A Short Hike at Balance Rock State Park
Sunday, January 27, 2008
A short drive after leaving the main entrance to Pittsfield State Forest found me at the road to Balance Rock State Park (actually a part of the State Forest, in its northeastern corner.) While my winter use trail map shows an open road up to Balance Rock, it was very clear that the road is summer use only, and in thw winter is left snow-covered for use by the snowmobilers. Fortunately, the pull-off across the road was relatively clear, so I changed into my screw shoes (it didn't seem likely I'd encounter any snow deep enough to merit snowshoes) and armed with my camera and Dunn & Delaney's Trails with Tales guidebook, I headed off up the road to see the rocks.
The hike up the snow covered road was fairly easy. The snow had been well-packed by snowmobiles, and even though it was mostly uphill... after my hike up the mountain this morning, it really didn't seem too bad! Three snowmobiles passed me heading down toward the road; I was very impressed that they slowed down as they went by and gave them a smile and a wave, even though I knew I'd be breathing their exhaust for a while after they passed. (Yuck!)
After about 10 minutes I reached the summer parking area and saw Balance Rock a little ways downhill. This particular rock weighs about 165 tons and is perched on a 3 foot rock outcropping. Initially I thought the far end was also touching ground, but as I got closer I could see that there was a gap of about 8 inches between the bottom of the boulder and the dirt underneath. There are lots of theories for how this rock ended up in its current position; the most likely explanation is that it was deposited on solid ground by the most recent glacier, approximately 10000 years ago, and subsequent weathering has both exposed the rock on which it is balanced and worn away the less durable rock and soil around it. A variety of stories exist about the rock vibrating when touched; given the fact that it is still in position despite a variety of natural disturbance and a multitude of human attempts to dislodge it over the past 300 years, it seems unlikely that it has even shown any signs of motion. Sadly, this extremely impressive boulder is covered with graffiti - people can be real jerks, can't they?
After wandering around Balance Rock a bit, I consulted the guidebook and headed up an ATV trail to Split Rock... interesting, but not that impressive. There were also a couple of other neat erratics right near it. Then I headed over to see Whale Rock, which really does look amazingly like a whale at the right angles, Twin Rocks (the name is self explanatory), and Cross Rock, which has a fracture in its surface that makes... you guessed it... a cross.
Split Rock
Cross Rock
Twin Rocks
Whale Rock
As nice as it was out in the woods (other than the occasional buzz of a snowmobile) I started getting hungry, so I knew it was time to head back down to the car, with a brief side-trip to check out a few more unnamed rocks. The hike back to the car was uneventful... just a short walk down a snowy road on a sunny day. Pretty nice, really, and a pleasant way to end this particular visit to the Berkshires.
JMH
