Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Remoteness of Franklin County



Camp Rock

20+ years is a bit of time in one's life. So with that in mind, I took my act up into Franklin County for my second only visit to Camp Rock. Back in those days, I took my less than two-year-old Ford Ranger along some pretty despicable back roads to reach this geologic treasure. Coming in from an entirely different direction I was fortunate enough to have a solid woods road with open gates. My luck continued by parking within several hundred feet (later on a Subaru drove right past me up to the Rock) and soon had me at the base of this impressive monolith. At around 60 feet long, and reaching perhaps 15 feet high, its vertical eastern side provided shelter to an early family of settlers thus earning its name.


Somewhere along the Deerfield(?) River

After updating some very old photographs (from back in the days when we sent out our film for developing) I moseyed on up north to the Mohawk Trail. Over the winter, I picked up a very interesting piece of old photography showing a couple of men fishing in the river near a giant boulder. It seems I may have seen it at one time in the past along the Mohawk Trail, but my aging memory is pretty dim on this one. I soon realized that safety issues of diverting my attention from the road (not to mention a large amount of foliage) would probably make this a lost cause. So when I got the chance to take the next major highway south, I turned in that direction, then took the backroads to the site of Mary Lyon's birth. Mt Holyoke College retains ownership of this property which is well kept, including a picnic table.


Rock with Mary Lyon plaque commemorating her birth place


A look at the same location early in the 20th century

Finishing up photographs, it was time to head on out of a very rural location and eventually meet up with Route 9 to take me back into the Berkshires.