Snell preview

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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.