Old Man of the Mountain

Did you see on the news that the Old Man fell down. It looks so strange.

I spent six months living nearly in it's shadow about 25 years ago. Franconia, Sugar Hill, Littleton, Bethlehem, the Presidential Range..., a lovely part of New Hampshire.

A famous case of alien abduction that was "documented" in Life Magazine (remember it?), and about which a movie was made, supposedly happened on Agasiz Road right near the "Old Man."

What definitly happened on Agasiz Road is that Robert Frost lived there and wrote some marvelous verse on the long winter nights. And the film Going My Way, starring Ingrid Bergman and Bing Crosby was set there at the convent, Saint Mary's in the Mountains.

There seems to be a move afoot to now restore the "Old Man" to his former glory ~~~ the glory being relative, given he was already held together with iron pins, steel netting and epoxy cement.

Adam.

How sad this is. I haven't found a picture of it after it collapsed, but I got tears in my eyes when I found a picture of what it looked like before. To think that something that unique and a gift from nature is now gone. I hope the damage isn't so bad that they can't repair it.

New Hampshire is very sad. The Old Man is on our license plates, the new quarters, every state sign and even my DH work ID tag. There is no way to get near it now as Franconia Notch is backed up with traffic for miles but maybe that is good for me as I don't know if I want to see the bare mountain now. Luckily I drove by him last week and said hello. Most of people here believe that he was made by nature and destroyed by nature and to try to build a new one would not be the same.
Aotearoa, I live 15 minutes from Robert Frost's house.

Snowhermit I don't think I would want to drive by and not see him either.

Adam it seems like such a small world - I went to school in Franconia. I built a spinning wheel in school and the pattern came from one found at Robert Frost's home. I lived in Lincoln for about 15 years. It really is God's country.

Joan, check this out. http://www.oldmanofthemountain.com/

Oh, that is so sad. I remember seeing that wonderful formation many times on trips back east as a child. Feels like an old friend has gone.

Elsie, the link you provided is so sad. It appears that there's nothing left?

Snow, I feel so bad for the entire state of New Hampshire. I can understand why the don't want it rebuilt. It just wouldn't be the same. I hadn't thought about it that way.

I so wish I could have had the opportunity to meet the man of the mountain before this happened.

Terry, I can understand why all of New Hampshire is so sad - you lost a beautiful and fascinating landmark. Although I am not from New Hampshire, I am sad about this too. I wish I would had known you lived nearby the Old Man during our visit last summer - I would have loved to say hi to him too.

When I heard about this on the news, I was upset at first. But when you realize that he was formed by the very same forces which ultimately dismantled him, it seems like a perfectly natural event. Old men do die off. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be the beginning of major changes in the mountain which might be dangerous.

Aimee ~~~

Very well thought out and articulate observation about this sad yet natural occurance.

Adam.