Aquidneck ... and vicinity.

Four days of pretty good weather were to be had on the latest vacation. So this took me down to the Narragansett Bay of Rhode Island, primarily visiting - and staying over - on Aquidneck Island.

The journey in, landed me first in Middletown where the kayak was immediately pout into use looking over a large section of coastline along the Sakonnet River. A few 'cave-like formations' showed themselves as well as the isolated pillar Woods Castle.

Woods Castle

The second day brought me over to Conanicut Island for the further exploration of a very small sea cave spotted there on my visit of September last year. I had intended to cross the Bay to Newport and do a bit of that coastline. But high surf advisory mad journeying out beyond the coves very treacherous.

The awaiting sea cave

View out of the cave

A few of the more outstanding geologic sites on Aquideneck were visited the third day. These included the Cliff Walk (portions closed for repair), Purgatory and its sand lenses, and the Pirate Cave at Newport.

On the way out, day four took me over to Tiverton to visit Fort Barton where I hoped to match an old postcard of a ledge simply marked "The Fort". No luck but a good section of ledge does exist with much overgrowth. The last stop before home was in Massachusetts where some of my favorite Dighton Conglomerate formations exist. These include Wildcat Rock, Abram's Rock, and Lion Rock.

Abram's Bedroom @ Abram's Rock

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

A couple very interesting pieces of old photography surfaced a few years back: Prospect Rock in Becket, and a view from Prospect Rock, towards Blandford. Both were somewhat poorly scanned images intended for an internet auction. One hypothesized location might be near the old Becket quarry. Since I was already interested in further explorations of that property, I set out in search of rocks!

My goal was to hike the trails on the perimeter of the old quarry preserve. Maps indicated several features worth looking at, and I'd keep a look out for Prospect Rock along the way. Ultimately, Prospect Rock did not show itself. But the geologic features marked on the quarry's trail map - and one that was not -proved worthwhile.

Prospect Rock - from an early era stereoview image

These included a large deposit of glacial boulders with very small caves/dens. This was perhaps the largest accumulation I've seen in Berkshire County. Now if this was Essex County, in particular Cape Ann it would be considered very minor. A couple other boulders were marked on the trail map. Both were located, one being quite large but fractured in several places along its length. The other was of minor interest, being quite 'average' and not even very large. But near this one was a slightly larger rock with a large metal ring attached. Likely associated with one of the 'motions' (small quarries) right in that vicinity.

Upon completion of the quarry circuit, a small pink granite quarry was visited about a mile and two-thirds away. Some remnants of a cutting/finishing shed, and equipment, remain.

Two birds with one stone.

Down in the southern Berkshires lies a most beautiful lake. It had been my goal for a couple years to kayak on across its waters as part of a small project. On this lake, numerous postcards portray a "Bull Head Rock". And the impressive Indian Cave Lodge can also be found along the shore.

Bull Head Rock from an early 1900's postcard

So on a sunny, but sometimes very windy Sunday, the lake was accessed. The Lodge was sighted from the water and Bull Head Rock visited twice. Once on the way to the lake's end, and once on the return. It does appear to be a marble boulder. Not terribly surprising considering this is an area of marble, generally highly calcitic, and the home to a more inspiring local landmark: Elephant Rock.

Bull Head Rock - present day

Always interesting to see how a trip unfolds. The Spring vacation plans had me eventually ending on Cape Ann. One thing was clear from the beginning: it would once again be overshadowed by the prospect of lousy weather.

But the adventure began by reaching the Mohawk Trail and making a quick jaunt up to the Town of Rowe. In going over photographs of boulders taken in 2008, something significant caught my attention. A possible, more likely prospect, for the Profile Rock from that town. The effort to gain additional information was mostly thwarted by high water levels in Pelham Brook so this will warrant a return visit.

On to Worcester County, for verification of some unidentified antique photographic material. One image I had already identified from my own records as the Pulpit Rock/Devil's Pulpit. But the second necessitated a personal visit. It also turned out to be the very same rock, but photographed from a distance, probably over 125 years ago. While in the area, a stop was made to Half House (Rock).

The Devil's Pulpit - from an antique stereoview image.

Moving on to Cape Ann, I made a brief visit to the ocean at Pigeon Cove before settling in for the evening.

