Posted on 10/25/2003 10:36:15 PM PDT by SteveH
Unexplained tree-top boulders found in forest
By Judy Hess Staff writer
JHess@bcdemocrat.com
Something unnatural is going on in Yellowwood State Forest.
The mystery began a few years ago when a turkey hunter, scouting in a remote area of the 23,000-acre forest, discovered a large boulder in the top of an 80-foot-tall chestnut oak tree. What he saw wedged among its branches was a boulder about 4 feet wide and a foot thick.
The boulder was eventually dubbed Gobbler's Rock after the turkey hunter. It sits high on a south-facing slope overlooking a ravine near Tulip Tree Road in western Brown County and is thought to weigh at least 400 pounds.
After the initial sighting of Gobbler's Rock, hikers have found at least two more giant sandstone boulders sitting in the top limbs of two sycamores. One boulder is nearly 45 feet off the ground and both rocks appear to weigh about 200 pounds. The trees are 100 yards apart growing near the banks of Plum Creek in a seldom-visited part of Yellowwood State Forest, just southwest of Helmsburg.
Known to locals as URBs, or Unexplained Resting Boulders, officials can't explain how the boulders got wedged into the branches in the first place. The huge rocks couldn't grow upward with the trees because the saplings could not have withstood their weight. The boulders must have been placed high in the trees after their trunks were sturdy enough to support them.
Sandstone boulders are a part of the natural Yellowwood setting. They are scattered around the forest floor so the rocks could have originated near the trees.
But officials can't find any proof that this was caused by a natural event or that someone played a joke. A joke that would require heavy-duty moving equipment to get the boulders into the branches.
As theories abound from fraternity pranks, tornadoes, to high winds or floods, the strange phenomenon is now the focus of several UFO Web sites.
In fact, the rock-in-a-tree is highlighted at abduct.com, a UFO-related Web site.
The Web site posts a few comments from a UFO investigator about Gobbler's Rock and asks "did a UFO put a boulder in this tree?"
"If the rock was blown into the tree, why isn't there some sign of damage to the bark? It had to be gently rested in the branches, I would think, but by what?" the investigator asks.
Another UFO Web site ponders such questions like "could an examination of the trees reveal whether they had had damage at a young age? Can anyone think of a mechanism whereby the boulders were lifted as the trees grew?"
Mark Shields, a Yellowwood employee, says "Just about every theory has been shot down."
"If I had to guess, maybe a tornado," Mr. Shields said.
He stated it's unlikely that blasting at some nearby site would have blown the rock into its perch. The most logical answer, he said, is that a tornado picked the rock up and dropped it in the branches. Although he admits that theory's not very likely because of the way the boulder sits in the tree.
"The rocks sits right in the crown of the tree," Mr. Shields said.
If you'd like to try finding the huge boulders, you'll need a compass. The trees are a considerable distance from the nearest roadway.
Directions to
Gobbler's Rock:
To find Gobbler's Rock from the Yellowwood State Forest office, head north on Yellowwood Lake Road, then turn west on Lanam Ridge Road. From Lanam Ridge Road, turn left onto Indiana 45, and then quickly turn south on Tulip Tree Road. Follow this gravel road about two miles, and park in a small pull-off near the gate.
Using a compass, continue walking south about a half-mile, and look for a cleared, grassy area on the left. Look for an old logging path that leads east from the cleared area, and follow it east and south. Gobbler÷Õ Rock is high on a south-facing slope overlooking a ravine. (GPS coordinates: N39 12.204, W86 21.955)
Directions to
the sycamore tree rocks:
Travel north on Yellowwood Lake Road about three miles from the Yellowwood State Forest office. Turn east on Lanam Ridge Road. Follow the road about three miles, and turn west on Dollsberry Lane, about a mile south of Helmsburg. Follow the gravel road until it ends. Park in a small parking area on the south side of the roadway.
From this point, a compass is required because there is no marked trail or path, and underbrush in some areas is thick. Follow the old roadway west, and then southwest. South of the pond, which is on private property, travel southwest to Plum Creek, following the creek as it meanders west. The two sycamores holding the rocks are on the north creek bank, about a third of a mile west-southwest from the parking area. The trees are about 100 yards apart, but not visible from each other. (GPS coordinates: N39 14.986, W86 18.492, N39 14.984, W8618.560)
I love the way Freepers turn a phrase.
Sounds like a wonderful new acronym for Dept. of Defense next time it's needed.
How about snow? Or an avalanche? Snow could get really deep on the south side of a ravine in a harsh winter. Perhaps when the trees were smaller, but strong enough, to support this weight the snow was very deep and the boulders roiled into the right spot. Summer comes and viola a rock in the tree.
Are there any good ol' boys milking this attraction?
BUSH DID IT!
In the picture, there are several sturdy branches above the point where the rock sits. Some rope and block-and-tackle gear would get the rock up there with an afternoon's work and a bit of climbing
Yes, they make, or used to make, turkey callers. A friend had one along with a record (a 78 no less) of calls and how to make them.
I'll bet you used to pound that 'Enter' key on the 914 terminals at TI mercilessly too <grin> ...
As opposed to normal boulders which are constantly on the move.
Yep, that will do it. I own a chunk of aspen forest in the Nevada mountains. For a couple years both I and my friends could not make heads or tails of some of the really odd things that were in evidence in that forest. Things way out of place and with no good explanation of how they got there. Pieces of tree in the tops of other trees, healthy trees snapped off halfway up the trunk. Big rocks in places we couldn't explain.
One year I went up to the property with some friends in early spring, when there was still some snow on the ground. In the valley, the snow never becomes more than a few feet deep, so it never occurred to us that avalances were possible. And then we saw a huge avalanche barrel down the mountain-side, taking huge boulders with it and crashing into the forest. It suddenly explained everything that had puzzled us over the years.
We actually climbed to the top of the mountain that the property backs onto that day (safe, since only the north-facing slope still had a significant snowpack) and discovered that the snowpack was still around 20 feet deep up near the top. We did not know that it EVER got that deep, but apparently that is a normal snowpack for that time of year. Not bad for a piece of Nevada desert, and it explains why the aquifers are always full down below where there is only a few inches of water precipitation a year.
Back to the topic, an avalanche will definitely do it, and you can find avalanche damage in places where you normally wouldn't think to look for it. In our case, only the tops of the mountains had serious snowpack, but we only had mild precipitation further down. The heavy snowpack at the top of the mountain would come barrelling down and do damage that otherwise would be inexplicable after the snow melted because there was little evidence down below that avalanches of that size could occur.
Strange... what about the concrete Roman viaducts?
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