of several old postcards including one dubious "Profile Rock". There have been some minor changes to the walls of this rock cut, including a 'knob' that I imagine once was the nose for this very minor profile feature.

Continuing on , I dropped in at the Rowlandson Rock - or Boulder - site of where Mary Rowlandson was said to have spent her first night in captivity during King Philip's War. From there it was but a brief drive over to examine some rocky cave formations brought to my attention by a local man posting them on his internet photo site.

The day was finished up on a section of the Mid-State Trail where the Everett Tomb is located. Now where did that tomb go? I saw it once a few years back. Ah well - next time. Darkness was moving in and it was time to catch the Mohawk Trail back to the Berkshires

February 12, 2011:

A mid winter break took me out to the farthest reaches (from my perspective) of Worcester County for a lecture on the history of the Wachusetts Reservoir. Much has been written regarding the much larger - and later built - Quabbin Reservoir but this is the most comprehensive gathering of information I've seen on Wachusetts.

But since it is a bit of a drive for this individual, I thought I'd try to mix in a little project work along the way. It was met with only moderate success as snow and biting wind turned back attempts at reaching most sites. But one pleasant surprise was a local library within the region between the two great reservoirs. Here the origin of a mysterious postcard "Everett Tomb" was investigated. By the time I left, its story had been partially explored. But being off in the woods, the time for a physical visit will have to wait.

Moving along I tried to get in to Rowlandson Rock and a railroad rock cut that has several postcards of its likeness, including one "Profile Rock", but here's where weather got the better of the situation. Even the local Profile Rock along the main highway was encrusted within an icy robe. Arriving in Town for the lecture I first scouted out their local library where information on a local Tory Cave/Bear's Den was found. The presentation went off without a hitch and I even reconnected with Fred from the local historical society whom I met on a couple occasions in years past. Fred has - and continues to be - a very valuable source of information on the local area.

Lecture finished, it was time to wander north to the Mohawk Trail for the return home to the Berkshires.

'10

Novemeber 13, 2010:

November is traditionally the time I journey on down into Connecticut. Rest and relaxation is the first order of business but certainly included in there is a chance to explore different territories, different histories.

Day One started off on one - of many - old railroad lines that have been converted in recent years to bike paths. This one in Farmington took me across the Farmington River, north, past an abandoned side line. This spur ran up to a somewhat dilapidated building that once held a former business, while the rail trail continued it's northward journey for many a mile more. On the return trip, after traversing the River once again, a pleasant surprise was to be had in a more rustic trail, that wound it's way along the river bank before returning near the vicinity of the parked car.

Another, nearby, bike path also along a former RR bed) was scouted by car before retuning to another section of the Farmington River that once carried the Farmington Canal over over the river by way of a viaduct. All that remains are a couple abutments and foundations.

Day Two was devoted to the shoreline after a quick spin past a local rock that a previously investigated trolley line once ran through. Upon arriving at Lighthouse Point in New Haven, lighthouse, rocks, and other historic features from the past were given a going over.

Then on over to the other side of the bay where a gem of local history lies in Savin Rock. The "Rock" gave it's name to a once thriving - and long gone - amusement park. Today a museum remains as well as an ocean walk. But my interests were once again drawn to the rocks where one old postcard mentions a 'profile' and Savin Rock. It is not entirely clear if this is meant to be a 'facial profile' in rock (maybe a possible interpretation) or profile in it's more general meaning - as in a side view. However, photos were taken for later study, and the perimeter of Savin Rock itself was studied where one profile of an 'old man' type could be found.

With the Savin Rock museum closed, research was limited on the return trip to the cuisine of the famous local hot dog stand. Two thumbs up on this 'historic' and tasty location.

October 13, 2010:

This is the one I look forward to all year. The annual return to Essex County which has me staying out on Cape Ann. This year I had enough on the Cape to keep me busy but first...

Day One: Coming in by the standard, routine approach - Rt. 128 - I stopped in at one of my old favorites Ship Rock in southern Essex County. It is always a challenge to try to photograph this boulder because of it's enormousness size and generally I arrive during early day when the rock is drenched in sunlight. Moving on a bit to the southern perimeter of town I reexamined a patch of conservation land just littered with glacial boulders, some of significant size. One worthy specimen is a classic perched/balanced rock just over 60 feet in circumference. Last - before pulling out of town to set up camp - I ascended at ridge quite close to the town boundary where power lines had opened a path showing dozens upon dozens of perched boulders left from the glacial age. All this area was once the object of study of the Essex Institute - now merged with the Peabody Museum - during the middle 1800's.

Day Two: Some excellent Fall weather and I took to the most northern portions of Cape Ann. A local woman had provided clues to a couple possible caves in that area and searching coastal areas found a couple cave-like features formed in gigantic boulder piles. I later confirmed this as one of the caves mentioned to me by the local woman. I followed this with her second lead passing by old quarries (of which - many exist in this area) to a ravine I thought might be the cave location. With nothing seen here - I moved on.

Down the coast is Pigeon Cove, the location of many old photographic and postcard images. Especially of rocky formations. One is the Devil's Den and Profile Rock. Success was to be had at locating this old site. Still further south lays a section of Gloucester once know as Joppa. A good chunk of woodlands was covered in another less than successful attempt at locating the Old Man of Joppa profile formation. After chowing down some bogus supermarket pizza, I decided to work off my meal in the southern extremes of Dogtown visiting Tent Rock and five of Babson's inscribed boulders.

Day Three: Now we come to the Dogtown walk. Wouldn't be a visit to Cape Ann without one significant hike through the moorlands that once was the main settlement of Gloucester long before residents took to the coastal areas. Working with a newer publication I picked up late last year, I walked a unnamed trail down towards Babson Reservoir where my book told me rocks larger than Uncle Andrews and Peter's Pulpit - two of the largest erratics in Dogtown - might exist. Although numerous boulders were to be seen - some of pretty big size - I cannot say they exceeded the aforementioned rocks in size. But I made a circuit by coming back up the Babson Boulder Trail and verifying that the backside of Uncle Andrews Rock (aka: Spiritual Power) was the site represented on an old glass slide I picked up the preceding winter. Cellar hole #23 (stone seems to be missing) finally was located. This one belonging to Col. Pearce, a wealthy Gloucester family, and one I had an postcard of the old cellar hole.

To the northeast, near the Goose Cove Reservoir, another section of old Dogtown was investigated. One cellar hole marker on the road in was found, one on a rock in the Reservoir (visible only because of low water), and two were found along the city street leading away from the waters. Goose Cove has(had?) a small waterfall depicted on an old postcard. The site was located but with water running on the low side, did not appear particularly significant.

Once again shooting out to the northern extremes of Cape Ann, I further worked cave lead #2 from two days ago, weaving my way through many an old quarry, but still finding nothing noteworthy. Then out to the ocean side at two locations, at one - visiting Chapin's Gully and the Great Gargoyle.

Day Four: Down in the urban town is a patch of nature that survived and is known as the Magic Garden. Following my visit to the Garden, I returned to scour another section in Joppa coming across interesting boulders and ledges but no Old Man. Coming down the coast I decided to spend my final hours in town at sentimental favorites in George Washington's profile and Rafes Chasm Park. On the way back out of the area, I found my way to Singing Beach at Manchester looking over rocks at both ends of the beach. Postcards depict Eagle Head (shape of an eagle's head) and one of the Sentinel (rock). After experiencing the 'singing' of sand beneath my feet towards the beach's southern end, it was time to leave Cape Ann once again...

Addendum: The return home brought the usual sifting through, and going over, all that had been gathered. Additional research brought up some very interesting information on sites in the vicinity I had just covered near Ship Rock, et al. Long sought Wigwam Rock appears to have been mostly taken for construction purposes some years back. Still I would like to pinpoint its location. Lookout Rock, also once looked for, has showed up on a map with a pretty definitive location. And a new entry: Kimball Rock. All will be worked on during future visits to Essex County.

September 26, 2010:

A casual, laid back day, as once again I joined area naturalist Aimee Gelinas and her group. Destination this time around was the Chapel Brook property of the Trustees of the Reservations. The two primary features located here are Chapel Falls (mostly dried up from summer draught) and Pony Mountain with its rock face favored by technical climbers.

On this day a magnificent view was to had from Pony Mountain's summit with trees just beginning to show their fall colors. Also seen: several very old trees and one cellar hole.

September 22, 2010:

In recent years this aging baby boomer takes himself during September on out to the South Shore area in the Bay State. This year was no different. Stops are often made at various locations both to and fro.

Day One: Ditching off of the Mass Pike for a short jaunt down Rt 128, my first stop was ... a flat tire! Once that issue was resolved, I made my way into northern Wellesley to the Boulder Brook Reservation. Nice area to find in a basically suburban neighborhood but not much for boulders despite it's name. Perhaps it's main feature is a side of Rocky ledge which also marks the boundary with the town of Weston to the north. Nearby is a big boulder (sometimes called the Bates Boulder) in another park - Kelly Park.

A bit to the other side of town are the remains of an old estate from the second half of the 1800's carved up long ago into more suburban neighborhoods. I first visited the area some twelve years ago and found residents - at least the one I talked to - very gracious. Apparently with new owners, the situation has changed significantly. It is now patrolled by security officers. So attempts to update information on this area was largely futile.

