A couple times a year, I head down to Connecticut for what is mostly a time of R & R. Usually some outdoor advetures get worked into the mix. After dropping in on an antique car and truck show, Black Rock Park was visited. The second day was at the top of Meriden's Hanging Hills to locate the site of an old YWCA retreat. Only a chimney foundation now remains. Then on to a bit of bike riding along an old canal towpath which later was used as a railroad line. The day was finished visiting an old trolley right-of-way. Here a steep descent of hundreds of feet in elevation was achomplished by way of "Merriman's Curve". This, as the trolley made its way down the mountainside into the Marion section of Southington.

Returning to an oft explored region from years past, I finished up the search for the "Walking Club Plaque". This commemorative relic, paying homage to it's leader, dates from 1926 and is bolted to an outcrop of rock high in the hills of Hampshire County near its border with Franklin County. Afterwards, a southerly bushwhack brought me to the local Balance Rock - a modest sized (at 34 feet circumference) perched boulder but still a fine specimen of this phenomena. While trying to work some photographic magic amongst the marginal lighting of the day, a woman of some years came up the side of the rocky ridge. From that point on, all the way down the mountain side, an invigorating discussion of area's features and history ensued. Included in there was a brand new cave lead. Many thanks to my new nameless friend! The day was finished up just to the north where I traveled in to the remote Ladder Cave (not visited in nine years) for updated photos and definitive GPS location.

Trying to work things around inclement weather on a vacation week, I took on the Blackstone Region. A slamming day enabled me to make a dent in a lengthy list of projects for this very historic region, some of which I have not seen in years. First on the list is one of Massachusetts' premiere geologic sites at Purgatory Chasm. In the intervening years I had accumulated quite a bit of old photography and postcards on this now State Park. I did not set out to identify every cliff and crevice in my image inventory but a significant amount, nonetheless, was located. I also did an exploration of the first few feet of little known "Damnation Cave" and located the 'lost' "Devil's Stairway". On to the east another town brought me to Town Hall to search out a possible "Dead Man's Cave". Although I was unable to come away with any new information here, I cruised the reported area locating one small, previously unknown, cave. I will work on confirming if this is Dead Man's or not. While in town, I dropped in on Murder's Rock, not seen in many a year, to take photos. On to the north, I revisited another cave that came to light in recent years boasting a whole 23 feet of passage. On to the Upton State Forest and the Mammoth Rock Trail, home to Mammoth Rock - a big glacial erratic. A much more interesting boulder lays farther to the south (and a bit north of Whistling Cave) in an unnamed erratic with a 60 foot circumference and over 12 feet in height. Meanwhile, I returned to the car by way of Whistling Cave, perhaps the most interesting geologic feature in the forest. On the way out of town I made a passing (and unsuccessful) attempt at locating the local stone chamber now property of the historical commission.

Rolling on into the Land of Granite and Arches, the early morning stop was the Keystone Bridges trail. A miracle of engineering in its day, these bridges helped the railroad cross some of the most rugged and remote terrain in western Massachusetts. Thanks to the good folks at Friends of the Keystone Arches these are now more accessible than at any time in the recent past. Since those early days, the right of way was somewhat relocated (previously using a part of the old Poontoosic Turnpike) and now some bridges carry no tracks. The second part of the trip returned me to the old pink granite quarry first located back in the spring. This time all the snow was gone but - as one can imagine - the old quarry held some water. This was a comparatively small operation, run by one local family. The remains include old pipes, cables, and pulley assemblies.

With gasoline still fetching a good premium, it is hoped early summer rationing can allow me to resume a more normal schedule in the near future. But right now it is typical hot and humid summer weather. A good chance for a country drive out into Franklin County and to pass through towns that figured prominently in my travels some ten or more years ago. By chance the Conway Historical Society was featuring a talk on eminent Victorian Age geologist Edward Hitchcock. I was able to connect with society members to discuss an early town resident - Joe Herrick - who has a local geographic feature named after him. He also lends his name to a local cave as well. On the way home - a quick pass by Camp Rock out in the wilds of Hawley where an early settler to the area camped out at one point in time.

Although my ultimate destination was the South Shore, the goals of this trip were primarily the area of the "Boston Beltway" or Rt. 128, perhaps better known to some as I-95 and some of I-93.

Day One: Coming in off the Mass Pike, and heading southward, a series of stops were made to visit caves in areas adjacent to the Beltway. First stop was the cave of many names: one Devil's Den but also at least three other names have referenced this site. Moving closer into town along another historic road - the old Boston to Worcester Turnpike (Rt. 9)- I revisited Gooch's Cave to at least sort out which one it may be portrayed upon a old postcard. Back to 128, and farther south, I dropped in at a small cave/rock shelter on DCR property. Another old time mention was of a "pothole" on property of one of the early town's inhabitants. My inclination at this point is that it is/was a large depression that is now a pond. Something along the line of a glacial kettle hole. Farther back to the west I sorted out an abundance of reports and photos (both modern and antique) on another Devil's Den to see how many caves were involved and what went with each reported site. Ultimately they all pointed to one location but this at least clears up a bunch of confusion. Moving on down south I hiked a property that was the site of an archeological study a few years back. I was reported two Indian rock shelters existed here - one large enough to shelter 30 people! I saw no real evidence of such sites but the local attendant did confirm that archeological digs had taken place here. Before setting up camp on the South Shore, I finally was able to locate a rock that I've looked several years for. It takes its name of "Glad Tidings" from two stories surrounding its history.

Day Two: Somewhat backtracking, I dropped in to the Blue Hills to search out a cave deep in its forests that I've seen on a couple past occasions. Interesting here was access was along an old right-of-way that was Rt. 128 in it's earliest days. I continued working this area trying to gather information on the possible site of a reported (1898) "Rattlesnake Den" which included walking another old section of the Rt. 128 highway that is abandoned, but still mostly paved. Moving on to the south side of present day 128, I sought out the "Garden of the Gods" in a local town forest, a serene location of glacial boulders. A reported Devil's Den (got to love that name!) is reported in the area and needs to be worked on in the future.

Day Three: Returning once again to the Blue Hills Reservation, I visited a large hunk of rock that has been known in the past as Grepon. A small talus cave lies along one side. I then got my first chance to visit the famed Quincy Quarries now managed as part of the Blue Hills, DCR, property. having time to kill while waiting for the local library to open, I retreat to the South Shore once again to visit House Rock. This old favorite is said to be the largest glacial boulder in the State and well represented on old postcards. The Rock has been portrayed with numerous "profiles" including Queen Victoria, the Sphinx (same view), as well as a minor sphinx and a couple other humanoid faces. Meanwhile at the local library, I followed up on last year's discovery of Writing Rock and a local Indian cave in an adjacent town. But the bad news was inclement weather moving in later that night so I pulled up camp and headed back up the good old Boston Beltway leaving at least one more reported Devil's Den and an Indian cave to work another day.

I guess we're all feeling the pain of gas prices but I continue to focus on some well planned adventures into far reaching places. BUT a nice day in the woods can be priceless so I took to the Savoy Mountain State Forest - that is until the black flies and allergies were a reminder why May is a tough month for me in the outdoors.

I revisited all three balance rocks located there and previously studied in the past. A local newspaper article from 1956 (as well as a recently secured first edition of the AMC trail guide for Massachusetts [1964]) mentions three in number and two of the rocks are pretty well confirmed. The third is still somewhat up in the air as to it's exact location but the old news article does mention it as being "extremely small" and indeed this "baby sized" balance rock shown to me several years ago by a member of the State Forest staff sure is small at 24 ft in circumference