Sunday, October 26, 2008

Since my end of August trip to Balance Rock (Hampshire County) where I met the woman telling me of a cave in the Mohawk Trail vicinity, I've been gathering information on just such a site. Taking to the highway, I accessed a resurrected part of the older Mohawk Indian footpath that the automobile highway has taken its name from. Deep within the woods, in a stand of tall white pines, the cave was to be found! What it really consists of is a huge chuck of rock that has broken off a ledge, positioning itself as a type of 'lean-to' against the parent ledge. Farther east - and north - in the town of Rowe lies the normally sleepy little stream known as Pelham Brook. One of the mysteries I've worked on is the Stone Face/Profile Rock in that vicinity. Never having definitive success, I decided to give it another try before winter. But a deluge of rain the previous night had Pelham Brook turned into a raging river. Still - I picked my way up the steam's edge photographing a few boulders along the way. One previously overlooked rock looks to be a good possibility and the images will be studied over the coming winter to see if a return trip is necessary. This area was photographed - and the subject of a number of postcards (including Profile Rock) - by Charles Canedy. Canedy was better known for being one of the early entrepreneurs behind the Mohawk Trail roadway. Another Canedy postcard in the Pelham Brook area shows a perched boulder along the road leading into Rowe. Although I've been told that rock was destroyed, one can still see high on the hillside, at least a couple more boulders sitting precariously above the road. Finally, taking the long - and very scenic route home (pass the home of Charlemont's local celebrity: Ernest Seguin) - I entered the most southwestern portions of Franklin County. Just in time for Halloween - a visit to Witch's Cave.