Moving on down to The Blue Hills I initiated two searches. Both basically turning up nothing. The first was an attempt to find the location of a Rattlesnake Den written about in an old publication from the early 1900's. I started this last year and continued by covering a slightly different tract of land. Although I saw plenty of rocks on this visit (hey - after all - this IS the Blue Hills!) nothing that would fit the description. A small cave formation called the Hermit Cave by its modern day photographer also did not turn up, but likely just the wrong area was searched.

Day Two: Early morning brought me to the eastern region of the Wompatuck State Park for a reexamination of a small cave found there several years early. Perhaps Rattlesnake Den might be a good name but then it would confuse matters as history records another site nearby with the same name. But a closer examination shows much of this cave's origin is due to displacement of a large, fractured piece of the parent outcrop. A similar - but smaller situation - would be seen later in the day within the same town. I finished the walk by making a circuit past the Burbank Boulder (incidentally: slightly wrong location is marked on their trail map) and trying (in vain) to find legitimate access to Cleft Rock before breaking at the nearby Scituate Library.

Emerging from the Library I made the short distance to the local historical society to further work on another lost erratic called Damon's Rock. Although it seems after numerous tries, I finally have narrowed its location down. But another site where access may be a dicey situation. But being already down by the ocean, I made the tour up the coast visiting the Nubian Head Rock, Well Rock, and the Old Man of the Rocks before heading back into Cohasset.

At the Cohasset Historical Society, I shoved a recent eBay find under their eyes for possible identification but to no avail. Afterwards, in driving part of the coastline, I caught a distant view of Daniel Webster (profile rock) sitting at the ocean's edge. Down on the boundary between Cohasset and Scituate is a rock at Bound Brook, incorporated into and old mill site. Landing Rock, where I was told baptisms once took place, also lies in the vicinity pretty much shut off by private land.

Great Brewster Woods (access behind the Cohasset Town Hall) is a fine walk and the site of one Lion's Den whose exact location is somewhat lost to history. In the past I thought it to be a marginal cave formation in the far northern parts of the Woods (also formed by displacement of a section of ledge) but now believe it was one of several rocky ridges within the GBW.

Day Three: A more leisurely pace than the preceding day, I caught up with some work at the local wifi spot. Then heading into an adjacent town I looked into a reference by eminent geologist Crosby from the early 1900's. He mentions a feature resembling (but much smaller) than nearby Cavern Rock. Indeed a small spot survived amongst much developed land that contained minor rocky formations. Wether any of these were what Crosby had written about is uncertain. But speaking of Cavern Rock, since it was nearby, I dropped on by to update my photos on this spectacular rock formation.

In another part of Town I continued the ongoing search for what some have called Writing Rock. Each visit seems to bring me a bit closer and local "Dave" talked with me at great length about the neighborhood which was once part of a large estate. Somewhere in this area the rock should exist.

Skipping over a town I was granted permission to examine Rocky Woods. One of several such locations with that name around Massachusetts. Even though I only saw a portion, indeed it had much in the way of erratics and especially high, rocky ridges. I had theory that a lost "Devil's Den" might lay here but that did not prove true - at least on this visit. But to the north is the Town Forest where one individual I've contacted in the past believes Devil's Den might have - or may still lay. But some pleasant walking was to be had and I revisited the Garden of the Gods, an area of glacial erratics.

Day Four: Seems there is no end to the heat of summer! With a hot day building before me, I decided to put in a short day before making my way home. I had what I thought might be an alternate access to a site I visited last year outside of Plymouth where one - of two - possible "Devil's Rocks" might lay. My access road soon turned up as invalid and after checking out an access point to the local river, I moved on.

Better luck was to be had farther east in Plymouth County where a possible Indian mortar/grindstone was examined. For real - or not. One cannot say. But the day (and trip) was brought to a conclusion in the Village of Rock where after several visits, the location of the ledge (and old postcards) from which the village took its name was verified.

September 12, 2010:

Under somewhat threatening skies, I made the trip over the northern end of the Quabbin Reservoir for an abbreviated day. I continued on with a project from the early June vacation when this area was hot, humid, and very buggy. But on this much cooler day I finished searching out yet another Devil's Den. Not much here but some extended ledges and very small cave formations. More like porkie dens would be a better description.

But Rum Rock is in the same general area, and I've been somewhat stymied in obtaining decent photos, so I dropped in on that giant erratic as well. Nearby is an "old Indian cave" or so I ws told by a local history authority in the past. Whether it's true -or not - is once again lost to the annals of time.

Finishing up the day, just for kicks, I stopped at Counterfeiter's Cave in Hampshire County upon my return. This is not a 'true' cave but a man-made tunnel of mysterious origins. In recent years its entrance has been capped by flat rocks and a boulder on top.

September 5, 2010:

Once again we stand at the doorstep to another Fall. Exciting for me personally as it has always been my most favorite time of the year. But to get things started, I returned after a seven year hiatus to some of the most spectacular ledges in all of Massachusetts lying just east of the Connecticut River. It was during the late 1990's and early years of this century, I spent much time combing through their cracks, crevices, and caves.

Some of the more interesting cave formations include the historic Barn Door Cave (largest entrance in Massachusetts) and -the more recently named - Serpents Cave. However many caves exist in the fracturing and talus of these cliffs. I basically spent half of a day working photo shots at Barn Door and then trudged along the base of the mountain to the more northern end where Serpents Cave lay. Down below Serpents, lies a small cave formed by the fracturing, and gravity assisted movement, in a section of ledge.

August 28, 2010:

It does happen every so often that I 'connect' with a group of other like minded individuals. On one beautiful late summer day I met local naturalist Aimee Gelinas and others at the Chesterfield Gorge for an examination of its natural history. This is also the location of a marginal profile in the rocks sometimes know as the Old Man of the Gorge. Towards the end of Aimee's program we were treated to a flock of four merganser ducks floating their way down through the gorge on the Westfield River.

Afterwards, going solo, I dove into some remote wilderness to relocate a cave used a couple decades back by a modern day hermit. On my initial visit a few years ago visible signs of his presence remained. On this day it was seen to have been 'refurbished' by more modern day visitors.

August 7, 2010:

Recently a friend from Gloucester expressed an interest in stone carving mentioning soapstone. I had visited several sites over the years that also included a couple (there are four in Massachusetts) used by Native Americans for pottery. All this rekindled an interest in my second favorite rock soapstone (conglomerate being the first) or its more 'scientific' name: steatite.

Modern day bedrock geologic maps show the existence of bodies of ultramafic rocks mentioning some as talc sites. Historically, they have been labeled as soapstone. These bodies extend roughly along the area of the Berkshire County border with Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties, and indeed one big old mine has become a habitat for bats.

But on this particular day, I revisited a massive open cut quarry in the southwest portions of Hampshire County. A damp, bug infested old hole it remains much as I remerged it some years ago. Obvious signs of people carving and hammering on the rock exist. But most of what exists as the 'greasy-feeling' rock soapstone is know for, is a crumbly schisty rock.

In the immediate area I investigated a similar body marked on the geologic map but it looked to be a very small quarrying operation. Any signs of those operations seem obliterated but some minor ledge is exposed in the area.

The trip home brought me by way of the Middle Branch Westfield River where once again the geologic map indicated the presence of ultramafic rock. Although I somewhat confirmed the rocks exist, almost none of it really qualified as talc - or soapstone.

August 4, 2010:

Day One: brought me into Norfolk County by way of the Mass Pike and Rt 495. First destination was an old canal site along the Charles River and an Indian Cave in the immediate vicinity. The origin of this cave seems quite interesting as a softer, almost chalky, lens of rock (sample now being analyzed) in the surrounding bedrock was susceptible to weathering.

Rocky Woods is a name that pops up in local geographical databases every now and then. I dropped farther south to take a look at one such area. I had started working this area a few years back when a written work on the area mentioned a cave in these woods, a House Rock, and a Great Rock. It is primarily within the region of Dighton Conglomerates and many of these 'puddingstone' boulders and outcrops were indeed to be seen in Rocky Woods. Somewhere in the local area is the site of an old postcard called the Playmate, paying homage to a rock that was played upon by someone's Father during his childhood.

But Rocky Woods are an immense piece of territory and any cave would have to be guided to. I saw no such thing. I did see House Rock once again at the farthest reaches of my hike, another large accumulation of conglomerate boulders forming a sort of small Garden of the Gods/Rock City effect. A gargantuan boulder of conglomerate also exists here with a circumference of 103.5 feet!

While in the general area, I decided to drop in on some of my other favorite conglomerate features laying a couple towns away. Abram's Rock, Wildcat Rock, and Lion (or Lion's Head) Rock are some of these. One having petroglyphs upon it's surface.

Day Two: At dawn I made the trip down into Rhode Island to give my kayak its maiden voyage upon the ocean and finally bring it into use as a bona fide piece of research equipment. My original destination was quite busy even at early morning light so I retreat a bit north where an old ferry route provided ocean access to an area where an old report on bird count mentions Swallow Cave. Sailing the coastline where the ocean is in non stop motion proved both interesting and challenging. The conglomerate ledges of the coast offered many fractures, some even where the sea could get behind, but nothing in the way of a true cave. Perhaps the birds nested with the multitude of fissures to be found along the coast.

The rest of the morning was spent visiting old haunts with the hope of once again putting in the kayak. But - not unexpected - this time of year is not good to visit a tourist favorite such as the Newport area. My springtime trips to the region have always offered the better opportunities at getting into the variety of geologic sites along the coast.

