Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Visit to Cheney Audubon Preserve part 2, April 3

Ted Hendrickson writes:

Went back to Cheney Preserve to settle some curiosity about the little valley area and to find the "large piles" we had been told about. The valley comes first as you approach from the road. Its presence was announced by some cairns on boulders along the trail that flank a small stream.

The darker stripe behind the cairn is the stream. This time the cairns led us to the lower end of the valley that travels roughly NW/SE with the southern end lower than the north. the concentration of piled rocks was still impressive on second inspection. The tall stack shown last time felt like it was at the focal point, the narrowest section flanked by the highest ridge and outcrop. Its in the center distance in this photo. The ridge just out of frame to the right is very steep. We ascended the ridge to the north for a better view. It had a dramatic bedrock edge at its summit and afforded a nice view of the valley below. You can see some of the structures on the valley floor.
Descending the ridge on the higher NW end of the valley we encountered many other piles. A view looking back down to the SE.
This may all be practical piling, but the area has a "feel" that it could be in response to the land forms.

1 comment :

pwax said...

boy is that a good picture of a grid!