Some of the places our family visits are thought out well in
advance, researched, then the trip is made after careful packing and planning. Other
times, we wake up and find ourselves driving somewhere without any forethought
whatsoever. Our trip to Madison Boulder
was of the latter version, we didn’t know until that morning we were going to
it.
One of the things I learned from visiting Madison Boulder
is the term “erratic boulder”. This refers to a boulder that is sitting in a
different spot than where it was formed, after having been carried away during an
ice-age. Madison Boulder is the largest known erratic boulder in North America and is estimated to weigh between 5-6,000 tons. Theories as to its origin range
from having traveled from a couple miles away, to having traveled from up to twenty miles away. There’s
no doubt it was brought from somewhere
– it couldn’t look more out of place in the otherwise ordinary woods that surround it.
These are all interesting facts, but to truly appreciate Madison
Boulder one just needs to make the five minute walk from the parking lot to stand
next to it and look up - and to realize, nature moved this thing possibly up to
twenty miles!
Not everyone would be willing to drive an hour and a half to
stare at a giant rock like we were, but if you ever find yourself near Madison NH
we encourage you to visit this site. Take a moment, stand at the base of it, and let yourself marvel at its size and at the power of nature.
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