Returning to Massachusetts, I decided to hike in to another Rocky Woods, which was a primary destination and research topic for this trip. It is reported to have an abundance of geologic features, the best being one of the many rocky features know as King Philip's Cave. Other notable sites include Devil's Hoofprints, King Philip's Soup Bowl, and the Devil's Bowling Alley. After departing King Philip's, I headed on over to Profile Rock before finishing up the afternoon at one of the two local libraries in Town.

Day Three: Driving through the dark, dawn found me once again returning to the Narragansett Bay in pursuit of another cave lead. Parts of this shoreline had been looked over several times in the past with varying results. Small cave, "quasi-cave" features can be found but I was hopeful of finding a real genuine outstanding sea cave! The kayak was brought in through a narrow access strip to the ocean. Putting in, I began a tour of the coast which eventually landed me in an area of features I had looked at in the past. Some inaccessible from the bluffs above. One I got into several years past by means of a rope. One small cave and one quasi-cave formation existed with a small cove. Turning the boat back around I rounded a corner to be faced with a gaping cave entrance within the cliffs. While circling about the outside, the ocean decided to push me closer then on in. Once beached underground I found the cave to be more substantial than it first appeared from the outside. Total length here, probably 50 to 60 feet.

Retreating to a local wifi site I relaxed over coffee catching up on more mundane matters. Eventually hitting the road, I returned to Massachusetts and the library I had waited to open since arriving in Bristol County. Gleaning all that I could from sources there I mad a quick spin out to Joe's Rock, another historical site of human habitation often mentioned as a cave but just some heavily fractured and split rock outcropping. Then returning past the library I scouted the outside perimeter of Rocky Woods for a couple features I learned of during my recent library visit. Finishing off an early day I connected again with Bob, a local antique dealer who has been a valuable source of information over the years on the immediate area.

Day Four: was left during the planning stage as an optional day. Sleeping in to 5 am made it too late to avoid the early morning crowds down at the Rhode Island beaches. Besides: the oppressive summer heat was already making its return. So I decided to take one more early morning walk through Rocky Woods to familiarize myself a bit more with its path system. Then with it already 75 degrees by 7 am, I turned the car homeward.

June 27, 2010:

Pulpit Rock at Onota Lake has been worked on several past occasions but with the securing of a 'new' postcard, I gave it a go once again on one sticky, gray, summer afternoon.

By comparing the newer image to other images of the Lake, it seems confirmed that the site was on the south side of Onota. Much of this is now in private hands and been well developed including boat docks.

Although Pulpit Rock still did not present itself on this adventure, I'll be bringing the kayak out on the lake for a final determination. Presently: I suspect it to be gone!

June 2, 2010:

Vacation has once again arrived. Unfortunately of the hot, humid type during which I generally limit my outdoor activities. But with that said onward I trekked into the great wide open...

Previous to embarking on what was to be primarily a south Worcester County adventure, a local history on one of the Quabbin Reservoir towns came to light, and it furnished enough information - and incentive - to begin my wanderings there.

Day One: Entering the region just to the east of Quabbin, from the north, I began my search by looking for an old historic spring in Peter Gore's Spring. An issuance of water from the forest floor seemed to be the likely location for this geographic feature.

An underground spring was up next and it proved to be a site I once visited in the past. Some have this on an inventory as a stone chamber and indeed its construction is along those lines.

Bell Rock was revisited after a number of years as it was in the vicinity of some reported caves. Not much was seen for caves other than a small, insignificant overhang on ledge. However, it may be worthwhile to pursue a more expanded search of the area.

Near the center of town, history reported a "huge boulder" marking the "exact geographical center of town". One boulder seems to fit the location.

On an abandoned section of roadway running through the woods, a stone watering trough was located.

Farther into the wilds lay the Lion's Den, a geologic feature comprised of a ledge and natural arch of rock separated from the main face by several feet. One can enter this space between rocks through an opening in the base of the arch.

An extensive search for the Indian's Cave followed but nothing definitive was brought to light. It apparently was a boulder that lay against a ledge. Many ledges were seen in the area where history recorded its location but none had the boulder described. Could it be the boulder has rolled away downhill?

A rocking stone or "Teeter Rock" was also said to exist in this same section of town, but again, this did not show itself.

Before heading southeastward to camp, a quick jump into the woods was made to search for another Devil's Den. Amongst the relentless onslaught of mosquitoes and deer flies, a fast walk-through the forest turned up a nice set of ledges honeycombed with small caves. A more extensive investigation was left for better days.

Day Two: After a night of heavy thunderstorms, the air was thicker with humidity than the previous day. But on up into the land of Brookfields was my destination. I had been here the previous year in an unsuccessful search for an Indian shelter cave that was home to the last of the Quaboag Indians. On this quest - I was more triumphal locating the rocky ledge and nearby features of a well and chimney leftover from the days of a previous landowner.

One town to the east, investigation was made of an old postcard known simply as "ledges". My suspicions were these ledges may have been part of an old slate quarrying operation and that proved to be true. I quickly looked for a stone chamber in town but since entry lay through the parking lot of a (opened) business, I deferred on this one to a later date. Next I killed a couple of productive hours (out of the heat) in the local library where sifting through their records obtained information on the slate quarry, another stone chamber, and a balancing rock.

Retreating to the south, I ended not far from the Connecticut border, trying to outrace the coming rain. I located my site in Dennison Rock just as the heavens opened up and a friendly neighbor invited me in to stay dry. A while later, the rain abated enough for me to venture out for photographs. Just enough - as a night of constant rain began on the drive back to camp.

Day Three: Juggling the possibilities of what to do before returning home, I faced another day of intense heat and humidity. So I opted for the casual, somewhat leisurely option, of working my way back through the Quabbin Reservoir region.

Pulling in to the Rock House Reservation, I remembered an old record of glacial scratches on a rock across from it's entrance. This happened to be a large, heavily fractured, glacial boulder that caught my attention on each previous pass through the area. There are some indications of glacial movement across this rock but I would not say they are significant. Of greater interest, I found a nice talus cave in the broken rock alongside the rock outcrop.

Closer to Quabbin, I stopped only briefly to look for two sites from old postcards: a stone drinking fountain and "Reflection Rocks", a pastoral scene of rocks within a river. Neither were located.

Next stop was to look at the progress of East Quabbin Land Trust's project at Indian Rock before once again taking on heat and bugs in an unsuccessful attempt to located the site of an historical reference to a natural bridge within the Quabbin woodlands.

Finishing up, I passed by the 'center of town boulder' seen two days previous for a couple of quick photos. Then it was all but to head back over the northern end of Quabbin to pick up the Mohawk Trail on my way back to the Berkshires.

May 24, 2010:

After paddling around local lakes for the past several weeks it was time kick up the learning curve and take on a river - the mighty Connecticut. My main objective was to scout the mid portion of the River in Massachusetts for access points, but I also hoped to work some of my more normal geologic investigations into the mix.

Internet sources mentioned a state owned 'beach' area on the Connecticut's east side so I took that up first. Most of morning was spent trying to locate the site in vain. I talked with two local people, drove to the top of Mount Holyoke looking for DCR (state) employees all without success. The feeling here is it my be an isolated parcel of land and only accessible by water but I will be looking into that further.

Meanwhile back over on the other - west - side of the river the journey took me as far south as the Dinosaur Footprint Park in Holyok. The dino park does offer an expansive view of the river with several rocky ledge outcrops on the river's opposite bank. Somewhere a bit north lies a future watery destination in Titan's Pier, an outcrop lying along side the water.

After briefly looking over an access point at the Oxbow, it was decided to head north for a quieter portion of the river at Sunderland. First order of business was to check some 'non formal' areas of river access and try to verify the exact location of reported riverside rock ledge. After locating the ledge (indeed walking over the top of it) I decided to head downstream to the formal, legitimate access point in town to put in my kayak.

Paddling north - and upstream - presented no real difficulties initially. I landed at the first of the two islands that would be passed, then continued upstream to located the ledge lying along the river opposite island #2. The area between island and shore proved to be a major challange with heavy currents, eddies, and even the occasional whirlpool. But upon making the ledge, a couple quick photos were shot before turning around to ride the current back south. From there it was all but to pack up and head on back over to the Berkshires.

May 9, 2010:

Since my return from Rhode Island less than three weeks ago several things have been happening. I finally received my long awaited kayak and have been familiarizing myself with its use. One adventure took me down pass the backside of old quarry buildings used in the refining of limestone located on Cheshire Reservoir. Another - out to several islands.

You might ask, what that has to do with geology - or even history. However, I have become increasing aware that certain sites are best - or only accessible from water. Certainly this all plays in to my searching out sea formed caves. And I am reminded of a certain cave report in western Massachusetts that was located on a island. In this instance, a buddy and his canoe were able to paddle me out to my destination although the 'cave' was more of just a rocky formation. So a new activity to keep me going during those hot humid days I don't wish to be in the woods.

Old Berkshire Park, once located just to the east of the southern end of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, often appears on old postcards. After a long absence from this picturesque trail I returned one cold, brisk Mother's Day morning to investigate one site visible on one of those old postcards. I also reexamined part of a long ago abandoned road that ran out across the rail trail and entered southern Berkshire Village. This in the days before a Route 8 (approximating the old trolley route) existed from near the present day Berkshire Mall north to the Berkshire Village area.

