Monday, October 13, 2014

Nutmeg



Hanging Rock


Columbus Day brought me back to the northwest corner of Connecticut. Its been some years since my last visit, that being a one time shot at finding Baldwin's Cave. This visit brought Gary, from the Great Barrington Historical Society, once again out with me into the wilds. Our first stop in Salisbury was the ominous Hanging Rock. Indeed, it does just 'hang' there, precariously perched above the Village, on a sloping hillside.


Historic view of Hanging Rock. Early 1900's postcard



The Double boulder above Great Falls. Early 1900's postcard

Next: a quick drive by of a former cave site that has been filled in in recent years. A quick look to see if we might access (easily) the local Indian Cave (not successful) followed, before heading on down to Falls Village. Here, we looked up Lost Brook, where a possible karst area may exist. Then it was on to the Great Falls itself, which is pretty impressive even at low water levels. A small cave in the area was explored.

Then on to The Land of Goshen (literally) where we hoped the historic Tipping Rock might be located. An initial wrong turn landed us near Rock House, where we later learned a possible Indian cave may exist. Correcting our direction of travel, a neat old cemetery was explored before making our way to the location to begin our hike.

A bit of a walk, and a bit of a search, did eventually bring us to the 'long lost' Tipping Rock. Other features of interest in the area, were old cellar holes and one gigantic boulder, big enough to camp under.


The historic view of Tipping Rock. Circa 1890's.

From there, it was only to roll on north. Back into the friendly confines of the Berkshires. That which we call home.