By the second day, the threat of inclement weather was already a real possibility. So keeping things short - and local - I looked into a 'sliding rock'. This is one of those old local sites from people's childhood memories where as youngsters they would slide down an inclined rock surface. The interesting part is the 'smoothing out' of the rock after years of use. Then a warm up hike was made to Goose Cove after checking out the water level at the Goose Cove Reservoir. Here a couple of Babson's marked cellar holes can be found.

A hike followed into the outer perimeter of Dogtown where a nifty cave was located. A bit more hiking brought more boulders and the possibility of future explorations. This is a section of Dogtown I had barely touched upon in past visits. On the way back to HQ, I returned to a perched boulder formation first discovered in October 2013.

Perched boulder at Gloucester

Uncle Andrews - or Spiritual Power - Rock at Dogtown

The third and fourth days were basically devoted to working around the rain. I decided early on to use the time to extend my explorations of Dogtown into areas I had never seen. The third day ended with the discovery of another cave, while combing through an area of significant boulders. The fourth, saw a visit to an old quarry within the perimeter of Dogtown, and a quick searh through 'Joppa' for it's Old Man formation.

The 'lost' Old Man of Joppa formation

Before leaving town on day five, I took my guide, from earlier in the week, back into Dogtown to see my own modest cave discovery. Then over to the "dead pirate boulders" before saying goodbye. Heading home, I made a final stop into Fitchburg to look over geologic features (apparently there may be some I missed) including old Moses Rock.

Moses Rock

Spring ... and Recon: Part 2

It may be safe to say Spring has finally arrived. For this individual, it now comes the time to get into shape after a prolonged Winter layoff. Although nothing of significance has been taken on as of present, an upcoming vacation (with the cooperation of the weather) should prove a chance to 'dive in' head first. Although it hopefully won't be literally.

The last couple of weeks have finally cleared the lakes of ice so the kayak can be brought out. This is one of my favorite forms of exercise and recreation. As far as the other side of my outdoor pursuits (hiking and possible research) a couple small time items so far. I looked into a hunch that 1880's photograph "Devil's Fish Rock" might lay up at Balance Rock State Park. This did not pan out.

An old postcard of a cascade (presumably small) on the Murray Crane Estate has been investigated a couple times in past years. There is very little for waterways on the old estate, and it seemed to come down to the exit of a roadside pond. That water flows through a culvert to a much lower elevation. But as it exits the pond, it drops into (what is now) a cement encasement leading to the culvert. This seems to be a likely possibility but nothing at this time actually confirms this.

And finally a return to the reconnaissance work started late last year when it was attempted to find out the fate of a small cave in an area of significant housing development. This completed coverage of a large track of land in and around that development without the cave showing itself. I will presume it has been covered over or outright destroyed. Hopefully at some future point, I may be proven wrong.

Land of the Lost

Unfortunately - history does get 'lost'. Perhaps one of my fondest goals is to somehow bring that knowledge back to the present day. Let us examine one such case. And perhaps someone out there just might have that lost bit of knowledge.

About ten years ago a set of postcards surfaced. They portray a group of Boy Scouts on a outing. Certain information is written upon the cards including landmarks as Halls Peak, Johnson Mtn, Halls Bee Hive Cave, Hyde Park Mass, the Stony Brook Woods, and the Blue Hills. They also identify themselves as Troop 13 from the Tabernacle Church. Also of interest is the mention of a "doner" [sic] that was presenting the estate to the Hyde Park Boy Scouts.

Certainly all clues would point to a BSA troop from the Boston suburbs. But NO information has ever surfaced on any such troop - or any such land - ever being part of the Boy Scouts.

A Tale of Two Pulpits

Imagine my surprise some years ago when I arrived at Purgatory Chasm in Sutton, MA: armed with my usual bunch of antique image printouts, I began to scour the rocky rift for sites that carried a name from long ago. At that time, the Park had put up several signs, signs that that have since mostly disappeared, to mark features within the Chasm.

I was successful in locating a little know formation known as the Devil's Stairway but when it came to my image of the Devil's Pulpit - I was not so successful. Oh - there was a section of rock wall marked with a sign called Devil's Pulpit, but not the large, isolated boulder that my postcard portrayed.

Well, on a subsequent visit I did finally locate that boulder. And notice that the Park sign for 'their' Devil's Pulpit had disappeared from the rock wall. More of a surprise was that eventually another postcard of Devil's Pulpit in Purgatory Chasm came into my possession. And this one showed the site that the Park had originally marked with a sign!