April 21, 2010:

Three days in Rhode Island were devoted primarily to cleaning up some leads and furthering information on previously know sites.

Day One: Rolling on in to the Ocean State's southwest region I revisited a small cave (hereafter: Tippecansett Cave) quite close to the shore of a lake. Like many of the cave/cave formations down this way, it exists in the broken portions of a ledge - or bedrock. Frost action along with gravity assist played an obvious part in these caves genesis.

Farther to the south is a series of caves near the State border with Connecticut. One group is located at what is called locally Dinosaur Rock. It was my hope that with a brand new, WAAS enabled, GPS I might finally settle the issue of what state one or two of these caves lay in. At least one - North Dinosaur Cave is sufficiently east of the State boundary to safely say it belongs to Rhode Island. Upper Dinosaur Cave though was a bit more of a problem. GPS coordinates put it about six meters west - into Connecticut. Still not enough of a margin to say for sure. However, later use of detailed aerial photography pinpoints this cave in Rhode Island - by about twenty feet!

Relocating North Dinosaur Cave was a small task as I had only visited it once previously. With that accomplished, it was time to hike north in search of another reported cave. This definitely took me over into Connecticut and it was the new find of the day. Over fifty feet of cave was located in broken ledge and talus, with multiple entrances.

Retreating to the auto and moving it slightly along the access road, it was time to look once gain at the Pioneer Caves and Glacier Cave. The former is some broken bedrock where a small individual might make their way underground. The latter is more accurately a "rock formation" as it is a vertical crevice in bedrock although a very small chamber exists underground.

A short drive was made south to search out an alternate access route to Narragansett Cave whose only previous visit was the summer of 2007. The trailhead was located prior to retreating across the State to Newport for the night.

Day Two:

Day Two: A somewhat light and relaxing day was planned that kept me in the immediate vicinity of Newport. I took my traditional trip to an all time favorite in Purgatory. Examining its formation, the conglomerate bedrock that takes it name from, I walked down towards the nearby beach where sand lenses can be found within the bedrock formation. Amongst these lenses are found the Devil Footprints and Squaw Tracks as well as many antique carvings done long ago when Purgatory was a Victorian Age attraction.

Within sight of Purgatory are the Hanging Rocks which were ascended. Spectacular views can be found from the top and in it's giant crevasse (sometimes called the Lion's Mouth) is where George (Bishop) Berkeley is said to have sat while writing.

The Newport area does have a number of historical references to caves. On the drive in to Purgatory the location for one such cave was sought out. But upon leaving the area, I stopped to pursue it further. Supposedly located on the shore of a small lake with limited access, I scanned the shoreline from the opposite side but nary a clue could be found. At that point I retreated to the relative comfort of my room for my own writings.

Low tide brought me out to famous cliffs and Cliff Walk to finish up some business, which has been going on for some years, surrounding the former location of Conrad's Cave. Descending to the sea, a careful examination was given to the cliff and adjacent seawall to see what - if any - of the former grotto might exist. But Conrad's has been fully reclaimed by the sea unless the seawall might hide a portion. Unlikely as a 1950's postcard shows the cave pretty much gone at that time.

Day Three: Before leaving the area, another favorite once again was visited: the Pirate Caves. This is the finest example of sea caves along the Narragansett Bay. Low tide and some minor wetsuit equipment got me into all but the largest of these formations. And my last stop on the way out of town, was the northern beginning of the Cliff Walk. Somewhere in this area is a geographic (geologic?) feature known as Mary's Seat. Although databases list this as a cliff, it may very well be a rock in the shallow ocean at the end of Easton's Beach.

At this point it was decided to return to the southwest and finish what I started on day one. I checked into caves reported along the North - South trail only to find a number of animal sized 'caves' along with one turkey vulture spooked by my climb into the rocks. Finishing up was a hike from the new access point into Narragansett Cave which took me past many giant erratics. Of greater interest was a huge rock lined ravine, once again with animal sized caves.

Upon completion, it was a long trip up the eastern side of Connecticut to hook up with the Mass Pike home

April 4, 2010:

The Easter 'menu' was to bring a routine investigation to a number of relatively tame sites in the northern section of Massachusetts' Connecticut River Valley. 'Routine' is another of those famous last words that often gets lost along the way.

Reaching an area bordering the west shore of the great River, I intended to take a quick look again at Sheeps Cave which lays in the collapse of a large cliff face. Here is where things got sticky as I ended up wandering a section of woods that were eventually found not even the correct location for the cave! Adjusting my location, I moved on only to find the old woods road to the cave lost. But old notes scribbled on my atlas gave me a clue and upon entering the woods once again, I found the old road to be completely obliterated! However, a vague familiarity with the direction to the cliffs eventually got me there where a much more precise GPS location will negate a future repeat of today's difficulties.

The rest of the day was to be devoted to looking at several rock climbing locations, always a good opportunity to view some spectacular examples of the local bedrock. However, ambiguous directions that did not match road names on my atlas led me astray for awhile. But after aborting the attempt to locate my first site, the access road was located by luck as I was driving on to my second destination.

This ledge was no easy feat to locate - or get to. It is most of the way up a large mountainside where evidence of past quarrying was seen. It took several attempts, and back tracking, but eventually way up in the upper reaches of the mountain a massive ledge of gneiss was to be found. And no short piece of rock was this either as it stretched for at least 700 feet with shorter sections continuing still on further.

Although the access route to the noble ledge was marked at intervals with flagging tape and painted saplings, it proved of little help in either the ascent - or descent. I eventually resorted to bushwhacking my way down the mountain which brought me a great stroke of luck. I stumbled into a major abandoned quarry complete with numerous tool marks and plenty of leftover rough cut rock.

So finally making a descent to my car, it was only to drive down and over the Miller's River to catch the Mohawk Trail back west to the Berkshires.

March 28, 2010:

This weekend brought a stark, frigid reminder winter is not quite done with us yet. However, under gray skies and near freezing temperatures - I set out. Making my way up to the northern Berkshires, I wanted to finish up a small project at Stone Hill where last summer the brutal heat offered up a whole different envirnoment.

The bedrock of Stone Hill proper is pretty much quartzite, and on my previous visit I saw plenty of ledgy, rocky areas that bore investigation. Additionally, one local farmer reported a site know as Sunset Rock apparently upon the Hill. The broken rock along the western perimeter of the Hill yielded one very small cave among the boulders. Upon reaching a memorial stone bench, I ascended upon the summit and looked for obvious signs of a Sunset Rock where one might get a view off to the west.

Several possible sites, close to one another, presented themselves, and sans foliage, a pretty good vista could be had of the still snow covered westerly Taconic Mountain Range. To finish my exploration in the immediate region, I looked into another access trail that approached Stone Hill from the East.

Taking the scenic route home, I jogged on over western portions of the Mohawk Trail across the top of Berkshire County. My only other stop was to photograph small cave formations along the North Branch of the Hoosic River.

March 21, 2010:

So once again it is time to roll out a brand new season in the outdoors. Many of the unexplored sites that need to be investigated not surprisingly lay far beyond a one day's journey from my home in the most western portion of Massachusetts. They will be dealt with on occasion and most certainly on vacations. But for this day - a return into the Connecticut River Valley. As far as western Massachusetts goes, this is the one region to first thaw out from Winter.

The goal on this day was verification of a site know to rock climbers as Sunbowl. I've had various locations tossed my way over recent years, none of which proved accurate. But finally with something more definitive in hand I set out. Coincidentally, this overlapped with my last year's goal of searching out the trails running through the old section of mountains once known as Paradise.

The walk up into the mountains and locating Sunbowl went surprisingly well. I had suspected this ledge to be one I first came cross four years earlier and I was right. Moving along, I connected with the Paradise trails, looked over a familiar craggy ledge, then traced the route of a mostly obliterated trail back to my car.

Farther north I entered the ledge system once called "Home of the Rocks" which has been explored on many previous occasions. I stopped first at the likely site of Cozy Cave, worked along past the Curve Rock (once again unsuccessfully trying to identify the site an antique photo was taken), finally setting up cameras at the Grand Porch. The overcast skies made good opportunity to finally get half decent photos of this gigantic open-faced rock formation.

I decided since I was in the immediate area of Titan's Pasture, I'd dropped in to the cave located there to see the situation on a bat located there this past year. The bat was not home so I set about exploring the talus caves formations below (and probably within) Titan's Pasture, on over to the Grand Porch. One is fairly 'worthy' at probably 40 feet of passage length. Maybe of greater importance, I recognized it as the first location I came onto some years back when I first took on the investigation of antique photos of rock formations in the area.

With this early season adventure on the wane, I traveled back out of the Valley once again, through mountain towns still showing generous amounts of snow.

March 11, 2010:

My, oh my! It seems that Spring has been wanting to come on in for the last week. With last weekend's arrival of the 'perfect' late winter weekend (which in reality was very spring-like) I am reminded the end of the winter sabbatical is close at hand. Only time will tell if this is for real or what some call a 'false Spring'. Per usual, the snow has left the back yards - the higher elevations still deep in Winter.

But time to start preparing once again. A few early projects in the lower elevations and Connecticut River Valley have already been mapped out. The third week of April will hopefully culminate with a return to Rhode Island and the Narragansett Bay area.

