Ringing Rocks
A
cache
by CerealBoxMonsters
Hidden:
5/14/2008
Size:
 (Not chosen)
Difficulty: 
Terrain: 
(1 is easiest, 5 is hardest)
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This pile of unusual rocks sits in the Dry Mountains between Butte
and Whitehall, Montana. There are only two locations in the United
States with this unique feature.
This large mound of rocks possess a unique quality, unexplained by
science, and often seen more as a novelty or mystery than an oddity
of geology.
When struck with a hammer, these rocks produce a ring similar to
that of a bell. When asked why, no one seems to know - not even the
land managers who regularly answer this question.
One key to the mystery is that the rocks on the ground don't
chime when hit, meaning that the mound may have something to do
with the sound.
Another clue is that the rocks don't chime when they're removed
from the area. Which is ironic because it is illegal to remove any
of the rocks from this site.
The rocks here are igneous, meaning they were formed when molten
rock cooled, and have an iron component. They're about the size of
small cars, piled helter-skelter in a mound about 30 feet high.
Their surfaces are rough like a pumice stone, with their brown
color disrupted by off-white lichen.
There are two requirements to logging this earthcache:
1) Post a photgragh of yourself in front of the BLM sign.
2) Use your GPSr to track a route around the perimeter of the pile
and submit the answer to the owner's email. The correct answer must
fall within ten meters.
Additional Hints (
No hints available
)
(Decrypted Hints)
Find...
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Logged Visits (
27 total. Visit the Gallery (33 images)
)
Warning.
Spoilers may be included in the descriptions or links.
Cache find counts are based on the last time the page generated.
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 September 7 by drgnflyz (175 found)
emailed for question. Did a blog about this earthcache. (visit link) [This entry was edited by drgnflyz on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at 5:39:28 PM.]
[view this log]
| September 6 by billdev (296 found)
Really enjoyed this area and spent more time than planned. This area had many Labor Day Weekend visitors and some of it may have been from local newspaper publicity. This is an awesome area and certainly a geologic wonder. TFTC.
[view this log]
| August 20 by PurplePaws (3125 found)
This was a great stop while on the way to Idaho to do some more EarthCaching. We enjoyed trying to find rocks with different tones. The "trail" around the pile was indistinct at times, but hopefully we got close. Thanks for bringing us here!
[view this log]
| July 2 by SGT red jeep (1484 found)
Reading E. Bunny's log, I can't help wondering if we were up on the hill at the same time. We had three four-wheelers and I just took the required picture as the storm started blowing. Being about ten miles from our campsite, we jumped on our four-wheelers and raced back down the trail we drove up, a narrow two-track not much wider than our vehicles, and steep. As it started to pore, I sent my daughter ahead down the trail telling her to race down the hill while I waited for my wife to catch up on the last machine. When my daughter drove out of sight, the hail described by E. Bunny laid into me and my wife. Our decision to wear helmets made the experience bearable but it was still painful. Waiting for the hail to stop, I was becoming more concerned as the water rushing down the trail steadily increased, becoming a torrent. As soon as the white stuff stopped and not trusting the four-wheelers, I ran through the trees, following the trail, searching for my daughter. She had only made it a couple hundred yards before finding a safe place to bail off the machine and hug a pine tree. With the storm receeding, I convinced my wife the best thing to do would be wait until the trail dried a little before attempting the steep slope so we went back to the ringing rocks and I made the trek around the pile, completing the second requirement.
[view this log]
|  July 2 by E. Bunny (9 found)
Wow! What a day (our 26th wedding anniversary). I'm not counting this as a find since we didn't meet the meet both of the requirements of the cache.We had heard of this spot but never visited until today. We were NOT disappointed! This place is awesome. We got to "ring" the rocks for awhile and by the time we got to to trekking around the pile, a storm blew in and the sky opened up and poured down on us - including lightning and grape size hail. We did find the other cache in the area tho, We'll be back to finish this one another day. On the way we got a bit turned around and took a joy ride in the wrong direction. Got our truck stuck big time! That didn't dampen our spirits in the least. Once we got it jacked up and off the rock we were on our merry way - 2 hours later! Finally hit the right road and things were easy going all the way to the rock formation. We'll be back!
BTW -- a word to the wise for those seeking this cache. The road is VERY clearly marked. If you don't see the signs, you're going the wrong way!
E. Bunny & Gope
[view this log]
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Current time: 11/22/2009 11:08:08 AM
Last Updated: 9/30/2009 11:36:00 AM
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum
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