Our Trip to Balancing Rock

For years I've been hearing about balancing rock. It was suppose to be "up past the lake" and "out in the woods" and it was this "big rock balancing on top of a small one". All the locals knew about balancing rock and it seemed that most of them had trekked up to see it. My 11 year old son and I tried to find it numerous times, after getting faulty directions and once we came very close, but didn't walk far enough. Then the day came. It was overcast and cool and the neighbor boys were going to take a walk to Balancing Rock and invited us to go. At last I was going to see the famous landmark. We headed out the long dirt road and walked for about 20 minutes. The boys hit stones with sticks and talked about what they would do if they saw a bear. I took pictures.

At last we came to a clearing with two small houses...now this was a 20 minute walk out into the middle of nowhere! The boys told us it was the family camp and these people came out and stayed there to hunt and just hang out.

I guess it was just a place for them to go and get away from it all and grow flowers or vegetables in their bathtub in the front yard and no one would care. Just beyond the first house was this little sign and we up over a hill and down into the area where I got my first look at the famous balancing rock. I said, "This is it?"

It wasn't really what I expected...just a big rock (not an unusual thing in NH) and I didn't really see the thrill, but it was a nice walk.