January 5, 2010:

Perhaps one of the more intensive investigations over the previous decade was that of the Stone Face on Pelham Brook in northwestern Massachusetts. It was originally brought to my attention by Matt B. over at the Stone Face Gazetteer during the early part of the decade with the arrival of a curious image in my e-mail of an old postcard. Subsequent trips to the Town of Rowe brought forth another postcard of Profile Rock also reported to be along Pelham Brook. The whole investigation was complicated in that both images bore little resemblance to one another.

Perhaps the easier part was hypothesize they were the same rock - despite the obvious difference - due to the matching backgrounds. Next came the Herculean task of finding the proverbial needle in a haystack - one rock along a very long mountain stream. Despite the enormous nature of this task alone, a likely suspect was located. Two trips to this rock alone, with numerous photographs taken, still left me wanting for a better prospect.

A renewed search was made towards the of 2008 after a night of heavy downpours. Pelham Brook is typically your normal sleepy mountain stream but on this day it had become raging torrent. Indeed, at some point in the past once such torrent took out the local bridge downstream also leaving me to wonder if the old location of Stone Face/Profile Rock was somehow affected. Despite the obstacles a second candidate in my search was found perched in the bank just alongside the torrents of water making their way through the ravine. A quick photograph taken, I climbed on out to research my find further while at home the following winter.

The winter passed and another visit to my hypothetical boulder in the Spring of '09 for another - more extensive - set of photographs still yielded nothing definitive. Finally in the waning days of 2009 a breakthrough! Careful, intensive examination, of the more recent photographs revealed several matching points of reference on both postcards. So although this was quite the chore - it has finally paid off.


'09

December 13, 2009:

With the arrival of snow and cold in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, the end of another season comes to a close - at least as far as this explorer is concerned. The yearly hiatus is a chance to rest from the travels of the past year and to plan for those of the coming. Does not mean I won't be poking my nose out the door on occasion but that will be the exception rather than the rule. I am now finishing almost twelve years of my Jim's Page. An ever changing selection of images will continue to rotate through this site as opposed to the blog where fewer static pictures remain on display.

And speaking of the blog, it is fairly new at less than a year old, but started as an experiment - an experiment I intend to continue. Earlier this year I archived past adventures into it and hope to continue on with that. Another possibility is to use it as a forum for writings other than just documenting trips. This - to some degree - could replace the assortment of web pages that once were connected with Jim's Page up until earlier this decade.

Once again I'll be picking it up come Spring, which - depending on Mother Nature - could be late March to mid April. Stay tuned...

November 29, 2009:

One other trip I wanted to get in before the inevitable end to this year's outdoor season was a tour of a large section of karst within the central Berkshires. It is one of the more amazing pieces of geology in Massachusetts, from the speleological perspective, with a least a dozen solution formed marble caves located in a 'corridor' just over two miles long.

Taking my usual back road approach, I traveled down through the northern portions of this 'cave corridor', turning into the less inhabited woodlands, to finally come out overlooking the side of a valley. Several mountain streams drain down the sides of this valley setting up a classic cave karst scenario where waters flowing off the less soluble schists, onto marbles, eventually makes it's way underground. Not far from these 'contact zones' is often a likely site that caves might want to form. It this particular area three caves - Coon Hollow, Dolo, and Coffin Caves - are diversionary routes from the surface streams. Sometimes the surface stream beds (or sections thereof) run and sometimes can carry running water.

My first destinations were Coon Hollow and Dolo Caves where one might say they are geologically connected if not physically. They are both underground channels for the same surface stream. On this day, waters were high and normally dry sections of streambed were carrying water - right on into the cave entrances. Moving on to another section of forest, a second stream draining into the karst lands was also running water in sections not normally found and right by the entrance to Coffin Cave. Descent into the caves under these conditions would be ill advised. Somewhere within the earth the hydrological flows of the two cave systems, Coon Hollow/Dolo and Coffin, do meet and exit through a major spring - my next stop.

Waters from this spring travel a ways down through a beautiful section of wilderness and on into a geologically separate section of karst. Paralleling close to the main stream is one running underground where a small section can be accessed through Blanket Cave. Eventually a couple hundred feet farther along - much further than one can travel through the cave, the underground waters issue forth and travel somewhat alongside the main brook. Eventually a second stream coming from a slightly uphill resurgence joins the Blanket Cave stream. And even farther along the hillside a third resurgence can be located.

Some of all this 'resurged water' comes from an upland plateau of sorts - another less obvious example of karst topography. Waters coming off the shoulder of the valley highlands do eventually make their way underground upon the plateau, in the insurgence once know as Temper Hole. Beyond Temper the plateau exhibits characteristics of underground features with sunken ravines and sinkholes.Most of these features end in the area where Bill Blankey's Cave is found (whomever Bill Blankey is/was - is lost to time) preceded by newly discovered Skeleton Cave found higher on the ravine's wall.

With all caves visited and accounted for, it was only left to make my way back up and out the valley of karsts. Returning to my car I find an eager group of orange clad men pouring out of their SUV in preparation for the next day's beginning of shotgun deer hunting season. Retracing my route home by way of the woods road, I passed more streams diving into the ground providing warm memories of past excursions into the nether regions of this expansive karst.

November 22, 2009:

The gray, cold skies of late autumn portends the coming of winter but offer up some of the best outdoor experiences of the year. Before closing my season out for another year, I wanted to visit the rocky formations within the Connecticut River Valley one more time. Having such a beautiful day this late in the year is certainly a gift not to be taken lightly so I extend my journey to climbing Mt. Toby.

Toby is a monadnock standing close to the mighty Connecticut River. I used one of the old mountain roads that comes in from the west ascending past a fallen in sugar shack. The last one-third of a mile provides a nice challenging climb of about 450 feet in elevation. Views on the summit are quite limited until one climbs the fire tower (seen from the valley on the drive in) and is rewarded with a breathtaking vista. Leaving the mountain top, I checked the remains of the sugar shack seen on the ascent (just downhill from here a couple of faults trending south to north run through the area) and looked into a couple side trails.

But before pulling out of the Valley, I decided to focus on the section of rocks known in the Victorian Age as the Rock Shelter. This is the impressive territory of rock formations photographed some 140 years ago. Walking past my well known rocky acquaintances Rock Roof and Kittie' Nook, I arrived at (yet another) Pulpit Rock. In this version, Pulpit Rock is section of the grandiose ledges that has given way leaving a free standing boulder. Trying to photograph the modern day version of the antique photograph was nearly an impossible chore with today's forest all around. Although many 'quasi-cave' formations exist in the area, I finished off the day with a very real - but very small - cave, dubbed Graves' Cave when I first came across it a few years back.

November 17, 2009:

With the end of another season bearing down (I generally don't do winters) I wanted to finish up what was started locally on two recent trips: the location of the major stone quarrying operation near Pulpit Rock and formerly associated with the Sikes/Sykes Family in central Berkshire County. The first stop took me to a the picturesque St. Helena's Chapel in New Lenox. Here, it has been reported to me, that stone from the aforementioned quarry was used in its building.

Moving on to find suitable parking, I ascended into the mountains. Typically, I use a crisscross pattern to cover large sections of land when doing reconnaissance work and in this case I worked lower to higher elevations. Not much was seen initially except a few rubble piles that may be due to small time stone cutting. Finally - at the higher elevations - I arrived at Pulpit Rock.

A quick spin by the Rock and caves and I decided to descend, covering another section of forest, only to arrive back near the mountain road I made my initial ascent on. With still nothing much to show I was weighing my next move when Fate once again smiled down upon me. A man was making his way through the forest and that person was the landowner. After some discussion on the local area and history, he took me around to show his land boundaries and point out the beginning of the old quarrying operations which indeed lay upon his property. After bidding adieu to my acquaintance, who had to move on, I began exploration of the quarry site. What went on here were a number of shallow cut operations over a large section of (now wooded) mountainside.

When finished with the quarries, I returned once again to the old mountain road to look for any possible evidence of a former homestead site. Recent information came to light that H. B. Sikes' home had burned long, long ago. My own observations sadly found little to nothing that H. B. was ever here. Then it was down the mountainside once again, feeling content that the major areas of interest on the Sikes - and their mountain - had been well sought out.

November 14, 2009:

This time of year brings the annual recreational trek on down into Connecticut. Per usual, some historical and geological adventures may get into the mix but that tends to be secondary. However, with dawn just breaking, I made my way out of the central Berkshires to my first stop. St. Andrews in Washington is a chapel whose stone is said to have originated from an area of recent studies: Skyes Mountain. At some point in the near future the exact quarry will have to be located but for now I could only gaze at the chapel walls which consisted of a vast assortment of stone - including quartzite - mortared together. These definitely were not precision cut blocks of stone.

Eventually arriving in the Bristol, CT area, I sought out a bit of a mystery. A stone cross - a memorial to a man's departed daughter - once stood on a ledge overlooking town. A few local people remember visiting it in the pst(even myself) but it has not been seen in recent times. A good mount of searching has left me believing it may now be gone. Possibly fallen to the construction of a modern day home.

Arriving at my host's home we took on one thing natural and one thing historic. The first being Sessions Woods in the town of Burlington followed by the Barker Character, Comic and Cartoon Museum. The latter is a virtual Mecca for all us aging Baby Boomers who remember - and revel - in indulging ourselves in past memories of cartoons and old TV shows.

