Two Headwaters Stone Piles

Meridianal Lines

2012-02-07T07:25:00.002-05:00

From "Bulletin of the New York State Museum", Issues 32-34:

"'A boundary line would seem at first to be a difficult problem in Indian geography. But a peculiar custom of our predecessors has divested this subject of much of its embarrassment, and enabled us to ascertain with considerable certainty the territorial limits of the nations of the league. The Iroquois rejected all natural boundaries, and substituted meridianal lines. This appears to have resulted from the custom of establishing themselves upon both banks of the streams upon which they resided. . . Inland lakes were never divided by a boundary line; but the line itself was so deflected, that the entire circuit of each lake might be possessed by a single nation. The natural limits which rivers and lakes might furnish having been thus disregarded, and straight lines substituted, the inquiry is freed from some of its difficulties.'" [emphasis added]

Link to the Google book is here: Bulletin of the New York State Museum, February, 1900

Stone U

2012-01-05T08:23:00.005-05:00

The Stone U is down the hill, where the terrain slopes gradually compared to the other spots I've posted about near Snell. Here is the U:This is the view while sitting in the U:Here is the view looking off to the right from the opening. There is, what appears to be, a standing stone in the near distance. I'll post a better shot of that little rock in the foreground later. Sorry for the blurry photo:Here is a close up of that apparent standing stone:Then, this shot is the complete scene...standing stone, large rock next to that, and Stone U in the background, inside the red box I added for highlight:Going back to the Stone U, the small rock to the right of the half meter stick caught my eye. I'm not saying that this was placed intentionally, but it raised my suspicion enough to take this picture. This shot is looking across the opening of the U:Finally, this is just for viewing pleasure. It is the start of the first stone wall I found on this hike. I thought this cropped image looked good with the pines framing the wall:

Stone piles at Snell

2012-01-04T08:50:00.006-05:00

Leaving the high stone wall and walking further uphill, I encountered one more low stone wall before reaching the summit. This one starts (or maybe this is the end) on top of an outcrop. You might have to click on the image to see the start of the row between the two large ash trees, center and left:Here is what it looks like from the top, overlooking the boulder/outcrop. This is a two shot panorama. The horizon has a dip in it, similar to the standing stone in the last post:Just to clarify, I am very familiar with this area and where this dip in the horizon is located. So, although the photos may not show it well, I have personal knowledge of the location and appearance.

After that low stone row, I went up to the summit. I was surprised to find a smeared out rock pile right at the summit.Then, descending further to the north, but going back down the western side of the mountain, there is this rock pile just a bit below the summit (summit is visible in the background). Half meter stick is near the pile for scale:Further down, below another ridge of outcrop, was this pile with a "hollow":
So that is all I have for this post. There is one more structure in this area and I'll post about it another time. It's a stone U that is further down the mountain, closer to some agrarian looking stone walls that end mysteriously and don't enclose anything. But, for now, I'll leave you with a nice shot overlooking one of the stone rows that follows the outcrop ridge, looking down to the next level:

The big wall at Snell

2012-01-03T08:16:00.008-05:00

In the same area, there is a large stone wall near the summit. This picture is taken looking over one of the turns (stones in the foreground) in the zig-zag wall. I was playing with the aperture setting on the camera to try and get depth of field, but it turns out the picture is a little blurry with the aperture (F-Stop) set at 8.0:This is a close up of what I was trying to capture in the background of the prior picture. Still a little blurry due to the poor aperture setting:Then looking down, over the zig-zag row, to the view in the distance. The F-Stop is at 3.4 in this picture, so it looks much better:This is looking in the opposite direction from the picture above. The stone wall ends where the outcrop begins:Here is a two shot panorama of where the wall meets the outcrop:Going back along the wall, this standing stone gets honorable mention, due to the combination of shapes:The opposite side of that stone, I will stick my neck out a little bit and say that this stone mimics the horizon (I have a better horizon shot in this direction coming up in another post). I am not implying that this is deliberate. I just find it curious.Looking from the side, with the wall close by in the background:One final shot along this same row, which started up again a bit further to the north. This is the same outcrop (same altitude), but now the wall goes over the outcrop instead of joining to it:Instead of following this wall, I proceeded further uphill, to another stone row along an outcrop, before the final summit. That will be the next post.

More from Snell

2012-01-02T09:00:00.002-05:00

Here is another structure near the short stone row from the last post. Both this structure and the one in the prior post are close together (although not attached) and visible, one from the other:This is a very low-to-the-ground, zig-zag stone row. This type of structure is very rare around here. To add to the mystery, the row starts and stops without really enclosing anything. Here is the same picture with a red line painted to outline the size of the zig-zag row:Here is a shot at a different angle, looking over the row to the view. This is located very high up near the summit. To get to it, you must ascend past a rocky outcrop from both the east and west sides. The view is stunning.There are more stone walls, which I will post about later. I found only a couple of stone piles, but one appeared to have a hollow. I will post about those later, too.

Snell preview

2011-12-31T09:06:00.003-05:00

There is a mountaintop labeled "Snell" on the USGS topo map and I finally got to hike up there. Here is a preview of one little structure at one of the plateaus just below the summit:

Full Camo

2011-10-20T09:16:00.003-04:00

I haven't been doing much hiking lately, but I did get to ride down one of the back roads recently. I spotted this guy (or gal) first, in the road. He didn't go too far, and I got these two shots:

This one is a little closer.
If you couldn't see him in the last two shots, here is the second shot trimmed:

Beaver Pond

2011-05-10T21:45:00.008-04:00

I went out to a new area, a bit further west than I usually explore. After parking along a dirt road, I hiked over the creek that flows into a beaver pond, straight up the mountain.

This is a rocky area, but there is not much to see going straight up to the top. At the top, I took pictures of a couple of standing stones, but I'm not certain if they are natural or placed.

Here is the first stone I stumbled on. It impressed me enough to take a side view picture, too:

This second is among other rocks, in a place where it's possible to sit or stand in a spot below the stone and see the horizon along the top of the stone. This shot is taken facing east.Hiking back and forth across the peak of the mountain, I finally spotted something promising. This first picture is from the outside looking in. What essentially makes up the back wall is bedrock, or an outcropping.
There is a huge rock in the entranceway and I can't help but think it is a slab that fell off the top, possibly when the trees grew up. It would not make sense at all to build a utilitarian structure with a huge slab in the opening.

Then, this is from the inside, looking out. The opening faces east, very similar to the last standing stone:There is no garbage or farm debris here, and I did not find any cellar holes or clearly "colonial" remnants. The location and elevation also don't make sense from a farmstead standpoint.

Here is one more shot, from the side. I was highly impressed with the wall opening to the right because it is not squared off like the left side is, or like you would find with a cellar hole basement entrance. It is rounded outward.
Toward the back of the structure, I found this stone, although it is just loosely lying there, not necessarily placed, it may have fallen off the stacked drywall construction. It is, nevertheless, intriguing:

Finally, looking around the area some more, I found two rock piles nearby (to the south). This is the nicest looking one of the two:

And one more standing stone.

So, this begs the question of whether or not there are rock piles on the mountain to the east, in the direction of the opening of the structure, which I am surmising is a dilapidated chamber. I am planning to hike to that summit as soon as time permits.

Ludlow Creek State Forest

2010-11-24T18:22:00.004-05:00

A small rock pile site in a high spot surrounded by swamp and a creek. This is in Chenango County, NY. I visited this site in the fall and didn't get around to finishing up the post right away, so I'll just go ahead and post without much comment.

That's a piece of bark at the top of the rock pile (although it looks like a stone, it's not):This next picture is trying to capture a long, low to the ground pile that was at the end of a row of piles, near the edge by the swamp:

Perch lake mounds, with notes on other New York mounds...

2010-11-22T11:44:00.007-05:00

Click on the title of this post for a link to the book that contains this text. The text quoted below starts on the very bottom of page 31 and continues on page 32. Plate 12 is on page 99.

"A curious spot 1 1/2 miles west-southwest of Unadilla may be described here, having never been mentioned before. For the account and chart, thanks are due to Mr Harry B. Cecil of that place. It is on the farm of Enoch H. Copley and in a woodland of about 33 acres, the whole of which is a series of moraines and kettle-shaped hollows. In the largest of these hollows is a shallow pond, marked A in the diagram, plate 12, figure 1. The shaded part B has been partly filled in for the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. The pond is surrounded by moraines, C C C, about 100 feet high, and a road D, follows the north and east margins. At E, F, G, are rude stone walls from 2 to 4 feet high. Mr Cecil said:

At one time I supposed these had been constructed to get rid of the rocks that were in the way, but this could not be the case, as the stones could have been dumped into the pond very much more easily, and it would have materially helped to widen the road D. The oldest residents say that these piles and walls have always been there. At IT, until a short time ago, were two circles made of rocks loosely thrown together. They measured 10 feet across and were contiguous, having openings at the remote parts of their circumferences. I turned these over carefully, but failed to find anything of Indian workmanship and the soil beneath was apparently undisturbed. At I was another stone wall. At J is a heap of undisturbed rocks. At K is a carefully made road, about 8 feet wide and extending about 300 feet in a westerly direction, gradually ascending to 50 feet above the pond level. No explanation can be given of this unless it was part of a trail. Below this road and above the wall at E, is a stone heap, and above the road is a large hollow filled up with stones of all descriptions. I am positive that these heaps are not natural. All these remains are included in about half an acre.

