Saturday, December 10, 2011

Cat Lovers in Dogtown - Trip Three

I thought before tomorrow and trip four rolled around I'd best relate a little about trip three.

This time we decided to try going In from the Gloucester side of Dogtown.  Much easier with a relatively smooth access road!  We passed several numbered stones that designated sites of cellar holes - the only remains of homes in Dogtown.
Number 20 marks the site of Granny Day's home

A cellar hole marked by stone carving 17

A bit further along and we were 'told' that we had arrived at Dogtown Square.  Wow, things must have changed a lot being as other than the sign there was no indication whatsoever that a town square ever existed.
We arrived at Dogtown Square!

We took a right turn and wandered slightly uphill to the commons, a relatively open area where the sheep and cattle of all the settlement would have grazed.  We passed some other numbered stones and, not seeing any cellar holes, didn't investigate.  If we had, we would have found a couple more Babson Boulders.  Oh well, we'll visit them tomorrow on Trip Four.

We did find 14 on this trip and I'll show a couple examples...don't worry won't post all the pics!  And the question of count will be answered with these two 'pages' of Babson's book.
Two sides of the same boulder have been carved.

While we were walking up toward the common pasture, we met a woman walking out.  As is custom in our small community, we said hello.  She greeted us and told us that there was a large pack of dogs up ahead.  Probably 15 or so, she said.  Hmmmm.  Then she added that they were friendly.  Double hmmmm.  I think she was trying to spook us.  Didn't work.  (Never saw or heard any dogs)  As a matter of fact, we haven't seen any wildlife at all in Dogtown.  No birds, no squirrels, nothing.

We doubled back from the commons pasture and took a side trip down the Babson Boulder Trail.  It was rough walking and a large portion was up and down hills.  We decided that when it reach 11:30 we would turn around and head back toward the car.  On the boulder trail we found the rest of our 14 count for the trip.  2 more are further along the trail and we'll grab shots of them another time.

Tomorrow we plan on making our fourth trip In.  Maybe starting at the top of Squam Road once again and follow the trail past Whale's Jaw to Peter's Pulpit (it's supposed to be a mammoth erratic) and then on to the Commons Road before turning around and heading home.

1 comment:

Mary said...

Thanks for sharing your trips into Dogtown.

Did several hikes there some time ago. It is great to revisit it via your photos and blog.