Old Man fell down

[DebW]

The Old Man of the Mountains, the Franconia Notch rock profile, fell down on Saturday 5/2. Detail at:
http://www.thewmurchannel.com/news/2177841/detail.html

That one sight people won't he seeing from the AT anymore. Was it actually visible from the trail?

[Sleepy the Arab]

No.

While the impressive rock face of Cannon/Profile Mountain can be seen as one traverses the Fraconia Ridge, the actual Old Man of the Mountain could only be viewed at the foot of the mountain just north of the notch. Well, theoretically I suppose it could also be viewed in reverse if you puttered around in a plane or hot air balloon on the other side of the notch but I digress.

Yeah, it's a bit of a bummer for us in the Granite State. The Old Man was on route signs, the state quarter and so on. Without it, hell, there goes our only sense of identity. We're just a snowier version of Delaware now.

[Groucho]

A Feat Of Erosion
Written by Roel van der Meulen ([email protected]) on November 4 1995. Credits to Marc Kippen ([email protected]) for doing the research for me, and for giving me quotable material.

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Up in the White Mountains, New Hampshire, USA, Earth, natural erosion has produced one of those amazing wonders of nature, a rock formation in which you can clearly see the face of an old man [1]. However, it doesn't look as good as it used to; the face is degrading, possibly because it's a main tourist attraction, but mostly because it's erosion we're dealing with here anyway.

One man [2] has taken it upon himself to be the caretaker of the rock formation for the past 30 years or so. Every summer he ritually climbs up the mountain and repairs what was damaged during the past winter. The poor man doesn't realise he's fighting a losing battle, given the difference between geologic and human time-scales.

So for man to be able to witness the sculptures of erosion, erosion has to be violated. Who knows what we're missing this way. No "old Gnarf in the mountain" for us I'm afraid, sorry.

[Jumpstart]

I didn't think such a thing would shock me as much as it did, but this morning I found myself digging through old boxes of pictures, looking for pictures we had taken of the Old Man. We slack packed much of NH when we thru-hiked because we live here and we could, and we took a BUNCH of thru-hikers on a mini-road trip past the Old Man just to show it off. Truly sad that's it's gone now..I don't know if I'll ever drive through the Notch and not be able to turn my head and look for the profile.

[TJ aka Teej]

Mother Nature wins again.
A real shame, not just because NH adopted it as a trademark, but for all of us who were shown the profile by our parents, and have shown it to our kids...
I hope they don't put a fiberglass mock-face up.
Just wouldn't be the same, y'know?

[rickb]

Sleepy,

At least NH still holds record for having experienced the greatest wind speed on earth. At times like these, I thank the Lord that those who would have taken away that claim to fame a few years ago were proven wrong. The double whammy would have been much too hard for any generation to bare.

Please accept my sympathies from the Bay Sate. At least we have the quarter to remember him by. And the plates. And the road signs.

Rick B

[hikerat2002]

Maybe now is a good time to petition the state of NH. Petition them to put Mt. Washington on state insignia and quarters and license plates, etc.

[Sleepy the Arab]

Windspeed nothin'! We still got the Indian Head! Let's slap that puppy on the state road signs, state quarter, state license plate, and - what the hell! - state bird. We gots hundreds of interesting rocks up here in the Granite State. Heck, I even know of a bunch of rocks near the AT that were piled up to look like a fish! Even Imp Shelter in the Carter Range gets its name from a bunch of rocks called Imp Profile.

Nope, there's no shortage of interesting rock faces up here.

[Jumpstart]

No way do I want to see Mt. Washington on my license plate/ road sign etc. The Old Man may be gone, but his spirit still remains in the state, and I think that keeping him on our quarter/road sign/license plate is a fitting memorial to its memory.

[Peaks]

In Kinsman Notch there is Lost River. So, why not have Lost Profile in Franconia Notch?