This account is free from extravagance and suggests the use of the spot as a pound for deer, terminating a driveway. These and other animals would naturally resort there to drink. With or without contracting hedges they would follow their own paths, and the roadway would turn them toward the double walls, I, F, when driven. Some would escape only to encounter other hunters at the wall G. In the press others might turn back and meet hunters at the wall E. The circles may have been the foundations of hunting lodges, and the season of wild fowl would afford a secondary use. The usual course was to make a pound of stakes and branches, but the primitive hunter was quick to avail himself of natural advantages, and was not sparing of work."

...

Plate 12.

Downsville rock shelter - part 2

2010-05-12T07:02:00.004-04:00

This is a short video of a portion of rock wall along an outcrop above the rock shelter. At 19 seconds into the video is a split and pulled forward slab boulder (other examples are here, here and here) but this one has an obvious wedge between the slab and boulder below, which is something that isn't present in the other examples.

Some still shots of the stone wall. The first one is looking over that split-and-pulled-forward slab, in the direction of the rock shelter.Then, looking in the opposite direction, it looks like the wall ends there.But later, you can see it continuing on top of this outcrop in the distance.Here you can see some rocks on a boulder with a portion of the stone wall in the background.This definitely adds to the mystique of the rock shelter.

Downsville rock shelter - part 1

2010-05-11T18:51:00.011-04:00

This is right along a well used trail, so there's no doubt about the fact that this is a frequently visited hang out. It is complete with a modern day fire pit inside.

First, the outside of the rock shelter from the side where you can walk in:Once you walk in, there is a natural window through the rock, looking out:A view of the outside from the opposite end of the window:Looking through the window from the outside, into the shelter:If you click on any of the images above, you might be able to see scratches and initials in the rock from one of the recent visitors (or vandals, as the case may be). But, what about these deeper, older scratches right at the entrance? I don't know if they man made (possibly ancient?) or natural, but they piqued my interest enough to take a close up:Here are the same marks from another angle (looking into the shelter).Even more exciting than this rock shelter is the stone wall above it. I'll have more about that in part 2.

Some turtles

2010-04-28T09:15:00.005-04:00

One I've posted before...well, actually two, but the first video is edited to stop at the turtle because I hadn't noticed it the first time I posted the video.

The turtle in the end of the stone wall in the video above faces down toward a creek. It bears a resemblance to this turtle, which is right next to a swamp. Notice how both turtles are near (but not on) the bottom of the wall?

Then, this turtle is at the top of the wall between the two rooms in the chamber.
Or maybe they are shim rocks. I could see why you might want the two shims on the bottom, but what's that little shim at the top doing to stop that giant slab from rocking? Incidentally, when I took that picture, I wasn't looking at the turtle, I was looking at the small amount of surface area of rock which was holding that giant slab up off my head!

West Trout Brook Rd

2010-04-28T08:55:00.005-04:00

Here is a little site next to a spring that I found while riding down West Trout Brook Road. The rock piles are visible from the road.

If my memory serves me correctly, there were 7 little rock piles in all, just off to the northwest of a spring.

More from Google Earth

2010-04-21T09:04:00.014-04:00

I've been going around Google Earth, zooming down to eye level where sites are located and then switching on the "show sunlight across landscape" feature.

Here is a site I've been keeping an eye on for a while. This image is a satellite view from Google Earth. The circular things in the field are rock piles, overgrown with brush.Here is the same satellite view, but I've added a color code:
-Red: Summer solstice sunset
-Blue: Winter solstice sunset
-Purple: Spring and fall equinox sunsets
I also put a green circle around the rock pile in the far northeastern corner. It lines up with the winter solstice line of rock piles, but it's not in any of my photos here.I should also add that I have not yet investigated the line that juts out into the field, highlighted in purple. From a better (birds eye) view, it looks like two rock piles and then a depression, but it's safe to say that whatever is there is not tillable, hence the tree. Also, of the piles I looked at, I did not notice any stacking, but it is hard to see with all the brush.

There are better rock piles in the northeast corner of the field, in the woods. When I first found this site, I posted pictures of those rock piles and also of the stone row along the eastern end of the field at the Rock Piles blog, link here.

This past fall, I took some photos in the field. This view is standing next to the rock pile in the satellite view that has all 3 color circles around it, red, blue and purple:Zooming down with Google Earth, a similar angle with the June 21st sunset on the horizon:Standing at the same rock pile in the first photo, but looking to the southwest (blue line of piles):Eye level with Google Earth on the 12-21 sunset:This last one is hard to see on Google Earth because the pine tree doesn't show up. I do think there is some relationship with the equinoxes here. First, the same photo as above, but with a red arrow drawn from the top rock pile to the pine tree that is at the end of the untillable row:The Google Earth view on March 21st and September 21st (using the horizon as more of a guide than the pine tree):So, here it is again:While you may not agree with the way I'm presenting this (it's definitely unscientific), just looking at the evidence (photos and images) sets up a better argument for alignments rather than "coincidental field clearing piles". There are stone walls around the north and east ends of the field, so why would a farmer align rock piles in the middle of his field this way?

Playing with Google Earth

2010-04-18T14:56:00.003-04:00

It lets you show sunlight across the landscape, for any day you choose. So, going to June 21, 2010 at one of my favorite sites, looking at the sunrise over Steam Mill State Forest looks something like this:

Overlooking the West Branch Delaware River

2010-03-27T07:24:00.004-04:00

These little piles are just off a trail, on the south side of a mountain peak that overlooks the West Branch of the Delaware River. I didn't have time for exploring, but thought these rock piles might be worth blogging about. I saw about 7 to 10 of these in this area. Some were more obvious than others.

At the base of the mountain, near the river, there are some old stone walls, presumably from a farm.
Here is a direct shot of the wall above. I see a turtle, do you? He's a bit similar to this guy.

Stone U

2010-03-19T07:06:00.004-04:00

I went up to the stone U by the creek last night. It's a few days before the spring equinox, but I may try to get out someplace different to hike this weekend, so a quick visit while I had the time seemed in order. Plus, there's no guarantee that the sun will be shining Sunday night.

Just a couple of pictures of the sunset. First, taken right near the ground at the back of the U. It looks like the U is facing the sunset...

...but it's offset a little, as this next picture shows.

So, I've added some lines to enhance the stone structures. There is a stone wall or row in front of the U. For a video of part of that row, click here.

The wall is outlined in red and the U is outlined in blue. The sunset is offset from the U but looks like it comes through the break in the wall if you're sitting at the U. I wonder if that's intentional or a coincidence?

Melondy Hill SF

2010-02-08T06:23:00.005-05:00

I did not find much this weekend, even though I took a couple of long walks. The first was downhill. I was going to cut in to the east, back to the main road where I saw a rock pile near a foundation, but I ended up wandering around near a creek bed. It was pretty, but not a lot of rock piles between the plantation pines and the creek. Here is one of the few rock piles I found. I am not convinced that the most prominent pile in the background is not a recent construction.Then, this one, near the road. There is a small concrete cistern nearby, so I don't know what to make of this. It's nice looking, but I doubt it's ancient.So, I went to another spot along the road, to hike uphill (where I generally have better luck). I followed a nice stone wall along the border of state land to the summit.Again, there were plantation pines at the summit. I found a descending stone wall further south and found this as I headed back to the car.A hunter's seat unwittingly disguised as a niche.

Riding home, craning my neck like an owl, I spotted this just off the road, above a pond. It's about 5 feet tall.
A picture with a backpack for scale, this is taken opposite from the photo above.Then, this photo is taken looking toward the pond. On the right side of the photo, the profile looks somewhat vertical faced, but it's hard to say for sure with all the snow on it.Just below the large rock pile, I walked to a stone wall that runs roughly north/south, seemingly into the pond, but instead it ends at the pond. Here is a view with the in-flow to the pond in the background. Notice anything in the end of that stone wall?Look closer:
There it is!Thanks to Tim, from Waking Up on Turtle Island, I am now seeing turtles in walls, too. Maybe it's a coincidence, but isn't it strange that when you look for them, they appear!

Land for sale, complete with Rock Piles

2010-01-01T08:43:00.002-05:00

A local real estate agency has some nice photos on their website. Both parcels are in Bovina, NY. The links will take you to their slide shows.

In this first one, look closely at picture #5 and, if I'm not mistaken, it looks like there are two cairns on top of the outcrop, just off to the right. Then picture #6 is a stone wall attached to an outcrop.

Mother Natures Best at Coldwell Banker Timberland Properties

In the second one, the first picture looks like it could be a platform pile. The fourth picture is simply stunning. I have to chuckle to myself about the Realtors comments: "Some selective cutting could produce some long range views" and "Distant Mountain View" at picture #2. No surprises there!

Bramley Mountain Serenity at Coldwell Banker Timberland Properties

The Raven Speaks at 1:02...

2009-12-31T13:45:00.003-05:00

...and I am babbling about compass directions toward the end of the video. The compass readings are 12 or 13 degrees (call it 12 1/2), and 310 degrees when I say something like "this other way" is "327". When I finally got the GPS compass to hold level, it definitely sat at 310, but this does not account for the azimuth. The raven is the best part of the whole video! This is the last video I have from "The Bowl".

Laurel Hill Walks

2009-12-31T13:41:00.002-05:00

Another recently started blog from Johnstown, PA is Laurel Hill Walks from the Conemaugh Gap area. Welcome L!!

Mysticus.org

2009-12-23T07:11:00.003-05:00

A new website at www.mysticus.org has excellent photos from Massachusetts. Click either of these links to stop by and have a look. Welcome Walter Long!

