The west side of Rockport has the village of Pigeon Cove, and Halibut Point State Park.  The latter gave me the first of two good hiking opportunities, on Sept. 3.  It offers clifftop to beach and quarryside walks.

Here are several views of the trail, the ocean, the quarry pond and the Visitor Center, at Halibut Point, followed by a shot or two of Pigeon Cove.  The first photo is of the old quarry master’s house, at Halibut Point.

Next, is a farm shed and well.

\

Now, on down the trail to the seaside.

The above scenes evoke Bandon, OR and Kalalaoch, WA.

Cairn art, similar to this, is found on several New England beaches.

Now, for several views of the abandoned quarry, now a gorgeous little pond.

The last views at Halibut Point are of the watch tower.  An osprey graced the roof peak, as I walked around below.

Here is a range of  rock samples obtained from the quarry.

Lastly, here are the two most prominent structures in the village of Pigeon Cove. First is the community church, followed by a private home.

Next:  The first of three posts on Gloucester, MA

I last visited Cahokia Mounds National Monument in September, 2011, when it was dusk.  This time, July 25, 2013, it was a bright afternoon.  The difference was palpable.  At dusk, there is a sense of the spiritual, the ephemeral.  In bright sunshine, tour groups and easily-spooked people, jumping when I walked by them, were all over the park.

No matter, this area is home to intense spiritual energy, which not everyone can handle.  It was built by an ancient nation of traders, and appears to be an array of tumuli, burial mounds.  Overlooking the scene is Monks Mound, across the highway from the main park area.

I spent about 40 minutes in the Visitor Center.

A clockwise jaunt around the main park revealed several mounds.

It was soon time to mount the stairs to Monks Mound. Here, priests conducted observations of the sky and presided over ceremonies, relative to the solstices, equinoxes and phases of the moon.

There are some fine views of the surrounding countryside, including the city of St. Louis.

To the east, there is a  fence, built by the U.S. Army, during the Trail of Tears, in the 1830’s.

Finally, I visited Woodhenge, a mile west of Cahokia Mounds, and largely viewed as another place where the indigenous people could observe and measure celestial events.

With this important site being offered tribute in both light and darkness, I crossed the Father of Waters, to St. Louis, and the Gateway Arch.

Arkansas’ state capital has been in the forefront of a statewide effort, that started with Bill Clinton as Governor, and has continued through the Huckabee and Beebe administrations, to get the populace up and at ’em.  A good part of this effort, in the capital city, revolves around the Arkansas River, and the recreational opportunities it, and its banks, provide.

The focus is fitness, for one and all, starting with the children.  I saw people of all ages and ethnicities getting into the act.  Count Kasimir Pulaski, who aided in the first U.S. Army, is honoured here, well west of the first frontier of the United States.  Here are Pulaski Way and a bust of the Count.

The message is clear about fitness, from the outset of the trail system along the Arkansas.

There are some obstacles and sculptures along the way.

The river inspires both LR and the City of North Little Rock.

Kids have a high bar to reach, with grandpa getting to “relax’.  It wouldn’t be that way with my grandbabies.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

This includes shopping!  Here is River Market.

Yes, in Little Rock, life is getting increasingly sweet, with plenty of hard work being done.

Arkansas treated me nicely that day. I made it to Memphis, late at night, and would blaze to northwest Virginia the following night.  There was a deadline to meet.

On Monday, August 26, I started the day with a couple of hours at the fort which established to stop fighting between  the indigenous Osage people and the Cherokee, who had been pushed into the area, by the policies of President Andrew Jackson.  Thus, Fort Smith is indelibly associated with the Trail of Tears.

The place is named for one Col. Thomas A. Smith, who commanded the fort at its establishment.  Another person by that name was a friend of mine, who recently passed on, so it was poignant to read of Col. Smith’s efforts at peacekeeping.

Here are some views of the grounds of this national monument, and of the River Trail, which follows the Arkansas River, along its path through western Arkansas’ commercial center.

We start with the Courthouse and Jails of the fort, now a museum.

Here’s a view of one of the fortifications.

Now, here’s a look at where bad actors spent their time, courtesy of Judge Isaac Parker.

Here is a glimpse of Judge Parker’s dungeon,

and one of his courtroom.

The soldiers, then as now, had to parade in formation, before their superiors.

The remnants of the original Fort Smith may be seen here and there.

Here is the quartermaster’s store.

Then we come to the gallows.

The less said, the better about this place of ghoulish amusement.

My favourite section is the River Trail.  Oklahoma lies across the Arkansas River.

At the end of River Trail lies Fort Smith Train Station.

It does not take a train, though, to go the scant 17 miles to Van Buren, the next stop of mine on August 26.

Several of you found Winniwissa Falls to be a delight, in your responses to my first post.  I did, as well, and in following the trail to the true treasure of Pipestone National Monument, learned of the value of this water, in softening the stone, so that it could be used for the ceremonial pipes that are so valued by Native Americans.

Here are scenes leading to the quarries, and the rock supplies themselves. Let’s start with the rim of Pipestone Canyon.

Atop the rim, lies The Oracle.  Do not ask what it foretold!! 🙂

We proceed from The Oracle to the quarries, some of which had catlinite.

There are four main quarries at Pipestone, each serving a different grouping of tribes.

Quartzite fixed quarry, the northernmost of the four quarries.

Here is a view of the tallgrass prairie, which once covered most of the upper Midwest.

Once one says farewell to Pipestone’s main section,

it’s worthwhile to stop at Three Maidens, also a site sacred to the Sioux and other nations.

This was also a point on the North American Spiritual Arc, as I have styled the points along my journey of late July.

Next: I ended July 22 with an hour or so in the town of Pipestone, a delight in itself.

Coming into the grounds of Pipestone National Monument, MN, I had a sense of the importance of the stone from which ceremonial pipes were being made.  It is instructive to me that the Chippewa, Sac and Fox, Lakota Sioux and Yankton Sioux regularly quarry the stone, from three places on this site.

I toured the visitors center first, though quite frankly, I was not impressed with the staff, other than one of the young women rangers, who seemed genuinely glad I had stopped there.  The others were either perfunctory or rude, to varying degrees.  The natural area was much more satisfying, but then, that is why I came here in the first place.

Here are some scenes from the  trail network, which features a creekside walk, a clifftop view, and Winniwissa Falls.

The place itself is fascinating, as is the concept of fashioning ceremonial pipe from cut quartz and catlinite.  More on the quarries will follow, in Part 2.