The Snow Squall

A few weeks ago I showed a massive perched boulder on a hill in western RI.    Many of the propped boulders I have found are huge stones resting on hilltops, where they would be seen for miles.
     This massive propped boulder is on the east side of a steep hill and has been a target for graffiti artists (4/1/2014).

Half a mile away is another hill, crowned with this propped boulder.

Because of heavy tree cover, these boulders are not visible from a distance.  The Natives used to manage forests with planned burning, so these boulders were probably clearly visible during their time. Luckily, this area was LIDAR imaged, so I constructed a three-dimensional model from the data.  Grass GIS allows manipulation of the 3-D models as to bearing, altitude, and light direction.

This would be the view from the top of the hill with the first boulder, looking towards the other boulder.  The LIDAR data covers a square mile, so there is no distant landscape.   Those conical objects are artifacts from water reflections in a swampy area.  The light  is from the southwest, as in a winter afternoon.  Some of the larger boulders are visible on the hill.  Having a rainy Sunday, I used the model to make this painting of a  snow squall passing a winter camp, seen from the hill with the first boulder.

 The massive squarish propped  boulder is on top of the other hill, and a Native long house is visible in a protected sunny spot at the foot of the hill. A stream runs through a rocky bank to marshes at the far right.