A video of the northern end of the bowl

2009-12-14T08:10:00.004-05:00

Volume alert: The wind was high and a couple of places in the video are very loud, so you may want to turn the volume down.

Little rocks on big boulder

2009-12-05T15:20:00.002-05:00

Also in the bowl.

A few videos from in and around the bowl

2009-12-04T07:46:00.006-05:00

I've taken a few videos lately from in and around the bowl. Here's the first one, of a large rock pile (one of three) that is in the bowl, near a curved stone row. There is something interesting I noticed when I listened to the videos: the first video (this one) is taken in the bowl and you can hear the wind and the trees groaning and cracking. Yet, the wind doesn't come across in the video, against the camera mic like it does in one of the other videos, which I will post later.

I took this video to show how this one rock pile in particular is collapsed and may have had a niche opening, also now collapsed.

Steam Mill near the Mormon Hollow Spur

2009-11-17T08:42:00.009-05:00

I didn't find much on this last hike before big game rifle season starts. I resorted to following some stone walls in an area that looked promising. After hiking for quite a while (and kicking up a sleeping deer in a warm spot along a clear cut, now overgrown), I found two rock piles near a stone wall.That stone wall in the background is typical of the walls I was following.

A close up of the upper rock pile:Looking in the opposite direction, downhill, over the two rock piles:
When I crossed Mormon Hollow Spur and headed uphill, I found a very different looking rock wall. At first, I thought "cairns", because I could see the very obvious gap between the wall, making it look like separate structures. Walking up to it, the sun just above the wall (in the morning) created a dramatic effect, but didn't do anything to help the photos turn out better. A cloudy day would have been better. These pictures were taken with the sun to my back, opposite the way I walked up to the wall.
I believe that gap was created by part of the wall tumbling down. But I can't help to ask myself, why was the wall constructed that way? Wouldn't one over two and two over one prevent this from happening?

The end of the wall on the eastern side (near the gap):
The end of the wall on the western side (far from the gap):

As I walked down Mormon Hollow Spur to get back to my truck, I found this along the side of the road, in an area slated for logging (note the blue paint):

I have a couple of videos, but I'm having trouble getting them to upload, so I will try to put them in a separate post.

Some additional photos of Barbour Brook

2009-11-01T08:23:00.009-05:00

I posted about this site on Rock Piles today.This is a close up of the pile in the background in the photo above:

The hole in the tree makes an interesting background for this rock pile:

A little blurry, but an interesting small pile:

Facing roughly southeast, overlooking part of one of the ground structures, up toward the boulder with the wedges:
Facing roughly west, overlooking the creek branch, the large rock pile is in the background:

These are all west of the creek branch.
Two photos of the same pile, but from different angles:

From the side:Overlooking the creek branch:
This is one of my favorite.

Arctic China hilltop

2009-10-07T09:28:00.008-04:00

I posted about this site at the Rock Piles blog. Here are some additional details.

First, a close up of the wedge or middle rock inside of that nice rock pile that is just a short distance away from the clear cut.

I really like this rock pile. It has a red wedge which I've seen a lot of, as well as something like a niche closer to the ground. I've seen that type of construction in a few places, both within rock piles and also (in at least one case) at the end of a stone wall.

There is also what appears to be a standing stone on this same hilltop. This view is looking toward where the boulders are located (you can just make out the clear cut in the background). If this standing stone is intentional, there is a combination of shapes here that can't be ignored with the smaller rock in front.

Looking at the standing stone from the opposite direction, there is also a rock pile nearby, but I could not make out good construction of that rock pile, so I can't say whether that's a man-made rock pile or something else.

Then, here is a panorama of the last structure I found up there. At first, I thought it was a foundation. However, the square part of this structure (to the far right in the photo) only has 3 sides.

Here is a video of that structure. The white paint on the trees about halfway through the video is the trail marker. The Finger Lakes Trail goes right through the middle of this structure.

Stone walls - some with end stones

2009-09-30T07:54:00.010-04:00

There's been some discussion about stone walls lately at the Rock Piles blog, so I thought I'd post a few of the ones I've found, in one post. All of these pictures, with the exception of the last photo and video, have been posted here before.

First, this one with the strange ending and "hole" near the bottom:

After looking at the photo above, it reminded me of this wall, which I looked at recently. This wall is purportedly near a burial ground:

Then this wall bulge is my favorite. It has been pointed out to me that the wall leading up to the bulge (that could make up a snake's body) is constructed differently than the wall leading away from the head (on the right hand side in this photo):

This is a straight-on view of the "head" at a different time of the year. The boulder at the base is easier to see here:

Then this one, which is at the border of State Land (the yellow paint on the trees). But which came first, the wall or the border? And what about those other stone walls that connect (perpendicular) to this one? If we can establish, with the wall bulge, that part of the wall was added onto at a later time, can we do that for other walls, as well?

That stone wall (above) is not far from the site with the rectangular rock piles:

This next stone wall runs east-west up a hill. It has no end stone, but starts at the edge of where a swamp runs out (downstream) and ends near the base of a steep incline up a small mountain.

Here is what it looks like on maps at live.com:

And here is a picture of the end by the swamp:

At the top of that mountain are different things, that I've posted before, but here is one of them:

This last "stone row that ends with a boulder" I haven't posted before. In the place where it is located there is an old farm foundation on the opposite side of the seasonal dirt road near this structure (and some farm equipment - abandoned - is even further down the hill). Also, quite a bit farther up the hill from this I found an old, abandoned, completely *invisible* cemetery (which really should be the subject of another post).

Here is the video of that structure, where you might be able to see the seasonal road in the background, at the end of the video:

Light up the Delaware River Party

2009-09-02T09:06:00.004-04:00

This Labor Day weekend, on September 6, 2009, is the Light up the Delaware River Party. Click on the post heading above for a link to the party website. Although this is not directly rock pile related, there will be loss of sites that have yet to be discovered with the development of Marcellus shale gas drilling in the area.

If you live anywhere along the Delaware River, please take a moment on Sunday, September 6th to join the party.

On a side note, this post: Blogger gagged, at the Breathing is Political blog (related to the Light up the Delaware River Party) highlights the extent the energy companies will go to get their way.

More from the area of the shell bead

2009-08-25T09:27:00.005-04:00

This first picture is the best rock pile I found in the area, upstream from where the bead was found, but not along the creek:

The next pile is located downstream from where the bead was found. It is so close to the creek, I had to stand in the creek to photograph it from the west side. At first, I was pretty convinced that this is a field clearing pile, due to the small sized stones and no stacking at any of the edges.

A closer view of a few rocks on top that look like they could be stacked, although maybe unintentionally?

But then this arrangement of rocks at the "head", making the pile look testudinate and coming out from the creek. The rock behind the "head" is white in color (although the color is obscured by the moss).

Another view of the head-like rock.

So, although I feel like there is more compelling evidence that this is field clearing, could there be something else going on here? Is it possible there is a smaller, well-stacked pile underneath the little rocks and this is the product of "construction on construction"?

Closer to where there is a purported Indian burial ground (and also uphill and upstream from where the bead was found), I found a few short stretches of stone wall, some with rock piles preceding them, making them look like the rock piles used to be a wall but had either collapsed, were never stacked by the builder, or were sold off. But there was this one rock pile set off from the wall and I really took interest in the use of the granite here, whether intentional or not. This first picture shows the stone wall in the background:

This is a side view of the same pile, with the wall just off to the left, but not visible:

This is a section of one of the stone walls in the area. The void in the wall is interesting and definitely not practical from a field clearing point of view:

This area is in jeopardy of development for natural gas drilling. If they hit it big on the one well they have just started, they are planning many more for the area. Here is just one article at The Freeman's Journal on this subject.

Found in a creek

2009-08-15T12:08:00.004-04:00

The safety pin is 2 inches long.

A cellar hole from last year

2009-05-24T08:48:00.005-04:00

I've been thinking about this cellar hole a lot lately, especially in light of the conversation taking place at the Rock Piles blog about cellar holes.
It bothered me when I found it, enough to take several pictures, many of which came out blurry and dark. The stick in the pictures is my 4 foot hiking stick. The hole is not very large, for a cellar hole. However, there is one gigantic stone in the center of the hole that looked to me like it was a doorstep or mantle. Yet, this flat stone is in the center, like it could have been a roof, instead of to one side as you would expect with a doorstep. It is also mounded up on at least one side of the cellar hole, or it might be better to describe it by saying the cellar hole was not built in an area that is flat all around.

I'm going to go back out here and look around some more, but if you're interested in what I posted about other features at this site in September of 2008, the link to that post is here. There are colonial features in this area, but what explains this strange cellar hole?

Scarlet Tanager

2009-05-18T17:05:00.004-04:00

He stuck around long enough for me to get a couple of pictures, one with the zoom and one without (but I cropped it to get a close up of the bird). There are quite a few very large oak trees in this area, as well as a nice break out zone.

Three stone walls near a spring

2009-05-12T08:04:00.012-04:00

Here is a wall I've driven by a few times and have been amazed at how steep it is here and why anyone would want to build a stone wall on such a steep grade.

This is taken from the dirt road, looking down. It doesn't do the grade justice. It's very steep here:

The first wall is not very long and ends here, just a short distance from the road. The second wall starts, attached to a boulder that is half underground. You can just see the beginning of the second wall off to the right in this photo:

This is a picture of where the second wall attaches to the half underground boulder:

And this is the end of the second wall.

