Southwest of Peppercorn Hill, Upton MA (part 1)

These hills, by Taft Str. in Upton are part of the Peppercorn Hill Conservation land. Years ago Bruce McAleer showed me a nice site at Peppercorn Hill, so I figured it would be worth exploring nearby. I started in from the end of the road (left to right in the middle of the above picture), heading northwest towards the power lines and some brook confluences. Just cutting that one diagonal I saw some piles on the ridges south of the power lines, did not see anything under the power lines but, continuing, saw a site with small piles and rocks split by wide gaps, tumbling down a steep slope. I turned back at the brooks and saw a third site almost under the power lines. So actually there were rock piles everywhere I went. These hills are to the west of a small river called the Mill River which starts out near the Charles but drains instead into the Blackstone River, in Woonsocket.

Turns out that down this way they are more comfortable using the ridges and heights for a bit of ceremony. I do not see this sort of thing in Carlisle or Acton:

Or:(closer)Here is a pile at the edge of a ridge:It has an interesting "fin" sticking out on the downhill side.Here is a distinct pattern, a pile at the entrance to a gap: There was a lot of stuff to look at.Little clusters on the hillside:or:I am not used to seeing stuff on such steep slopes: Note gap boulder at right rear.

Here is another pile with a "fin". This one is at the bottom of the slope.And other little clusters:I am not really showing pictures of it but there were lots of examples of piles and boulder with gaps. A bit like a marker piles but different.

After seeing some nice things in the lowlands near the brooks, I explored only very superficially before turning around and heading back towards the power lines and my car.