The rest of the two day stay was a washout with tropical storm remnants roiling around. However, a visit was made to the local library where I confirmed a stash of caving newsletter publications once left by a prolific cave explorer/friend no longer resides there. Timexpo Museum in Waterbury was one of the last stops before retreating from the rains for a spell then making my way home.

November 10,2009:

Returning to old Rock Mountain, whose perimeter was skirted during the recent trip on October 27, a southerly approach was taken. This visit was to include scouting for old settlements and cellar holes along with possible signs of additional quarrying activity.

The old mountain road served its purpose well as myself and hiking partner Tom located at least three former cellars long ago abandoned. One had an interesting stand of rare (for these parts ) black locust trees (now dead) lining the outside of the old cellar hole. Here and there a small ledge was seen that had been worked but that was more to the north, well out of the more southern areas underlain by Cheshire Quartzite.

At our final - and most northern cellar hole - we linked up with the area explored just two weeks previously. Turning towards the southwest we began an ascent of the former Rock Mountain - now called Sykes. Our climb brought us past outcrops of rock somewhat different - but belonging to the same geologic unit explored in the nearby pseudo-karst. Contained here was a good sized porkie den formed by weathering, frost wedging, and gravity assist.

Scooting over the summit area for a ways, little rock was seen but perhaps one more minor outcrop of rock worked in the past. A dark, picturesque bog brought us out near our original road which was followed back to the car.

Later on Tom was able to gather information at the local library mentioning what must have been a major quarrying operation run by the Sikes family from the mountain settlement. It will be the focus of a future adventure. My own impression is the name Rock Mountain is somewhat of a misnomer as the most rocky sections are really just outside what most would consider the boundaries of the mountain. But that's history for you!

October 27, 2009:

Continuing to build upon the past, both the recent and far, descent was made upon a section of central Berkshire County once known as the Sikes District. The name (like many old geographic features) is taken from the surname of a family once common to the area. The prominent geologic feature of the area is Pulpit Rock (yet another) and a visit was made earlier this year to meet with the owners and discuss the past in regards to their own farmland. Another feature somewhere in the area is quarry from which stone was used to build a couple local churches.

On this trip an old comrade from past excursions, Mr. Tom Hoffman of Washington, joined in for the hike up the old mountain road and on in to Pulpit Rock. A large ravine near this rock contains several small caves and probably exhibits enough characteristics to be classed as what speleologist call pseudo-karst. The area as a whole is part of the Dalton Formation with feldspathic quartzite (at Pulpit Rock) and a more schistose variety at the nearby ravine and caves.

After a thorough look at caves and pulpit, a hike was made out in the direction of the old mountain road following the general topography that drains into the cave ravine. This brought us out to the woods road at a elevation higher than where the bushwhack in to Pulpit Rock began. This area was once where the Sikes (later: Sykes) families once settled. The local mountain once bore the name "Rock Mountain" and even Herman Melville spent a year during his teens teaching at the Sikes District School.

Starting our descent, we were greeted by a carefully constructed drainage channel under the road hand crafted from native rock. Farther into the woods lay a modest size quarry probably a source of rock used for projects in the immediate area. Several hundred feet farther down the mountainside, a brief stop at Sikes Cave - a talus cave - then a return to our car already contemplating our next adventure into the old Sikes District.

October 14, 2009:

Day One: With October comes the annual trek on up into Essex County. With a bountiful list of sites and topics to cover, I headed on up by starting off with my usual route - the Mohawk Trail.

At least every other year (lately: every year) I put some time into Lynn and surrounding towns, this day taking me back to the great urban park Lynn Woods. Some years back I first visited the Great Frog Boulder (once known as the Great Dwarf Rock) but never took in the perspective of a frog. A different day and a different angle brought out the (somewhat) crude resemblance to a frog crouching. Even more astounding was the circumference of this great boulder at almost 120 feet making it amongst the most 'worthy' in Massachusetts. It might be worth mentioning at this point that large glacial erratics (indeed: erratics in general) are quite common to this part of the State.

After finishing up at the Frog I moved on to the Wolf Pits, ancient relics from the past. These are a couple stone lined pits whose purpose (as the name suggests) were to capture wolves during the colonial era. Some pipe remains from years past when it was there to protect the more modern day explorer from falling in.

South Peabody was my next destination where I was surprised to find in recent years that a thriving quarrying operation had once operated. Indeed, this whole area was explored by the Essex Institute around the middle of the nineteenth century where various rocks and caves are listed amongst their writings. I did find a few old quarry sites but the usual case prevailed where urban sprawl has mostly taken over the area. Most interesting was a piece of conservation land that survived. Within its boundaries were a huge mass of glacial boulders including one gigantic rock of the perched/'balanced' type.

Further up the coast, on one of the many beaches, I had wanted to look into the site of an old postcard called the Sentinel. However, after much driving around the neighborhood, I never did come up with access to the beach. Later that night, a Gloucester source was able to fill me in and a future visit will follow.

Finally arriving in Gloucester, where I was to stay the next three nights, I took in Mount Ann. Having read about this mountain for many years, it was great to finally see it in person. It is topped by several somewhat flat rocky outcrops. Erratics abound including one ancient inscription: 1896. Two other huge boulders were also seen off in the woods on both the journey in - and out.

Day Two: This day was planned to meet up with a renown local authority on historical sites in Newbury: Dick C. I decided to incorporate a couple of visits while winding my way northwesterly and the first stop was Ipswich.

Ipswich has the most 'celebrated' example of Devil's footprints in Massachusetts. Along with that comes the story of preacher George Whitefield throwing the Devil off the nearby church after a struggle thus explaining the origin of the footprint. The print featured is marked within a painted circle and is a shallow incised marking. I have always thought (certainly individual opinions will vary) this to one the weakest examples of these features as it only very vaguely resembles a human print. There are also those that look to be cloven hoof prints. A pretty good search of the rocky outcrop did bring up lesser foot-like formations but the real treasure was finding a good example from the cloven hoof variety.

Moving on up to Rowley I got a look at one of the many rocks used by the aforementioned George Whitefield for a sermon. This Pulpit Rock is a long ledgy outcrop pressed into service when the former church adjacent to the site could not hold the throng of individuals showing up to hear Whitefield preach.

Before leaving town I looked into what I expected to be the former site of Sunset Rock. I was under the impression it had been destroyed for the remaking of a local road intersection. Further investigation revealed what really happened was the rock got developed - built on - so now it is closed off to public access.

On up into Newbury I dropped in once again on Haystack Boulder and one simply called "near Haystack Boulder". Both these large erratics were feature in an early 1900's geologic treatise on Essex County by John Henry Sears. Later on I did confirm with my local expert one known as the Ordway Boulder is also supposed to exist in this area.

The purpose of meeting Dick was to focus on two sites I had no luck in definitely identifying on two previous visits to the area. First up was Gerrish Rock which I imagined to be one of several large glacial boulders lying near a local river. How wrong I was! Reaching river's edge just prior to low tide, Dick pointed out the very top of a rock just starting to show itself above water. As we watched for the next fifteen minutes more and more of Gerrish Rock would slowly emerge. Changing positions on the river's shoreline we were able to see a large portion of the rock would remain just under water. Perhaps a lower low tide might bring it forth.

Dick and I then relocated our cars a bit where we had to tramp over hill and through marshes to see the local Balance Rock. Of course it would not be much of a rock without a story! This one has pirate treasure buried nearby and the rock marked with a letter - or arrow of sorts - that was to help relocate that treasure. Upon finishing our day's adventure, Dick was most generous and helpful in providing additional information to pursue other sites in the future.

Day Three: I awoke to the rains coming down but an optimistic weather forecast had the rains moving out possibly in the early. So treating myself to breakfast at the local Friendly's, I poured over maps and my itinerary to see what might be accomplished even during a moderated rainfall. One self proclaimed "Old Hippie" (and my local expert on a number of topics including the aforementioned Mount Ann) had peaked my curiosity during a social meeting the previous evening. Asking me how much I had seen of the local quarrying operations I had to confess very little. Although most think fish when Gloucester comes to mind, right in there (and first on my list!) is rocks - as in a once thriving quarrying industry. So setting off north, up the western side of Cape Ann, I motored but first making a stop in the Goose Cove area.

Part of the Dogtown lore are rocks inscribed (not personally) by Roger Babson some years back. Usually what one hears are the boulders with the mottoes expressing certain morals or virtues. Also amongst the rocks can be found numbers which labeled the cellar hole locations for past families within Dogtown. Most familiar to the Dogtown traveler are those on the road leading directly from the west to old Dogtown Square. However others existed along the old Dogtown Common Road now partially submerged by Goose Cove Reservoir. I have seen one or two of these in the past but this rainy day proved very productive indeed! Near the reservoir was a rock partially hidden by the brush where long ago someone had done (what appears to be) a 'test' - or preliminary - carving. Part of the rock cut away with several roundish holes inside that area. But within the modern suburban neighborhoo, some of Babson's work still remained carved on boulders in modern day front yards.

Turning once again northward and following the coast, a few of the old Lanesville quarries were visible from the road and one or two smaller ones I hike in a short distance to view. A brief stop ensued at Halibut Point where one can find a park and quarry accessible to the public. Here the trip turned southward only to stop for a brief glimpse of the Cathedral Rock area (much explored in the past) and stopping at the Granite Pier to give a token look at the coastline for Profile Rock, Devil's Den, and Rockport's Oldest Inhabitant (profile formation) which I've done on several past occasions without success. In this area is a keystone bridge but leading to other old quarries now off limits as part of Rockport's water supply.