The third wall starts just off of the second wall, making the opening between the two look something like a cart path.

Here is a picture of the end of the third wall. There is a spring runoff in the foreground, right where this wall ends.

This is a close up of the end stone on the last wall:

This video is 4.5 minutes long and is of my walk back up toward the road, past the two lower walls and around the boulder:

A couple of things. First, I did pick up the tire. Second, in the video I referred to the stones under the boulder to the right of the "boulder attached to the wall" as a split, but I'm not certain if that is truly a split rock under there or two separate stones. I have to go back with a flashlight and have a better look under that boulder. This site is on the south eastern end of a mountain (near the base), just above Steam Mill Branch (creek).

Also, I was kind of disappointed when I found this. Disappointed that the second wall appears to be attached to the boulder so as to make something like a pathway between the first and second walls (colonial looking). Disappointed that the boulder attached to the wall appears to be more than half buried by the bank. I kept thinking it would look so much more impressive if the boulder was exposed. But as I've been thinking about this since I found it, and mentally digesting it, what makes that middle wall interesting is that it looks like a serpent going underground.

Stone wall, Johnny Brook

2009-05-04T20:20:00.010-04:00

A long ride up a one lane dirt trail to the top, and I was disappointed with what I found. First, because I've heard there are cairns somewhere in Johnny Brook. Second, on the west side of the trail, there is a small area to hike and it was thoroughly logged before it was sold to the city, so there was not much to see, although the area looked promising on the map. Here is one rock pile that I found on the west side of the trail (my 4 ft hiking stick in the photo, to keep the seedling out of the way to show that crack in the bottom rock):
Over to the east side, there is a stone wall going east-west. Although the ends of the wall are not connected to any other wall, there are two walls going north-south, connected near the middle. That, along with the barbed wire, gave the area a very agrarian look.

So, rather than post nothing this week, I thought I'd post some pictures of this very nice wall and area.
(Half meter stick in photo below)
Two spots where the north-south walls meet this east-west wall (this photo and the next):
If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you can see something very artistic here. The semi-upright rocks along the top of the wall lean toward the junction of the two walls.
Where the wall goes uphill, just off to the side of this outcrop (next 2 pictures):

The eastern end of the wall.
I couldn't follow the north-south walls because that land is posted. Here are a few things just off the wall.

My favorite (notice the outcrop in the background):

More from the last site and some comparisons

2009-04-29T06:18:00.010-04:00

I didn't get out hiking last weekend, so here are some additional photos from two weeks ago. First, some pictures of the same mountaintop from this post.

First, this stacking (or maybe it's a wedge)...
...which reminds me of a couple of rock structures at this site which look similar to the first picture. The wedge near the creek, just downhill on on the opposite (west) side of the mountain:

Then this, which is also around the "ring" of the mountaintop, a little further to the south than the first picture. I captioned it "a single rock pile" in the last post, but now I'm wondering about the intent of that middle stone:

Also on the mountaintop, near the ridge, this single rock covering a crack in a boulder. In this first picture, I reduced the shadow to enhance the picture:

The opposite side from the photo above:
The dog seems to add something to that photo.

And this is a distant view, with a rock pile in the foreground. There were a few rock piles near there and some made it hard to distinguish between the crude stone row or single (or stretched out) rock pile:

Then, back down to the creek area, I found another rock pile not far from a short stone row:

Here are some standing stones from two weeks ago. Two in the area of the runoff, the first one I wondered about because I thought it is in a runoff area, based on the rocks all around.

If you click on this photo to enlarge it, it gives a better view of how the long axis of this standing stone is parallel to something like a runoff area.
The second appeared a bit more deliberate. It seems to have a shoulder to the right in this photo, which is a little blurry (half meter stick is in the photo):
Then this distant view which shows the stone's location at this site. It is right in the shadow of a tree. There is a swamp behind me in this picture. The swamp is a straight walk north about a quarter of a mile or so.

Then this last standing stone is at a different site, but it is not far from the prior pictures. I would say the two sites are about a half mile apart (maybe less) and they are separated by a seasonal dirt road.

Above a creek, below a road

2009-04-20T14:24:00.004-04:00

Here is a small part of something I found this weekend. The video is of this little bit of stone wall that is mostly destroyed because of the road. The road is a recent construction, as it is not on the 1965 USGS map and/or ACME mapper. It is a seasonal, limited use road. The video starts at a small bit of stone wall and ends looking upstream, toward a larger section of somewhat intact stone wall:

In the video, when I was talking about some of the rocks having been brought in to construct the road, my belief is that the red shale on the bank was used as part of the road bed and tumbled down.

Also, of the sites I mentioned in the video, where I was pointing, the first one is a site downstream that I have yet to post about. The second one (upstream and above where two creeks meet), I posted about here and here. I'm starting to consider that this site is not as small as I originally thought, if the quartz rocks, rock piles, wedged rocks, bits of stone wall that don't connect to anything, crude stone row around the majority of the circumference of the mountaintop, and other things I've been finding over there are somehow connected.

I walked over to that second stretch of stone wall, a bit further upstream, and found a nice sized quartz rock in the stone wall:

Just a little further upstream, this pair of rock piles that gave a sense of pile gap pile, with my back to the stream and the bits of stone wall that remained, just uphill near where the truck is parked.

But, I couldn't stick around for a closer look because a hen turkey had just flown off her nest that was just a bit to the right in the last photo. I didn't look to see if she had eggs yet, I just left as fast as I could so she would come back.

I'm going to post some more photos of both the upstream and downstream sites later this week.

The Fort Stanwix Treaty Line - 1768

2009-04-07T08:39:00.007-04:00

The internet link to this document does not exist any longer, so first a reference to the title and authors:

Then, the "Historical Background Information" section:

Here's a link to additional information on the Fort Stanwix Treaty Line: Early Recognized Treaties with American Indian Nations

There is reference to "carrying place" in this document (you can search the document with that term and it comes up 7 times).

Here is another good link, with a map of the Treaty Line: Treaty of Fort Stanwix - Wikipedia

If you click on the map in the Wikipedia article, to enlarge it, notice the very straight portion of the treaty line that connects the West Branch of the Delaware River at Cookose (Deposit, NY) to the junction of the Susquehanna and Unadilla Rivers at "Old Unadilla" (Unadilla/Sidney, NY) on the map, and then the line continues north following the Unadilla River. Compare that line to this map:

The area where I spend most of my time exploring lies to both the east and west of the Treaty Line. There is no major river connecting the two "carrying places". So, I have to ask myself, is it no surprise that there is so much to find here, between the rivers?

Rock piles on a farm

2009-03-30T11:22:00.005-04:00

I visited a farm with some very large rock piles this past weekend. This is in the Delaware watershed. The area is very, very rocky and this is an active pasture, yet I can't help but wonder if some of these piles are something more than field clearing.

Here is one of the large rock piles, with some stacking evident:

There are two piles out of four large piles in the field which I would say are vertical faced on the eastern side (uphill).

Here's the first vertical faced pile:

Here's the second, just a little farther up the hill:

This picture captures the two vertical faced piles, with the large pile from the first picture in the background.

Then, if you were to look well off to the left of the picture above, you can see this rock pile:

The pile in the previous photo has an interesting stone in the vicinity of the stacked part of the pile:

There are two places where the stone wall goes over boulders, which appears to be colonial or practical, but nonetheless beautiful.

Just uphill from the pasture, on the other side of the stone wall, there are more rock piles in the woods. The pictures are darker because the sun had already set when I took these.

The next two pictures are of the same rock pile. First from the side:

Then from the front:

At the top of the hill...continued from March 23rd post

2009-03-24T08:41:00.004-04:00

Going further uphill from the last site, there were a few features. A large rock on a boulder. There were rocks all around the ground on the downhill side of this boulder. No comment on whether this is natural or man-made.

A crude stone row on the western ridge just above the boulder:

Another crude stone row on the eastern ridge:

And these stone features were also on the eastern side of the mountain. Single rocks or multiple rocks on boulders:

A single rock pile:

Small site above two brooks

2009-03-23T09:52:00.005-04:00

I posted this site at the Rock Piles blog today. Here are some additional photos.

This picture is of the winding stone row that is connected to a straight stone wall. It is taken facing uphill, right at the spot where they connect, with the stone wall just off to the right.
This is looking downhill, with the stone wall to the left. Notice that niche-like structure in the center of the picture?

Here is a close up of that structure:

And here is another that is also along the winding stone row.

Here is a close up of the small wedged rock near the end of the stone wall:

And here is the larger wedged rock, this view looking downhill, toward one of the brooks.

This is the crude stone row that runs east-west. This view is looking down the row, toward the brook.

This is looking uphill a the row. There are a couple of rocks in front of the breakout, and the row is just above and behind the breakout.

This is taken along where the breakout or runoff runs down and there is what appears to be a rock pile here, although some areas are just "rocks all over" so it is hard to tell if this is man-made.

This rock stack is a bit more obvious.

Mountaintop prayer seat?

2009-03-03T09:43:00.006-05:00

I'm not sure if that's what it is, but it's picture #15 below. It just seemed so fragile, so precarious (in person). Here is a map of the area, with photo numbers and directions the photos were taken marked on the map:

The two small circles between the 8 and the 7 on the map are to mark a few rocks that were visible, but I can't be sure if they continued on to form a stone row. The snow was too deep to see a lot of detail.
#1)

#2

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#8

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#11

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#18

A Barn foundation and a curved wall

2009-02-26T21:16:00.008-05:00

The snow was deep again last weekend. I went back to a site I've seen before, to take pictures of a barn ramp that I looked at a long time ago, but never photographed.

