Friday, March 18, 2011

Carter Str - Berlin, MA

Last weekend I spotted a valley I had not explored in an area where I already found rock piles. There is a big patch of woods north of the center of Berlin, MA with at least 4 sites. Three of the four are approximately as indicated. The fourth is what I think of as a graveyard and, so, I am not reporting its location. Anyway, I walked up the valley on the right (with the lower right blue outline) and soon spotted something like a short stretch of wall on the slope.

Looking closer, there was a short piece of stone wall, actually a pile, and several more rock piles scattered up the slope:

Unfortunately the pictures are not very good. The bright sunlight makes for too much contrast and I am afraid my old point-and-click lense has pretty much lost its ability to resolve details.
The best formed piles were at the top of the slope at the edge of the drop-off.

Probably the most interesting aspect of the site was that the level spot above had a camfire ring and a couple of plastic chairs, placed so you could look out over the rock piles and the valley. Over the phone, I asked FFC if he thought this might be current use of the site and he reminded me that frequently rock pile sites are appealing locations and very typically attract people. At the same time most are somewhat oblivious to the piles they are passing or sitting near.
Aside from these modern additions, there were traces of a site all around:Farther up the valley (upper right blue outline) was a lookout pile, right at the edge of the outcrop.[I reported this pile in the past]. Looking outward from above, down to the valley below, I noticed a large stone wall below aiming for the spot I was standing. Looking out from this pile, the stone wall leads straight away towards the horizon. Here is the view but you cannot see the stone wall.

1 comment :

Tim MacSweeney said...

Reminds me very much of the Enderslie Open Space in Woodbridge...