On the south shore of the island stands a great boulder, maybe ten feet high, and many more in girth. The flattened spot on top has long made this a favorite perch for anyone looking for rest and contemplationóbut you have to work a little to get there.

First you must fight through a tangle of drift debris and gale to get to the base of the rock. Then there is a quick, steep climb, using such shallow hand-holds and foot-holds as you can find. Scrambling out on the flat space, you can let sun and wind dry feet that surely got wet along the way.

The boulder is built of the same granite that dominates all of this Canadian Shield country. It is larger than most free-standing rocks in the vicinity, but there are some that approach its size, back in the woods. Its position right here, at the shoreline, gives it interest and attention from us. With a glance at this great rock, we can measure the water level in any given season.

To imagine mighty natural forces that dropped this rock in this exact spot is to realize there was a single moment on a single day, perhaps millions of years ago, when this great mass was dropped or released by its icy captor, falling into just this place and just this position. All the storms and winds, freezes and thaws, hell and high water, that have come and gone since that time have not moved itónot one inch.

The eccentric did not ask to be dropped here. It sits a little apartónot aloof but also not comfortablyóamong neighbors of slightly different origin. Through long millennia it has rested here, while creatures like and unlike us have come and gone from the island. Its erosion is so slow that before it can be weathered away, it may again be the plaything of the great sheets of ice.

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Forest Lake Times
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880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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