First, the way it looks from the road. There is a spring there, and part of an old stone spring structure. These photos were taken at different times, but the one with green shows what's left of the spring house. You may have to click on some of these photos for a better view. The first two also show the flat, barn foundation right at the upper ridge in the photos:

Here is the barn foundation, from the corner, with the ramp in the background:

I hiked straight up the hill, to the next ridge, and found something interesting up there, just above where the barn foundation is located. A curved stone wall:

Here is one end of the stone wall. I've seen this style of construction before.

Here's where I've seen it before. This is a stone wall across the valley:

And there was evidence of more rocks just off the ends of the wall, but I will have to go back out when there is no snow to have a better look at this:

This is the opposite end of the wall:

I think this picture captures the curve in the wall the best:

A stone wall from last winter

2009-02-21T07:57:00.002-05:00

This is a stretch of stone wall that runs along a creek branch that flows into Masonville Creek and then down into the Susquehanna River. It is on the opposite side of the creek from a hiking trail. It's a place I need to go back and look around some more. When I first saw the wall from across the creek, I thought it was a platform pile, but it is a stone wall.

The "upstream" end of the wall:

A little closer:

Looking down, over the wall, to the creek below:

Looking over and along the wall, I took this shot to show that the wall doesn't extend upstream past this point:

A distant shot of the "downstream" end of the wall:

Lithic Roxborough

2009-02-18T07:12:00.002-05:00

Here's a link to a blog called "Lithic Roxborough". The area is near Philadelphia, the Wissahickon Creek and surrounding areas. Welcome, Corey Hart!!

More pictures from a NY site

2009-02-17T09:15:00.008-05:00

I posted details on this site at the Rock Piles blog. Here are some additional photos. I apologize for the poor quality on some of these. It was a bright, sunny day, but I was working mostly under pine trees. You can see more detail if you click on any of these photos.

Close up of a rock on top of a cairn:

Two similar structures - rocks stacked on upright rocks. First from front:
First from side:
Second:

If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you can see the similarity between this picture and the one above. A flat top standing stone with a triangular shaped standing stone in front of it.

Notice the chipmunk?

A side view of the chipmunk pile:

These piles were on or near the summit.

And this apparently natural but nonetheless interesting boulder on boulder was also at the summit:

A little site from this past summer

2009-01-28T05:50:00.004-05:00

Here's a little site I found driving along a dirt road this past summer. I haven't reported on it because my stop there was so brief, I really didn't take the time to analyze it and thought I'd be back there soon. Well, I haven't been back there yet, so I thought I should post about it now, anyway.

The first sign of anything was driving on the road, looking downhill I could see a small rock pile just downhill. You can just see the road uphill and to the left in this photo:
Another rock pile below the road:
There were a few rock piles down there, not too well constructed and not all in a row, but any semblance of a "grid" would be better viewed when the leaves are off the trees, so I really can't say yet what is going on here.

I thought I should look above the road, too, since this road is of recent construction. Sure enough, just above the road bank I started to see some evidence of rock piles and cairns:

There was also a good view between structures, considering the amount of leaves on the trees. This is overlooking the tallest cairn to a smaller rock structure in the background:
I had some young travelers with me and one of them noticed something resting on the top of one of the cairns. I can best describe this as a piece of leather and possibly, if my memory serves me correctly, it's from a shoe (it's that black thing shaped like a cigar):

This site is about 1 mile to the southeast of the Logan site. I've posted about that site two other times, here and here.

"To The Greenwood Gone" blog

2009-01-26T08:38:00.005-05:00

Click the title here for a new blog called "To The Greenwood Gone". It features stone construction in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The description of the long mound of rocks going up the hollow reminds me of this site in NY that I've already posted about here. For a quick preview of the long mound feature, I'll re-post the photo:

There is water just up the hill from this site, and over to the south and west. Here are two pictures of where water comes out of the base of the steep part of this mountain. Looking down:

Looking up:

I don't think that little rock stack at the source of the water is accidental.

Welcome PJA!!

A panorama of the wall bulge

2009-01-06T09:36:00.004-05:00

This was my destination on the day when I walked through the old farmstead - the wall bulge on the far eastern side of this hill. I've photographed and posted this before, but wanted to get a panorama and a closer look at one rock in the wall bulge that looks, to me, like an "eye".

First, the panorama:

A close up of the "head" (with a lot of enhancement for scene balance because I was facing the sun). My half meter stick is just below a rock that looks like it could be an "eye".

Some close ups of the odd rock that looks like an "eye". Here the rock is sticking out, just above the half meter stick:
Here you can see it is precariously sandwiched between two larger rocks:
This is a straight-on view:

In retrospect, just now, I'm wondering how in the world is that tree growing right in the middle of that wall bulge?

Near an old farmstead

2009-01-03T07:15:00.004-05:00

I followed a series of stone walls that have a strange mix of rock piles, cairns, a few small boulders and stone wall that go uphill, toward an old farmstead. The farmstead is on the western end of the large cairn site that I explore often. There's one spot here, close to the farmstead, where the pines are thick and there is a lot of underbrush, so I haven't walked through this little spot yet. I was surprised to find traces of something going on here, other than a clear (of rocks) flat spot that I would expect so close to a farmstead.

The small white hump in the middle of the picture is a rock that somewhat "points to" the rock pile in the background, either accidentally or deliberately.
A close up of that rock pile in the background:

This boulder is along the rock pile/cairn/stone row, not far from the rock piles in the previous photos. I can't help but think the placement of the upright stone is deliberate. That is my half meter stick in the photos. I should mention, too, that there are some spots of (spring?) water up there, too. The elevation is above 1800 feet.
The pictures aren't very good, I'll admit, it was too sunny and in the middle of the day. But what a nice walk on such a bitterly cold day!

Too much snow to see the rocks

2008-12-23T05:45:00.005-05:00

We've really had too much snow to be able to see any rock piles. I've managed to get out a couple of times to "the bowl" and just observe, rather than explore.

Yesterday I hiked up to the U-shaped structure to try and catch the sunset.

I don't have any recent pictures of it, so here's one from over a year ago. In this shot, I am facing the opening:

Here's what it looks like covered in snow, but from the opposite view, so that I'm standing behind the structure, overlooking the opening, as you would be if you were sitting in it.

What a gorgeous view from up there! You can see the winter sunset just off to the left a little bit, right at the horizon. The opening heads due west, so it does not face the winter soltice sunset, but I have a hunch that March 21st might be a good day to check this one out again!

Incidentally, if you're wondering what's on that mountain range over there in the distance, you can click here and here for a little peek.

And here's one more look at that sunset. If you click on this photo, you can see that it overlooks "the bowl" from about the center to just off to the left.

A pond overlook site

2008-11-19T05:35:00.003-05:00

This is, without a doubt, the most complex site I've ever seen. The size and number of "Native American looking" structures is matched in size and intensity by an equally impressive number of "Colonial looking" structures. I'm putting this in quotes because I'm not trying to infer which is which or "what it is" versus "what isn't". It's just a way that I look at it to try and make some sense out of it.

There are some additional photos from this site at the Rock Piles blog.

First, a map of the site, drawn from photos and my memory, as both times I've been out it got too late to stay and draw a map. There are some question marks on the map because I did not follow every fence row or cairn row until it ended. Circles are cairns, elongated circles are stone walls, X's are very small rock piles, and oblong or circular markings with jagged lines are large rock piles or stone heaps.

Letter A on the map is 3 cairns on a bank.

Letter B is a view of this structure, that has one well stacked cairn and a rock pile or stone heap attached to it.

Letter C on the map, this is an interesting view of 2 cairns, one just above the other. This part of the site has 5 very nicely stacked cairns that are placed randomly on a bank. There is also at least one small stone pile here.

As somewhat of an aside, this site, to me, had an amazing ability to give a view of one cairn which, just above it, could be seen a second cairn and/or rock pile on the bank. Some of the photos I have demonstrate this, but none as well as the previous photo.

Letter D on the map. This is a tall, somewhat thin cairn that is on a boulder or outcrop. From this view, there is a rock pile is visible in the background. That rock pile does not connect to the piles to the east, but it does appear to be a continuation of those piles.

Letter E on the map. I was right next to the rock pile attached to a cairn and from here you can look to the east and see this strange line of rock piles or maybe this is just a very disorganized row of stones, but either way this view definitely shows the line of rock piles curve to the north.

Letter F on the map, this is another view of the rock pile attached to a cairn. The cairn is stacked over a small, upright boulder. This is the first of 3 "cairns attached to a rock pile" at this site.

Letter G on the map, this is something like a rock pile with a vertical face. It is very large looking from this angle (looking up at it), but appears much smaller when you are standing above it. It's very near to both the "enclosure" and the cairn in letter D, which is on a boulder, just below it.

This is letter H on the map and is part of the "fence row" that makes what I'll call an "enclosure", although I have yet to find the western wall or fence row of the enclosure. If it's there, it does not connect with the northern end of the fence row of cairns. This section (southeastern) has some of the most impressive cairns, with a stone row connecting them. There are also "holes" in many of the fence row cairns, to accommodate wooden fence rails. In some cases, the wooden fence rails were still present, although highly deteriorated. In at least one section, where there was a stone wall connecting cairns, there was also a wooden fence rail that extended between the cairns and was still lying on top of the stone wall, so at least one section had both a stone wall and a fence rail connecting cairns.

