Frog Rock Has a Close Call
A Micro-Burst Just Missed An Iconic NH Boulder
We called the hike a mission hike, just me and the girls and the beast heading into the forest to survey possible damage to our favorite Rock that Rocks way out there in the backwoods of New Boston.
We’d caught word from our friend and New Boston historian Dan Rothman of the New Boston Historical Society that a recent storm near Frog Rock in Townes Memorial Forest brought a tree down dangerously close or maybe even on top of the huge boulder.
We were concerned! This was the hike and rock that began our Rocks That Rock Field Guide Journey and led to two books with two more coming. Frog Rock was our inspiration, the destination that spurred Little Bean to come up with the idea.
So off we went. We brought Little Bean’s BFF, Morgie, and Pip, aka The Beast, with us for what turned out to be a memorable morning.
The hike itself is only about a half mile in off Francestown Turnpike and along a more or less well maintained dirt/gravel path, but new erosion patches could be seen here and there. Looks like those storms really did do a number on the area. Little did we know how bad it must have been until we got to Frog Rock. Here’s a map to the trailhead: Hike to Frog Rock
“Whoa, daddy, it just missed it,” Little Bean said running her hand along the bark of the tree that appeared to have missed landing right on the frog’s head by, literally, two or three inches. And it wasn’t a branch that came down. The whole tree uprooted, and no wonder. We checked the ground under the uprooted tree and it was all rock, very little area for roots to take hold.
The whole area appears to have suffered a micro burst, with several trees uprooted and lots of brush and bark scattered over the area. I only had a knife with me, so it was impossible to clear the tree - too heavy to be moved and without the proper tools to cut the tree away from the rock. We’d have to come back.
But downed trees weren’t the only new attractions to the Frog Rock clearing. A massive teepee-like lean-to had been built, perhaps out of some of the downed brush. There was now a fire pit and all four of us trekked into the woods a bit east of Frog Rock to check out some other boulders.
Back at the turn of the last century, this whole area was cleared of forest and nearby hotel proprietors would take guests out to the Frog Rock plateau to picnic. The girls named the surrounding boulders. The two big rocks under the lean-to became The Uma / Morgan Twins. The giant round boulder just across the way is now Wobble Rock. The smaller flat-top boulder next to Wobble Rock became Little Frog Rock. And finally, the huge hulking boulder 100 feet north of Wobble is now to be called The MUB, or Morgan Uma Boulder.
On our way out, the girls even found a Geo-Cache!
In the end, while Frog Rock appears safe, that whole area looks to be in need of some trail attention and work. The area is under the administrations of the New England Forestry Foundation so I sent a note out to the organization to let them know the situation. Hopefully they’ll be able to do some removal. If not perhaps the Rocks That Rock group could form a work group and get it done?
Fun fact - Charles and Francis Townes donated the land back in 1974. Charles was a well know scientist who won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics! He went on to work on the Apollo lunar landing program. He has a statue in Greenville, North Carolina, his hometown.
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Have any of you made it out to Frog Rock?
I made it out to Frog rock with you and Bean years ago! We need to go out again, all of us!