On a Christmas Day that brought forth weather of a most usual nature, I returned to Little Egypt. Remarkably, it has been over nine years since my last visit. I did a more thorough check of the old lead mine, paying particular attention to any wildlife. On the hike out, an old foundation was found directly downhill from the mine entrance. I also stopped in at the nearby gorge to check out some impressive water flows down into the ravine.
It has been an extraordinary Fall! So it remains to be seen how long the decent weather lasts, and what can be accomplished.
After Rhode Island's Mike G. returned home (previous post), I returned to the northern Berkshires. We had failed to locate Jacob's Cave on our quest together, but this time I was successful. It is small resurgence cave in the area of contact between the schist and marble.
On a brisk - but clear - Sunday, it was back into south Berkshire. Here a number of stone cairns were looked at. Also in the immediate vicinity: a small shelter cave and the story of a cave used as a Native American ceremonial site. As darkness began to fall, a drive by of a Indian mound. Some have said certain 'energies' surround this particular site.
A very active week with three out of four days around the central Berkshires, and one trip out into Hampshire County. All this coincided with a visit from Rhode Island's Mike G. (the mastermind behind strangene.com) to the Berkshires.
Areas covered were Liberty Cave, Elephant's Den, Valentine Cave & associated features, a nearby karst, Phelps' Disappointment Cave, Sugarloaf Porcupine caves, an attempt to locate Jacob's Cave, and finally out to the Counterfeiter's Cave in Hampshire County. On the latter adventure, we had the pleasure of local cavers Mike T. , Tristen M., and Zack Y.
And once again, it was back to the Southern Berkshires, more specifically: Great Barrington, to connect with my 'partner in crime' Gary from the local historical society. After a long absence - for both of us - we returned to the impressive balanced/perched rock formation at East Rock.
Then after drive by a local quarry site, and a visit to the Brooklyn Bridge (no kidding!), we dropped down to Canaan CT to check out a possible site for Tramp Rock and/or Weary Willy's Haven of Refuge. Stymied once again! The lead did not pan out and we cruised the state line area looking at possible sites from an old Frank DeMars photo.
Returning to Great Barrington, we checked into a cattle tunnel adjacent to a Housatonic River bridge and Mt. Peter (aka: Petra) where there once was quarrying activity. Stone from here was used to build a house, almost across the street, and one local church. Nearby to Mt. Peter, was a long ago abandoned section of highway. Barely noticeable now, but it's location is marked by parts of the remaining stone wall.
A long standing goal of mine was Pulpit Rock in Rowe. Some years ago, I made it into the area but fell short of actually reaching it. Access was always an issue but in recent times I discovered a hiking had been put through the area. So on to Rowe I went.
My first stop was down at the base on Negus Mountain, where I had been clued in to the possibility of some large boulder formations/caves. Although I did not take on climbing Negus, I did find a couple boulders of worthy size around it's base. Driving on through Rowe, I climbed the ridge that Negus is part of (as well as the hiking trail I was looking for) and saw a good number of erratics in the woods . I finally arrived at the local substation where I hoped to picked up the trail I had seen at two previous locations.
The trail was found and the beginning of a long hike towards the north was undertaken. Along the way, a fascinating piece of projecting ledge was found with talus and a couple small caves within. Along the ridge a couple superb views were to be had, but upon finally arriving at the area of the (supposed) Pulpit Rock, I found the view somewhat obscured. As to what is 'officially' Pulpit Rock, remains somewhat nebulous. At the expected location, slightly back in the woods, were several rock outcrops. One did project itself upward, but really not any view of the valley comparable to the previous sites I passed. So this leaves me with a bit more to investigate.
Once again delving into the lands of Southern Berkshire, and adjacent Connecticut, Gary L. and myself landed in Winsted CT. Here we looked up old Jumbo Rock still perched high above town where once, in the late 1880's, in had a bandstand/dance floor built upon. Before pulling out of town, we quickly visited the impressive soldiers monument, made from Quincy granite.
Rolling back up the valley towards Massachusetts, we looked over the possibilities of finding Pulpit Rock in Robertsville. This is another site pictured in the DeMars photographs from long ago. Further research will be need here, but we have a pretty specific location.
Finally landing in Massachusetts, one excursion was made into the woodlands to find access to the area of Hanging Mountain. There is photo, once again by F. H. DeMars, of a Tipping Rock in the vicinity. Although this initial trip yielded little, a second trip was made by another route into the base of the mountain. Numerous talus features were seen on this all-too-brief trip, but Tipping Rock was not one of those. Much more needs to be done at this location.
While driving the area of Hanging Mountain, a massive boulder was spotted. Upon inspection, it turns out to be one of the largest I have recorded in Berkshire County.
It was back to the southern Berkshires on two different days. Both included Great Barrington Historical Society member Gary L. The first, took us back for a second attempt at locating a cave that I had not seen in years, and we missed on a previous trip a few weeks earlier.
On the way to our second destination, a quick stop was made at Indian Rock along the Green River to see an ancient land boundary marker. Then it was over to the New Boston area to look up an unnamed rock pictured in antique photography by F. H. DeMars of Winsted CT. The original photograph showed a pastoral view of a hillside with church steeple at the bottom and a valley extending beyond. A rock of significant proportions was also in the scene, but not surprising: the rock, hillside, and view are all overgrown.
Two days later we were back in the Sandisfield - Otis area. A presentation - and hike - was being given by DCR's Tom Ragusa along the old Knox Trail. Tom has spent years searching out the original route that Henry Knox brought the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. On this day, we traversed a section between Sandisfield and Otis, sometimes along trails and wood roads, but more often through woodlands. Here and there slight physical evidence remained including a cleft rock or a worn patch of the old trail known as Ye Trodden Path. The big bonus for this individual, was a chance to revisit Abiel's Rock. A huge boulder just off the Trail.
Afterwards (and after lunch) we continued our journey down into Colebrook CT to see the site of the old town of Colebrook River. This site is often under the wasters of the Colebrook River Lake. But on this day, the water level was low enough to visit the old iron bridge, probably the only relic left to testify to the location of the town.
