West Trout Brook Rd

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

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

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

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

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

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

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