Letter I on the map, this is approximate in position on the map, as there are several rock piles and rocks on large boulders within the enclosure. This one caught my eye because of the stone leaning against the structure.

Letter J on the map, also approximate, just based on what I can remember. These are two very nice stone piles within the enclosure. The enclosure "fence row" cairns can be seen in the background.

Letter K on the map, I do not recall if this is the very end cairn of this row, but it is definitely near the top, if not the first one. The majority of the cairns in the east/west row here are smaller than the cairns in the other (southern most) east/west row.

Letter L on the map, this is a close up of the stone on top of the cairn.

Letter M on the map, these are the 3 largest cairns in this east/west row and there is a very low stone row connecting them.

Letter O on the map, this structure is an "L" shaped cairn or small row, and is the second of 3 cairns with a rock pile attached to it. The rock pile is to the far left in this picture. In this case, the rock pile is smaller than the cairn. The portion of the cairn farthest to the right is stacked on top of a boulder or outcrop. Just to the left of the rock pile there is a gap or space between structures that is at the corner of the "enclosure". The other unique feature is that this structure is in a line with the north/south row cairns so that it is incorporated into the "fence row".

Letter P on the map. This is another view of the same structure above, attempting to highlight the "L" shape of the structure.

Letter Q on the map. This is the third of 3 rock piles attached to a cairn. The short cairn is to the right hand side of the picture. In this case, the cairn is part of the row of short cairns that changes into a stone wall and goes all the way to the road.

Letter R on map, this is the stone wall among a row of short cairns. It goes over a low outcrop and a boulder. There are short cairns attached to each end of the stone wall.

I might add, also, that the pond this site overlooks is an impoundment. It is a Delaware River headwater. If you go just a short distance north, over the next mountain, the Delaware River basin ends and the Susquehanna River basin begins.

NYC DEP Land open for hiking

2008-11-10T22:59:00.003-05:00

"A New York City Department of Environmental Protection permit will no longer be needed to access approximately 13,000 acres of city-owned land in the Catskills.

State and city officials completed an agreement Thursday to allow hiking, hunting, fishing and trapping without a city permit on city-owned parcels that are adjacent to state Forest Preserve land."

For the full article, visit The Daily Star by clicking on the title.

Maps showing the affected areas in parts of Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties are available by clicking here.

To Effigy or not to Effigy

2008-11-07T09:10:00.007-05:00

I recently posted a new site on Rock Piles, a place I visited last spring, but missed the best site on the top of the mountain.

This is a structure I found in this same general vicinity. Leading up the mountain, some rocks on a boulder. Here is a side view. When I find something like this, I'm always looking for an effigy:

Here's a view from the top. For a long time, I thought this doesn't look like anything I can relate to:
But now, I'm wondering...
...if this looks like:

This image is from Jodrell Bank Observatory.

Well, it's known commonly as Orion, but some call him Long Sash.

A "Before and After" video

2008-10-24T07:10:00.003-04:00

If anyone is wondering whether or not the issue of drilling for natural gas will affect any sacred sites in the Upper Delaware River area, this short video should answer that question.

Current legislation allows this well spacing. This is coming to Northeastern PA, the Southern Tier of NY, and into the Catskills, including the NY City watershed. The only area that I know of, right now, that will not be drilled is State PARK land, which includes state owned land in the Catskill Park. All other State land has the potential to be offered for lease once this process is complete.

From the DEC website (link here):

"The Department evaluated its oil and gas regulatory program through development of a Generic Environmental Impact Statement ("GEIS") which was finalized in 1992 and which sets parameters that are applicable statewide for SEQRA review of gas well permitting. This draft scope describes the topics related to well permit issuance for high-volume hydraulic fracturing that the Department has identified for review in a draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement ("dSGEIS"). Written and verbal comments from all interested parties will be considered in the preparation of a Final Scope, and then the dSGEIS will be released for additional public review and comment. The final SGEIS, to be prepared after consideration of comments received on the draft, will set additional parameters for SEQRA review. The Department will then issue well permits for gas well development using high-volume hydraulic fracturing in accordance with both the GEIS and the SGEIS."

If you are interested in reviewing the Draft Scope presented by the DEC, please visit the DEC website here and click on "Draft Scope". If you have any comments, please submit them by December 15, 2008 to:

Attn: Scope Comments, Bureau of Oil & Gas Regulation, NYSDEC Division of Mineral Resources, 625 Broadway - Third Floor, Albany, NY 12233-6500

or email to: dmnog@gw.dec.state.ny.us with "Scope Comments" as the Subject

Found in Orange County, NY

2008-10-01T10:15:00.004-04:00

I found this in a farmer's field near the black dirt region in Orange County, NY

A little site in Steam Mill SF

2008-09-03T09:17:00.007-04:00

This is a little site I found just off the trail in Steam Mill State Forest. I'm unsure about the origin, whether these may be Native American, colonial, or a little of both, but I thought they were worth posting.

This particular section of trail, from the start, has several colonial foundations along the way. After ascending a short distance, it seemed as though I was away from the "homestead". I found this right along the trail:

I headed uphill (in the general direction of west), off the trail, and a short distance away was this pile:

Then this pile (a little blurry):

Somewhat perpendicular, but not an "L" shape, really making more like a "T", a line of piles heading, generally, south:

So, now following this line of piles, there was this pile, with the wood in it, making it look like this line is a colonial fence row (consistent with all of the foundations nearby):

Another pile in the row of piles:

But, then there was this, a small pile in the foreground, that was not in a row with anything...

...and these, rocks on a boulder, that were "in line with the north-south row":

Here is a video about 2 minutes long, starting at the boulder with rocks on it, then heading north, to show the row and the one pile that is not in any row.

Once I continued up the trail, I was a bit disappointed to find one more foundation, just past this small site:

So, I'm a little rusty from not being out in the woods much this summer, but I'm still suspicious that there is something more to this little spot than just a colonial farmer building a fence.

Pictures from along the Appalachian Trail

2008-08-26T10:09:00.003-04:00

Click here for a link to a blog called "Traveling with Andrew and Jennifer". The third photo down is of a vertical faced cairn with the comment "We don't know what these were constructed for, but there were about 30 or more of them stretched out over a mile or so along a ridgeline."

Geology.com

2008-07-15T18:53:00.003-04:00

Just one more link about Marcellus Shale is here at geology.com. I will also put a link on the right to their web page.

Gas drilling

2008-07-15T11:24:00.004-04:00

Something very alarming is going on in upstate NY right now. Yes, it's the gas drilling issue. Companies are paying up to $2500 an acre to lease land for gas drilling. It is not just private land, but public, state land is also being leased.

Click here for the Trenton-Black River activity map by the DEC.

This is coming fast for land that is in the Marcellus Shale area, the area that I have been photographing for less than a year. Current well spacing limits are one per 40 acres. That does not include additional land that will be needed to run roads and pipelines to the wells.

Other areas in NY are currently being reviewed for variances to decreasing spacing between wells. Click here for the link to the DEC website section on the Whitesville Field which includes an additional link to the "map of the proposed Whitesville Field and potential spacing units".

So as not to continue to bore readers looking for information on Native American rock piles, I will include a link to the right of a simple website I found that has lots of links to different groups and news articles keeping track of the gas drilling issue. A link to that site can also be found here. For the next month or two, I will probably not do much blogging about rock piles, due to the amount of leaf cover and my attention being shifted to gas drilling.

Marcellus Shale

2008-07-06T10:34:00.002-04:00

Those two small words are going to change the landscape around here forever. Click here for a link to today's article in the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin about drilling for natural gas. I wonder if anyone has considered the possible archaeological consequences?

Just off the trail

2008-07-02T06:40:00.005-04:00

These pictures are from my last hike in June. Due to the amount of leaf cover and underbrush right now, trail hiking is much easier than bushwhacking. It's hard to see anything in the woods lately, unless it's two feet in front of you.

I managed to find one cairn right off the trail, at an altitude over 2000 feet. It was in a line of cairns that may or may not have served as fence rail holders. The line ended at a corner of a stone wall that ran perpendicular to the line of cairns.

Here are a few of the cairns:

A bit further down the hill, a small spot of rocks all around, which didn't photograph well because of all the green:

But, nearby, a boulder with an interesting arrangement and a large boulder on top that appeared to have been split and pulled forward, similar to another I saw in June in Catskill Park.

A view of the top of the boulder:

A close up of the arrangement in front of the split:

This is a close up of one of the few rocks on the top that is near the tip, or the edge, of the boulder that was split and pulled forward. You can see some of the rocks on all around in the background, which was typical at this little site.

Highland Boy Blog

2008-06-05T08:48:00.002-04:00

I'm adding a link on the right to the recently revamped Highland Boy Blog. Stop over there and take a look! Welcome, Highland Boy!!

A hike somewhere in Catskill Park

2008-06-03T09:01:00.004-04:00

I am posting the finer points of this hike at the Rock Piles blog. Click here for the link.

Here are some additional photos of rock structures I found in the woods here.

What looked like a standing stone and then a row, connecting it to the boulder in the background:

A nice little spring that ran over a boulder. Lots of stinging nettle here, but fortunately there is also a lot of Jewelweed right next to it. At one point the stinging nettle got me in the hand and the Jewelweed helped get rid of the itch. Here's a quote from Wikipedia: "Young plants were harvested by Native Americans and used as a cooked plant in spring when other food plants were scarce." Click here for the link.

