On this latest sojourn, I once again met up with Rhode Island's, Grand Explorer: Mike G., whom we call the Rhody Mountain Man - or just RMM for short. The first stop of the morning was to examine small cave formations in marble beds at Bolton Notch, CT. These cave formations have a long ago history connected to the Native Americans of the area. With this under our belt, we pressed further east to the Wolf Den where Israel Putnam made his famous wolf kill within the small cave. Finishing up our day together, we went over to the 7 Wonders to see the 'new' discoveries RMM made with the assist of some old time literature describing rocky formations that can be found there. I then bid Mike goodbye and headed on over to RI for a one night camping stay.
Upon arising the next day, it was across Rhode Island with my eye on landing in Fall River, MA. First order of business was to drop in at old South Park, now known as Kennedy Park, to see the Sliding Rock. I then shifted to the northern end of town to take a new set of photos of Creeping Rock that would replace the poor results I obtained two springs ago. Jumping over to Dartmouth, I found absolutely no success in accessing the Nonquitt shoreline as it is all a private, gated community. But I did locate a kayak put in a couple miles north. So stay tuned: more may follow. Before heading off to my campsite for the next three nights, I sought out the location of the now collapsed Profile Rock in the Assonet section of Freetown. Another great loss of a unique geologic feature.
The third day was begun by hopping over to the west side of Taunton - often known as Westville - to continue previous explorations in the Rocky Woods section. Several boulders - and several walks - were involved. One to 're-acquire' the location of House Rock which I seemed to lose along the way. But, it did allow me to track down a large split rock formation (strangely) called ... Split Rock! After killing the morning in Westville, I headed on up to Norton for the purpose of which I brought my kayak along. This was the search of Barrowsville Pond for Gary Rocks. A Miss Gary disappeared in the fall of 1782 only to have her body found the next spring wedged in these rocks. A weed choked pond made for difficult navigation but I was successful. Heading north, I kayaked up the waterway feeding the pond to see pleasant surroundings and wildlife.
Day four started slightly to the east at the rock that the Town of Rock takes its name from. Then it was north to the Land of Bridgewaters to observe the present situation at Minister's Rock, which has (seemingly) been incorporated into a modern housing development. The next couple hours were spent with local resident Marjorie, an old friend I first met over 15 years ago at Sachem's Rock. A bit to the west was Pulpit Rock and Solitude Stone. The day was finished in the north in northwest corner of Plymouth County at Indian Cave, sometimes called King Philip's.
Day five was the final day and time to pull up camp. I knew it would likely be a short day but made it count with among the boulders at Borderland State Park. Included was Balance Rock, the gargantuan Split Rock, and the Ames Boulder, named for the family who once owned these grounds.