Coming down the coast just as low tide was arriving, I made visits to Long Beach to match rocks from an old postcard and Good Harbor Beach where the Viking's Daughter, another profile formation, once resided. Either it no longer exists or has been hidden away by change as I did not observe her. This particular low tide was far enough out for me to get a good view on a certain section of Bass Rocks I have not been able to observe in the past. Exposed for my eyes were an "Old Man" and a minor cave formation. Farther down the coast, an old favorite in the George Washington profile and a confirmation on the site from an old postcard: Money Rock.

As I was chowing down my favorite local pizza (now mid afternoon) the rain mostly stopped and even a bit of blue sky and sun began to come out. Deciding to 'go for it' I headed off for my traditional Dogtown hike trying to incorporate some previously unseen areas and some old favorites. So going north from the Dogtown Road I eventually ended up quite near to earlier in the day by Goose Cove Reservoir. I hoped to find more cellar hole markers on the other side of the reservoir but on this trek only one, along with the Rayne Adams boulder, was seen. Eventually swinging south by Abram Wharf's old homestead and Granny Day's Swamp, I arrived in Dogtown Square. Near here I revisited the motto "If work stops values decay" and tried to match the Pearce cellar hole #23 (rock seems to be missing) to an old postcard of the same. As the day was waning, I headed back out and visited the "Never try never win" and Jas Merry rocks where one marks the 'first attack' by a bull and another nearby where he died.

Day Four: Before leaving Cape Ann, one more stop was in order: Red Rocks. This is the local name for a section of Harvey Mountain, diagonally across Rt. 128 from Mount Ann, and once all considered part of Thompson Mountain. This is the favorite local area for rock climbing and well deserved. I climbed to the summit area after passing one giant perched erratic (circumference in excess of 60 feet) and an obvious ledge used by climbers. The summit afforded a worthwhile view all the way to the ocean along with numerous erratics and, if one were to use a bit of imagination, some of those old 'footprint' formations. Rounding the summit and coming off the opposite side, I got to view an even more spectacular set of climbing ledges than passed on the way in.

Turning my attention more westward, Cape Ann was finally left behind in favor of Andover. Here, it was decided, to seek out three different conservation properties before making the trip home. What was taken in between those properties included a former Native American soapstone quarry, giant erratic, Bay Circuit Trail, Sunset Rock, and Indian Ridge - a large esker.

October 4, 2009:

With the coming of October I am now compelled to focus on a handful of goals to finish out the season. Most known I usually take the winter to 'hibernate'. Since late winter of earlier this year, I've had a map. A map listing some rather interesting geologic (and historic) sites out amongst the tract once known as Brookfield. In the early history of Massachusetts this was a huge piece of territory and the westernmost settlement after the coastal areas. Now - like so many of the lands - it has been subdivided into a number of towns.

But with my list and map along I set out to work a couple of the sites with some ledges up first. Somewhere in the vicinity of these ledges was a Native American rock shelter/cave, home to the last of their kind in town.

The ledges were found without significant trouble although the exploration was a bit difficult moving along their mid section with cliffs above me and broken talus bordered by a bog below. When finished I made my way through a chimney to the top where I was rewarded with some spectacular 180 degree views. Noticing the map listed "Cat Rocks" nearby, I hiked on over to find some smaller ledges, probably the kind that long ago were the abode to wildcats.

At this point the trip began to take somewhat of a turn. I hiked back across the top of the high ledges as the map listed the Indian cave to the north of these. Upon arriving in the area I saw a complete lack of any rock exposures and what few words with the map could be interpreted as the cave was down at the ledges. So I revisited the base of the ledges to find a fair sized talus cave and was somewhat (but not entirely) content this might be the site.

It was decided to leave the rest of the map - and list - for future explorations and take the scenic route back to western Massachusetts. This allowed me to stop in at the Rock House Reservation in West Brookfield which has a huge, bona fide Indian rock shelter.

Upon the return home, further research revealed the Indian cave originally sought was not at the ledges and the map was somewhat in error. Additionally some of the information (including place names) were ambiguous. So next time - the Cave!

September 26, 2009:

The goals on this trip were to find another access point, and to do a bit of good old reconnaissance. The site was once again the marvelous rock features within the Connecticut River Valley and was once known during the 1800's as a natural 'park'. Although I now have dozens of trips behind me when it comes to this area, its uniqueness cannot be understated. No where else in Massachusetts is so much incorporated into one area.

With that said, entrance to this section of the former 'park' was made by way of Mitchell Hill. This is one of many archaic names now long forgotten by both the modern generation and even the local residents. Making my way up the remains of a past mountain road, that once saw many a horse and carriage, I found suitable parking.

When the area was written about some 140 years earlier, the writer was very eloquent in painting the landscape with many a quaint term. One such description used was 'shelves' to describe the many ledges of rocks one encounters while ascending and roaming about the mountainside. Indeed these shelves diverge, converge, and disappear altogether.

My ascent was made steeply on a slope, stumbling upon the small pieces of arkose and conglomerate. On reaching my first plateau backed by a conglomerate 'shelf', it was time for the exploration to begin. Back and forth - weaving from one level to another - I finally stumbled into a 'devil's pulpit' formation with a cave! This shelf yielded many more interesting formations before merging into the main ledge once know as "The Home of the Rocks".

Right about at this point is the glorious Grand Porch, a sort of gigantic open faced shelter that is open on one side with its disintegrated remains forming small talus caves. By retreating along the direction I took, but upon a higher shelf, I took in a number of bear's dens and the area once called Titan's Pasture, a passing remembrance to the ancient Gods of past civilizations. It is not the only such recognition as we also have archaic references to Titan's Quarry, and the Titan's Dooryard.

But at Titan's Pasture is an interesting cave, hidden up in the ledges with entrance gained only by climbing. This cave is another in a series formed in a manner described by speleologists as gravity slide or gravity assisted. Obviously the action of frost (hence: frost action) plays a part in 'quarrying' these large masses of rock from their parent ledge. But within this cave I was pleasantly surprised to see a bat. A healthy bat no less, free from the dreaded White Nose Syndrome (WNS) that has been ravaging their kind. Fecal matter indicates possibly more than one might use this as their hibernaculum.

Upon the exiting of Cave at Titan's Pasture, a methodical retreat was made down the mountainside checking shelf after shelf to more or less tie the exploration - past and present - all together.

September 17, 2009:

That time of the year again - the South Shore adventure and a chance to work most of the Plymouth - and some of the Norfolk county areas.

Day One approach by good old Rt.s 95/128 swinging around the outside of Boston. Landing in West Roxbury ('home' to the state rock: Roxbury Conglomerate) I proceeded to look into a couple of cave formations within. One is the traditional site of John Eliot's pulpit, an early preacher to Native Americans. The second site - like the first - was a split rock formation where the pieces of rock form a crude shelter. So far in my investigations, this is the typical 'cave' in these parts - and these rocks. However, also found in this area a few years back, a small shelter worn out from under a ledge. I believe occasionally used by the homeless.

Before leaving town I took a quick spin through a neighboring town where an early 1900's history mentions a former cave. All built up now, I can only image what might have existed within the area where a few outcrops of puddingstone can still be seen.

Arriving in the glorious Blue Hills, I continued on with a search begun in June of last year. A small, shallow cave by the name of Rattlesnake Den was written about in the very last years of the 1800's. I've theorized where the general area may have been and mapped out a section to investigate. Some fine hiking but no den so I'll give it a go at another time.

A couple of quick sites before setting up camp. To the south of the Blue Hills, a large perched glacial erratic. This was brought to my attention by a reader some years ago around the time I was looking for Squaw Rock in the same town. It may be this rock as one local resident thought, but again it may not. Finishing the day as I swung out towards the shoreline areas was conservation land which brings one within sighting of the Glad Tidings Rock with a couple of legends as to how it got its name.

Day Two began with a early morning walk at the Worlds End property in Hingham. A beautiful piece of property and a section called Rocky Neck which will be worth another visit in the future.

Retiring to a local library, I put in some quality research time before heading down the coast. One of the towns has a history replete with 'devilish' formations, Indian ovens, and a pulpit Rock. I have made several visits over the years always coming away empty handed. But persistence can sometimes pay off and with information gathered on a library visit last year I located their very own Pulpit Rock and a likely possibility for a Devil's Rock with His footprints. Hopefully much more to come out of this town in the future.

Landing back at camp to clean up and eat, I did some light duty by visiting the former site of Great Rock (destroyed) and Turkey Hill: hilltop farm land with views now under the protection of the Trustees of the Reservations. One more library then back to camp for the night.

Day Three: Starting the day out in northern Plymouth County (in the same town where the county's largest glacial erratic lies) I went out to look into the story of a "Devil's Cave" near a major river passing through the area. An old abandoned railroad line provided the access and the 'cave' turned out to be a split rock formation. Other features in the area were Indian campsites, old dams and a factory, as well as a herring run.

Farther south in the land of Bridgewater, I revisited Sachems Rock although my main purpose was to renew an old acquaintance from the immediate area. Apparently they have disappeared but Sachem's, marking an ancient land boundary, still remains. Then on to Minister's Rock with its quaint inscription and a nearby Pulpit Rock.