A few arrangements:

Overlooking the small cairn, from the rock pile and/or standing stone just above it:

Part of a rock pile. There were too many leaves to get a distant shot that shows the whole pile well:

This is a different pile, and the whole pile, but the greenery is blocking a good view of all the rocks:

This little spot of fill right next to a boulder is just a few feet to the left of the giant rock pile:

This one, I'm not sure about it being deliberate or accidental, as it's right next to the trail, but it's pretty, nonetheless:

A mishmosh of things

2008-05-30T16:54:00.005-04:00

I didn't get out rock pile hunting over the holiday weekend, but got out for a quick hike on Tuesday. I found a few things "here and there", all on the same one hour hike. So, here are some photos.

An outcrop with odd features. To the left:

Walking around to the right of the outcrop, this overhang was in the "back" compared to the last photo:

Then, some rock piles just in front of the outcrop. They were hard to make out with all of the greenery coming in. I believe this is a Manitou stone:

This was just off to the right of the Manitou stone and set back a little:

Further up the hill was a standing stone, but I am not sure if this is natural or was placed upright like this:

It's pretty thick:

And I'm always suspicious when I find smaller stones placed at the base of an upright stone like this:

One rock pile I was able to photograph, not far from that large upright stone:

It seemed like there were more rock piles around up there, but they were so covered in leaves and so vague, I didn't bother to take any pictures.

Then, at the top of a rise, almost like a large hump, at the very peak of this hill, was a lone rock pile. This was, I think, the nicest one I found this day:

But, nearby and down the rise, I also found evidence of barbed wire in some trees and then one short piece of stone row, but it was not in the same line as the barbed wire and it didn't seem to form a "square":

Just, overall, a confusing area. There was water way up there, too, somewhere near 2000 feet in altitude:

But that is what I've been running into a lot lately.

2008-05-23T10:10:00.002-04:00

Here's a link to another article. This one is from the NY Times archives, May 1, 1896 and is entitled "An Old Indian Wall Found". Click here for the link.

Quote of the day

2008-05-23T09:14:00.002-04:00

“It’s the general attitude of the American people,” Olafson commented. “We’re lucky the pyramids are in a backward country like Egypt. If they were in the U.S., they would have been dismantled for railroad ballast or bridge abutments by now.” This quote is from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History website, Archives and History, Native Americans. The article is entitled "Smaller Parts of Mystery Walls Reported Unharmed" by James A. Haught. For a link to this article and a list of articles about stone construction and mound construction in West Virginia, click here.

Here is a quote from another article at the same web page: "Just across the Ohio River, from near the Engle run stop of the B. & O. railroad, on a hill on the McKnight farm in Washington County, Ohio, is a paved stone platform. This platform pavement, or roadway, or what ever one chooses to call it, is now one hundred and ninety-two feet in length and about fourteen feet wide at its widest part. The stones in this pavement are all set on their edges." This is from the article entitled "Shrouded in Mystery are the Great Pre-Historic Ruins at Bens Run, W. Va." and was contributed by George P. Riggs and Nikola Riggs August 27, 1927. Click here for a link to that article only.

More stone walls

2008-05-21T07:11:00.007-04:00

I apologize for the snow pictures, but I have some pictures of an interesting stone wall and some stone piles that I haven't posted and thought I really should. The general area I've posted about previously on the Rock Piles blog here.

The stone wall starts near a road with a rock structure that is not attached to the wall, but is in line with it. This photo shows the rock structure and the stone wall running uphill just behind it:

Here's a little close up of the rock underneath that little 'shelter' or maybe it's a niche.
And here is a close up of the structure itself:

The stone wall runs generally east/west and starts out around 1500 feet and ends at around 1800 feet. There are rocks all around both sides of the wall, but not part of the wall, so I wonder if this is inefficient field clearing, boundary marking, or something else?

A hiking trail intersects the wall at one point, and then the wall continues uphill. This photo is taken after the hiking trail and is at a point where a north/south wall runs nearby, but doesn't meet.

Then, this wall ends along the hiking trail here:

If you continue on the hiking trail, there is a stone pile along the bank, a short distance off the trail. This photo of the stone pile looks up toward the hiking trail:

Now swinging back slightly downhill to that spot where the north/south wall runs up toward the east/west wall, there is a stone pile on a boulder there. The second photo shows the north/south wall in the background:

And this shot is taken from near the east/west wall, looking toward the end of the north/south wall (the end is barely visible between the two large trees). This is just to show that it's very clear the two walls do not meet, and the distance is larger than a cart path or fence gate.

Then, going back to the main site here, not far from the standing stone and within view of the stone wall, there is a split wedge boulder.

And I had taken a couple of photos of the stones standing against the cairns, once the snow was gone, so I thought I should post those, too.

Speaking of corn fields

2008-05-07T08:39:00.005-04:00

I thought I'd try looking around some corn fields for arrowheads and asked a farmer for permission. He said I could walk around the outside of the field only because they already planted their corn, and that was over a week ago.

No arrowheads, but I did pick up some odd rocks. These two are my favorite, because of the colors and textures:

But, I have no idea if they are anything other than 'just rocks'. Here is a better photo of the one that looks like a potato.

And these, I think, are "raw material":

Snowmobile Trail

2008-05-07T06:30:00.007-04:00

This was a quick hike I took on the snowmobile trail in Delaware State Forest. The first thing I crossed was a little spot with 3 rock piles to the right of the trail. They appeared to be mostly destroyed or strewn. Here is one:

A stone wall nearby ran northeast, perpendicular to the trail I was taking. It was on the right side of the trail, but it did not continue to the left side of the trail. Further down the trail, a nice pile on boulder:

And near that pile on boulder was this:

Then, further yet, this strange structure that I don't know if it's part of an old foundation or an L shaped stone wall, or something else. It is best described as an L shaped stone wall, all of which fits in this photo:

Beyond that and parallel to the 'back of the L' in the previous photo is a piece of stone wall or rectangular rock pile, I'm not sure which. There is a lot of damage with the tree on it and there is a small dirt service road here, just beyond this pile:

So, I circled back around and started following a stone wall heading back parallel to the trail I followed in. There is a large aperture in the wall:

I couldn't be certain that the aperture was purposely made, or was a product of part of the wall collapsing. However, I really found this one support rock within the aperture interesting. Who would place a stone like this in a rock wall, in that position?

Turtle vision

2008-05-03T08:53:00.003-04:00

Is it just me, or is something going on here?

A little site off the main site

2008-05-02T08:57:00.005-04:00

I almost forgot about this little site I revisited early last month. I had been here before, in the summer or fall, when the ferns were high. I was glad I came back out in the spring, because I found a nice split wedge here, not far from the bird effigy.

First, I took this shot of some stones on a boulder, with a large "rock on boulder" in the background.

The "rock on boulder" close up:

And then on top (we've seen this one before, but I had to take it again):

Just below these two is a nice split wedge.
Close up:

With the half meter stick:

There's that wedge!

And here's an overall view of the stone wall corner, with the split wedge rock just barely visible back there, to the left of the rock pile in the corner of the stone wall:

Clarks Gully Blog

2008-04-30T09:48:00.002-04:00

Madis Senner has a blog on Clarks Gully at the Southern tip of Canandaigua Lake in NY. I am putting a link to the blog on the right. Welcome, Madis!

Stone Ceremonial Landscapes

2008-04-25T08:06:00.002-04:00

Stone Ceremonial Landscapes is a new blog by Dr. Meli. I am adding a permanent link to the right. Welcome, Dr. Meli!

A Foundation and row piles

2008-04-25T07:19:00.004-04:00

Here is a little site I found high above the East Branch of Cold Spring Creek. It is closer to the Delaware River (West Branch) than my 'usual' exploring place, and it is right off a creek that flows down into the East Branch Cold Spring Creek.

There is a foundation near the rock piles. I found it very interesting that the foundation is built into some sort of mound, and the mortar used.

The rock piles are in two rows. The longer row is made up of about 22 piles and goes in a northwestern direction (I read it to be between 300 and 305 on the compass).

This is looking back on the first two rock piles in the long row. I believe they are both on the boulder, although it's hard to tell with the one to the right in this photo, because the boulder goes underground on the uphill side:

This is a shot looking over the larger of the two rock piles on the boulder, down the row, to the northwest:

Here is one in the middle of the row:

And this one is near the top of the rise. What seems to be a standing stone in front:

After the rise, the piles are less defined:

The second row is a north/south row. The row is shorter and the piles are smaller and built into the bank.

I was glad I found these now because in a few weeks they will be completely obscured by the bramble.

There appeared to be a point where the rows intersected, but it was hard to make out because of a logging trail just above the north-south row, as well as the northeast row becoming less distinct at that end. Overall, though, a nice site.

I found another site this day, about a quarter of a mile to the west of this site, further up the hill. I'll post details on that site at the Rock Piles blog.

Beyond the stone wall

2008-04-23T08:40:00.009-04:00

I hiked out beyond the stone wall that has quartz and other strange stones in it. There was one cairn going up the hill:

A small one, but very nice. Climbing up the hill - mountain, really - most of the features I found were natural.

A huge outcrop inhabited by a porcupine. That is the largest pile of porcupine scat I've ever seen in my life:

Interesting limestone formation:

A split in the outcrop just behind the huge one:

I couldn't tell if the stones around the split were naturally deposited there or intentionally placed. It was too steep to try to investigate between there.

I thought this huge outcrop preceded the top of the mountain, but once I got above it, the mountain continued to rise at another outcrop, and private land. I was getting tired and thought, if I missed some cairns, they might be at the same elevation as the one I had seen on the way up. So, I headed back down the mountain, on the eastern side.

