Last week we traveled across the country to visit family and friends on Martha's Vineyard and in New Hampshire.
We had a great trip and enjoyed catching up with everyone. While in New Hampshire, we drove to Franconia Notch and rented some bikes. Along the bike trail, we stopped at the site of the newly-dedicated Old Man of the Mountain Memorial. The Old Man of the Mountain was a series of granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain that, when viewed from the north, appeared to be the profile of a face. That profile became the emblem of the state of New Hampshire and appeared on state's license plate, state route signs, the statehood quarter, and a 1955 U.S. postal stamp. Sadly, on the morning of May 3, 2003, between midnight and 2 A. M., the profile collapsed to the ground. The collapse was caused by fissures in the granite which were the result of decades freezing and thawing. There had been a late spring snow the night before the collapse.
This is the Old Man of the Mountain before the collapse.
The statehood quarter and USPS stamp with the iconic profile.
Here is the site as it appears now.
A non-profit organization is working to construct a monument to the Old Man. The first of three phases of the monument was recently dedicated and is located on the shores of Profile Lake, so named because of its location beneath the Old Man.
Phase 1 of the monument consists of a viewing platform of steel profilers pointed towards the Cannon Cliff where the Old Man once kept a watchful eye over the White Mountains.
On the face of each spar are raised carvings.
By standing on the footprints corresponding closest to your height and viewing the profile of the spars,
the image of the Old Man is created in the spot where the old granite slabs once stood.
Pretty cool! Phases 2 and 3 of the monument are in the works and include a gateway honoring those who worked on the Old Man and five large granite stones that, when viewed in alignment, will form the Old Man's profile. Such a fitting memorial to a enduring symbol.