Slipping briefly over into Bristol County, I connected with the local library to deliver a photo and information on their very own Devil's Footprint. Then on out of town (just barely) to hit another 'cave' attributed to old King Philip. This one is formed by the overlapping of some huge boulders near a hilltop.

Day Four: The original intention of the South Shore trip some years back was to devote time mostly to the towns of Cohasset, Hingham, Scituate, and even Weymouth. I really had not spent much time in these towns on this trip so as a parting gesture I hiked on in to Wheelwright Park. The park is home to Big and Small Tippling Rock as well as the Devil's Chair. Big Tippling is indeed a worthy boulder at 55 feet in circumference. But its dimensions do diminish a bit underneath as well as on top.

On over to the big event of the day: to meet up with members of a local historical society. The purpose here was to continue on with the search into "Writing Rock". Between the coffee, the crumb cake, and conversation with a number of very learned, very gracious members, much more was gained that information on just one rock. Apparently the rock had symbols matching some on the more famous Dighton Rock and has also been made off with! It's exact location is somewhat unknown.

Before turning the car homeward a brief hike was made into a neighboring town's Town Forest. This also was a continuation of a search started last year for another Devil's Den. It is somewhat conjecture that this devilish den lays in the area (also home to the Garden of the Gods visited last year) but it also may not. Nearby is a section of land known as Rocky Woods and, in the future, I may move my search more towards that direction.

September 12, 2009:

A regional group of cavers descended upon the central Berkshires for the weekend. I stopped in to say "hello" to the few I might know from ages ago. On the immediate premises was Great Radium Springs Cave which was confirmed as the longest cave in Massachusetts some time ago when two intrepid cavers went through a watery sump connecting sections that were previously visited only through two different entrances. Radium Springs was a nearby spring that produced bottled water and soda during the early parts of the 1900's

September 8, 2009:

Seems like Fall is beginning to make its way into the Northeast. Some dread it for no other reason than they hate what's behind it - Winter. Personally, it is with out a doubt my favorite time and begins a race to see how much I can get in before Old Man Winter closes my season out. My objective on this day was a leisurely trip over to the 'far' side of the Quabbin Reservoir. Here in the former Town of Dana (modern day Petersham) I walked beautiful old roads lined by stone walls on my way to a remote hilltop to look over glacial erratics. Many of modest size were present with a good number 'split' by the forces of Nature. One in particular was most interesting as a tree had taken root and grown up by the side of a section of split-off boulder. Upon reaching the top surface of the rock, grew horizontally on the rocky surface before deciding o once more push upward vertically.

There were many stone walls running perpendicular to the main wall of the road that once sectioned off individually pieces of property. Almost no signs of previous habitation could be seen within those boundaries. But in one case a curious stone lined underground chamber did exist.

Upon exiting these woods I drove a short distance further on over to Franklin County. Still much with the realm of Quabbin, I dropped in on the popular Bear's Den, home to a former grist mill, legends of King Philip, and abode to the bears. Although best know for its picturesque falls on the Middle Branch Swift River, it is also home to some interesting speleology. Small caves have developed during the process of weathering out of small sections of the cliffs. Basically two very small caves are able to handle a human but many other "quasi cave" formations show the same forces that created those, are still at working creating future caves.

Returning north to the Mohawk Trail, I visited an access point set up by climbers to visit impressive ledges that also contain fine caves I've examined in past years.

Lastly, I busted the woods through damaged trees and broken rock upheavals to try to relocate the Ice Cave, less than four miles south of the New Hampshire border. Although a previous GPS reading (a device I have mixed feelings for) sent me on a bit of a wild goose chase, eventually it was found. Not much to this 'cave' although local history writes of it as a natural ice house. And cool it was!

August 31, 2009:

It is with a certain amount of regret I must realize that many of my projects continue to fall by the way. Living way out in the western part of the Bay State does not make 'do-able' (most of the time) travel to eastern parts and down into Rhode Island. But with that said, I am in a good position to continue on working the Connecticut River Valley. So on a day that seems to herald the oncoming of Fall - I returned.

So on I continued with my deliberate and systematic search of ledges within the Valley mountains. Picking out a section that on the topographical map looked promising, I parked and headed out into the woods. Once again I hoped that I might come across the long lost "Warner's Ledge" photographed some one-hundred and forty years earlier.

With time, things (of course) have changed and access to the mountains is often blocked by nice spiffy newer homes. But finding a rare piece of property not built upon, I made my way into a series of conglomerate ledges that yielded but a couple of very small cave formations. I zigzagged on up in elevation until I stumbled on in to an old 'friend' in the form of Graves' Ledge or the Rock Shelter.

I always can find something new - or check some of the old photography done here - so I decided to proceed down the entire length passing all the favorites at Castle End, Etta's Nook, Rock Roof, etc., etc. and finally pulled up at Willard's Point. Consulting with my stash of antique photography, I realized I had not done a good job previously in matching my modern day photographs to the older one. Careful analysis, and correct positioning of the camera tripod, brought me a much better representation although the Point itself is now somewhat obscured by the trees.

Adjacent to Willard's are the Twin Slabs which really are a section of the conglomerate ledges that have tumbled forth and landed upon their sides. And just beyond this, the always impressive Rock Rift. I mulled over the possibility of a photo shoot but with heavy tree cover found it not worth the effort at this point in time.

It was at this point I decided to do Graves' the whole length. Something I had not done since I originally stumbled on into it some five years ago. So the next Victorian Age feature in the photographic series was Fortress Rock. This section of ledge is a mighty monolith of stone separating into two levels just beyond the Rock Rift and running for a couple hundred yards only to come together again near the site that the old photograph depicts.

Upon leaving the 'Fortress' the massive ledges continue on a bit farther with Annie's Retreat being the last in the photographic series on these set of rocks. Annie's is a comfortable cave formation in the base of the rocks and would be the ideal picnic spot in The Victorian Age or even today. From here I followed on out what rock ledges were left. Then down from the mountain to the highway and back to the car.

August 28, 2009:

My next visit took me to the region of southern Berkshire County. Back in the earliest years of the 1900's, Robb de Peyster Tytus assembled the Ashintully estate from several farms in the valley of Tyringham. Dying at an all too young of an age, he, his wife Grace, and one of their children, are buried on a local mountain top.

The mountain also boasts magnificent forests, a picturesque stream, and a cave of sorts weathered out from the ledges of yon mountain.

August 17, 2009:

Route 7 is an old historic highway I've traveled much in past years. Not so much in recent time. It winds up past some of the best karsts in the northern half of Berkshire County. But on this particularly brutal hot summer day my destination was Massachusetts' most northwestern community: Williamstown. After hearing of Stone Hill for a number of years (and its associated geologic feature: Stone Hill Slice) I decided the time had come to investigate it. I also had two postcard images of an early 1900's couple at the "White Rock" and thought it might be worth a look for this feature also.

I made my way up the old road that is said was once the original road into southern Williamstown village. Deep into the woods I began to see the long, massive wall of quartz that made up the western face of Stone Hill's summit. Just beyond this was a stone seat constructed as a memorial to Williams College professor George Wahl. A bit farther to the north is a curious boulder lying in a small grove of trees. It appears at first glance to be a blue-gray rock - probably marble - interspersed with significant quantities of white quartz. On the return to my car, I gave the quartzite cliffs, and immediate summit area, a cursory exam saving the harder work for a much cooler day. So although the location for the "White Rock" postcards was not found, I already am working another idea of its locale.

A short drive to the nearby Carmelite Caverns (not visited in many a year) provided a previously unseen view into the cave's speleology. Here we have the rough boundary between the e and d marble units of the Stockbridge Formation. Interesting to note that this same bedrock alignment exist at a small series of caves about a mile to the south and at the Mc Master's Caves perhaps a third of a mile beyond those.

August 2, 2009:

That time again - for a visit to Connecticut. By nature this is more for rest and recreation but the shadow of history - and even geology - is not far off. First stop was in Farmington at the Hill-Stead Museum. Here, magnificently preserved, is a home harkening back to the golden age of opulence during the late 1880's. Within its walls are an art museum from the collecting of the original owner who was one of the early enthusiasts for Impressionist paintings. Much stone was worked into the exterior of the home, including it's pasture walls and gardens, and yes - the grounds once had its very own quarry. Also on the grounds (after a quick trip to the local model airplane airfield) is a modest set of hiking trails that lead through forests, swamps, old apple orchards, and one can even join up with the Metacomet Trail running through the neighborhood. Connecticut history also boasts a series of canals. One of these once ran through the Southington area where part of an old railroad line has been turned into one of modern age's popular bike trails. Upon reaching its end, the old route continues off through over grown fields with the remains of an old bridge across the Quinnipiac River. The second day was devoted to visiting a pretty nice park in Bristol - Rockwell Park. Lots of old stone work, a spring, ponds (one now non existent), and a system of hiking trails. Afterwards was an environmental park with its own trails winding through bogs and woodland. Finally, with light rain falling: the old water wheel in Terryville, presently under renovation as part of a public park.

Epilogue:

Location: Living in Western Massachusetts

Activities/Interests: Outdoors, hiking, geology, local/natural history research, photography, the local java cafe.

And a final word regarding sites listed: Should they be accessible to the public you will see some notice regarding that. All are most welcome to e-mail me, but please remember: I usually am able to visit these sites only through the graciousness of many private landowners. Thanks!

Mail? Click here.


View My Guestbook
Sign My Guestbook