Where the Old Man of the Mountain used to be

 We have been spoiled. The last 10+ times we have been across the border, our wait has been about 5 minutes. Today we had to pull over and wait, while a bus load of Touring French-speaking Canadians were cleared through customs, so that the Airstream could be searched for felonious tomatoes. After the search and confiscation, we were on our way into Vermont.

It was another day of travel along gorgeous-leafed highways. It is definitely "peak" viewing time here. I have always felt that the Columbus Day weekend, when supposedly New England color is at its best, was too late to see the most vivid color. I have been up here in New Hampshire a number of times on the Columbus Day weekend, but I have never seen color like this. The woman at the campground office said that one problem this year is that, with the lack of rain, the leaves are not hanging around, but are falling off the tress as soon as they turn color for a few days. I'm glad we are here now.

The border crossing at Derby Line. What you don't see in this picture are the two busses off to the left. We had thought it would be a quick zip through the stop. Now we have to go to the store to buy some more tomatoes for our salads this evening. 

I believe this is Mt. Washington with its own weather system at the top.

We are camped in Franconia, right at the entrance to Franconia Notch State Park. It is about 5 miles to the site of the former Old Man of the Mountain viewing. With the Old Man no longer there, it is now called Old Man of the Mountain Profiler Plaza.

This is where the Old Man of the Mountain used to be - just as you would say in Rhode Island!

The Profile, or Old Man of the Mountain, was one of the best-know natural rock formations in the country. The iconic granite profile was shaped by the forces of nature about 14,000 years ago, when the last ice sheet retreated from North America. Five distinctive ledges or slabs formed the elements of a human face in profile, measuring about 40 feet high and 25 feet across. 

On May 3, 2003, the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed sometime during the night hours. While the public lamented the loss, there was widespread agreement that rebuilding on the cliff was not appropriate. The state geologist confirmed that the mountainside rock was too unstable to safely support construction. A non-profit organization, the Old Man of the Mountain Legacy Fund, stepped forward to create a privately-funded monument to the beloved state symbol. 

This is the new Old Man of the Mountain Profiler Plaza. Sculptors created a series of steel profiler rods which point toward the cliff where the Old Man once stood (hung out?). By standing on a paver that corresponds to your height, and squinting along the profiler arm, you can see how the Old Man of the Mountain used to look. It's very ingenious.

This is the top of one of the arms and the bumps that create the profile.

Here is the image seen as I squint along the profiler arm. 

One of the four stabilizer rods that fell with the stone on May 3, 2003. For the past 100 years the profile had been anchored in place with many of these cables.

Franconia Notch from Profile Lake.