The Lafayette Place Food Court is perfect for that after-hike lunch or ice cream cone! Photo Credit : Bethany Bourgault This friendly moose is a Flume favorite. A cafe (complete with ice cream), gift shop, information center, 20-minute film, museum-like displays, and historic Concord Coach are among the center’s attractions. Photo Credit : Bethany Bourgaultīefore venturing into the Flume itself, guests must first stop at the visitor center to purchase tickets. The Old Man of the Mountain, as depicted on the Concord Coach at the Flume Gorge Visitor Center. The famous Old Man in the Mountain structure, which collapsed in 2003, was also made of Conway granite. He had spent several years as a minister in Conway before beginning his geological career, so the area held a special place in his heart. (Don’t worry, it’s not radioactive enough to cause any harm!) Edward Hitchcock, professor of geology and theology and third president of Amherst College, named the granite after the nearby town of Conway in 1877. Conway granite is a sometimes pinkish, mineral-heavy, biotite granite rich in thorium, a radioactive metal. The granite that makes up the 70- to 90-foot walls of the gorge is a specific, local type-Conway granite. Photo Credit : Bethany Bourgault Water rushing through the Flume is deepening the gorge still today. It’s springtime at the Flume Gorge! This moss is growing on the granite walls of the gorge. Water erosion and frost-heaving continue to deepen the gorge to this day. The Ice Age, though responsible for other popular natural features of the area, like Table Rock and The Pool, had little effect on the gorge, beyond reintroducing water that furthered the basalt erosion. Over many years, as the stone eroded, the finer-grained basalt washed away much faster than the granite, creating the gorge. Molten basalt was forced upwards too, settling in the cracks of the granite as it cooled. The early stages of its formation date to Jurassic times, around 200 million years ago, when the granite that makes up the walls of the Flume, then liquid and molten, was forced upwards to the earth’s surface. The Flume’s history predates its “discovery” by Aunt Jess, of course.
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