But, before that, there was this one stone on the flat before the last rise...

...and there were some 'rock on rock' structures on the flat. This one looked kind of 'fish like' to me. I flipped this picture around to get the right angle. It seems odd to have a possible fish effigy at this elevation, but the runoff from this mountain flows down into the West Branch of the Delaware River, so maybe there is some connection:

Wow, that's distracting!

Then, going down the mountain, all natural, I think, but impressive:

You might be able to see my half meter stick leaning against that stone in this picture:

When I headed back, I walked down to the stone wall parallel to the one with all the odd stones in it. Now finding that this is actually something like an enclosure, there are quite a few apple trees at the western end of the enclosure, and a swamp outside of the enclosure, to the north. The swamp seems to be enclosed by another stone wall structure.

Well, I'm having a hard time describing all of this. There is a lot in this area, near the road, and the argument can easily be made that it's all colonial. I'm familiar with something on the other side of the main road that is like a foundation. But I still get the sense of 'construction on construction' here.

Going down the other wall, a rock pile near a break in the wall. I'm always suspicious of these and this is the third one I've found in this (about 2 mile) area:

This gorgeous red rock on top of the wall:

And, another stone wall nearby (the one that is around the swamp) goes over boulder here. Although this looks like a rock pile, it's really part of the stone wall:

2008-04-21T08:51:00.001-04:00

Some rocks were meant to be adorned...

...and some were meant to be rock piles.

Stone wall with quartz, niches, standing stones....and a piece of wood

2008-04-19T08:56:00.017-04:00

Here's a stone wall I found that, although it looks very colonial, has a lot of different rocks in it. So far, I've only looked at about 600 feet of the wall, and mostly one side (the north side). The wall runs east-west. I numbered the first 17 notable features in the contiguous portion of the wall (there are two breaks in the wall between the main length of the wall and the corner). I ran out of numbers at 17 and continued to photograph a few rocks after 17. I tried to stick with numbering only the parts of the wall that had rocks with geology different from the majority of the stones in the wall.

The corner by the road:

The first break in the wall:

Section of wall between first and second breaks:

(all of the 3 features above, together in one photo):

Second break in wall:

The contiguous wall:

Rose colored quartz:

This is #2 (rose colored quartz) with the half meter stick:

(rock to the left of #4 above, taken the day before with no number)

Note the side profile of the standing stone to the left, in the background:

This rock is in the foreground in the picture above:

Note the stone at the top of the wall that is diamond shape, pointing down. I have seen a repeated pattern in this area where a stone is set "up and down" to form something like a pointer rock that points to a gap/space or enclosed niche-like structure below the pointer rock:

This rock is just to the upper left of the standing stone in the prior picture:

These next 2 photos are inside the 'niche' that can be seen to the left of #14 in the photo above.

I didn't number this area because I didn't see any stones of different geology here. However, this construction was interesting to me. When I moved away some of the leaves, there was still a fist sized piece of ice in the leaves here:

Close up of rock at #15:

The next two pictures are of #16 that I took the day before, without numbers. Note, in the first picture, the stone leaning against the wall on the south side of the wall. I did not get a look at that stone yet, since I was doing most of the observing from the north side of the wall.

Here it is with #16 to label this spot:

This area is to the left of #16 and has two very interesting features at the base of the wall - an odd shaped rock and a piece of wood:

Here is where I ran out of numbers:

The wall goes over a boulder or outcrop here:

Note the niche like structure where the wall goes over the outcrop:

Here is another rock of different geology:

This last picture is the only one that I'm not sure where in the sequence it goes, but I liked this because of that huge rock on top of all those smaller ones. I doubt settlers would do this:

So, if you're still looking at all these pictures, thank you! I did this to emphasize how much I really believe this wall was built by Native Americans. This is only about 600 feet of wall with all of these features, and it keeps going. I still have to go back out and follow the rest of the wall up the hill.

Stone row

2008-04-10T09:06:00.012-04:00

Here is a stone row in Delaware State Forest. I've been looking at it for a long time, but unable to photograph it well, because of the snow.

I'm also having a very hard time describing it.

It starts by running perpendicular to a creek branch of the East Branch Cold Spring Creek.

This photo has no rock piles, but gives an overall view of the topography here. The creek branch running left in the photo is the one that the stone row starts at, a bit further up from this view. The runoff to the right is intersected by the stone row.

Walking up the left branch from the photo above, you come to the stone row.

This is following the stone row, perpendicular to the creek branch. The photo here somewhat shows the stone row running to the left, as you look in the background.

Still running perpendicular to the creek branch, the row has a break in it at something like a rock pile. You can see the runoff just behind the rock pile.

I'm having a hard time deciding if the row was modified by someone who needed to get something through there, like a wagon or farm implement - or not. The photo below is my 4 foot walking stick in the break, with the rock pile to the left. I want to say someone piled stones to the left to make the break to the right. But, knowing the area, it doesn't make sense. It's rocky and/or wet here and this stone row does not make any enclosure, so why would someone need to get through it right here?

When I was visiting this area back in February, I thought the break was there for the runoff to flow through, but I've changed my mind about that because there is more runoff coming out from under the stone row, as you can see here.

Then, following the stone row around past the break, it turns and heads in a different direction. I like this photo because it shows the essence of the row, running up and turning a bit, while at the same time keeping the runoff to it's left. Interesting enough, there are 3 rock piles to the right, which I'll get to later, but just in writing this, it has me thinking about a possible reason for the row being a separation between the runoff and the rock piles - pure conjecture.

There is another break in the row at the upper end, now running roughly parallel to the creek branch. But this break has no evidence of rocks being piled to the left or the right.

Then, getting toward the upper end of the stone row, there are these interesting rocks. I think I photograph them every time I come out here. There is just something very aesthetically pleasing about them. The last photo of these 3 is a February picture I took of these rocks and I was intrigued with the mountain view in the background.

Where the stone row ends, it has a kind of curvy look to it.

This last picture is looking over the stone row, toward the first of 3 rock piles near the stone row. Actually, it's two rock piles and the third, 'rocks on a boulder'. I'll save those for a separate post.

Yes, that is still snow in the mountain from this past weekend. I thought it was really funny how the snow line seemed to end just over the stone row.

Incidentally, I used the compass to get an idea of the direction of the stone row, and it starts out generally running 135 and ends up running 55. I believe this makes it an obtuse angle.

Then, one last thing, I thought I should put some sort of site map out here to give an idea of the location of everything I've been looking at in this area. It is a work in progress, and I have made errors and omissions here and there, so I am not going to swear to the complete accuracy of everything written down here. Also, there are more stone structures on 3 sides (northeast, northwest and southwest) that I haven't been able to fit on this site map, but I've been trying to make up some smaller site maps to add on to this one.

Just upstream from Creekside

2008-03-29T12:20:00.006-04:00

Just upstream from Creekside (the prior post), is a stone wall. At the corner of the stone wall, there is a thick, or double walled section...

In the foreground on this photo, there is a very large, very old tree trunk, right at the start of the double walled section. Looking around, I could not find the tree that it came from. I had to double take to make sure it was not stone there, but, in fact, a tree. It seemed to fit nicely with the wall in its somewhat deteriorated state.

This shot shows the corner of the wall, with the double walled section visible just to the right, behind the corner:

...and near the thick section, just upstream, is this:

(half meter stick in photo)

A peculiar thing about that large conglomerate with quartz in it is that it had a very smooth texture to it in one spot, but was rough elsewhere. Maybe it had something to do with the frozen moss, but it still seemed odd that there was no moss and the rock was very smooth in one spot. If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you might be able to see the smooth area. The palm of my hand fit nicely, right at that smooth spot:

I only rested my palm on the stone, and it felt like a thousand palms had touched it before mine.

Here is a panorama of the wall:

Creekside

2008-03-19T07:49:00.003-04:00

This is along a creek branch that eventually flows into the Susquehanna River.

I'm having trouble this morning...

2008-03-18T09:58:00.002-04:00

trying to understand how people can believe they see virgin Mary in a pretzel

- click here for the link

- or Illinois in a cereal flake - click here for the link -

yet, they can't see the ceremonial landscape all around us? What's wrong with this country????

What is that rock?

2008-03-12T18:56:00.005-04:00

Here's a view from the side facing the creek:

And here's a view from the other side, looking down toward the creek.

I was trying to capture that small, roundish rock in the foreground, which, I think, is feldspar. But that is a guess on my part. I'm not a geologist. Anyway, the large, upright stone is very different looking from one side to the other!

Further downstream, but up along a row of small stacked stone structures along the boundary of State and private land, there was this rock among the row. If you thought the first rock looks like a turtle head, then maybe this is his carapace:

NYRI

2008-03-10T09:30:00.002-04:00

In case you haven't heard, local residents of upstate NY are fighting plans for a private company, NYRI, to run a power line through upstate NY. For information on the plans, the NYRI website is here.

To get the map of where they are proposing to run the power line, click on "Proposed Transmission Route" and then "Route Ortho Maps". The maps are large, so follow the directions on the website, depending on the size of your computer.

"Section B" of the map shows that this power line is going to follow the Delaware River from Deposit, NY to Cochecton, NY. If you decide to look at some of the individual Ortho Maps of the proposed transmission route, you'll notice it's almost impossible to find a map that doesn't have the power line running over a creek tributary.

For information on two of the groups fighting the power line, click here and here.