| long pond, ri another of the areas in south county that looked like it had some climbing potential. andrew and i hiked in this december to check it out. it has multiple cliffs, the ones overlooking long pond are the most obvious, but there are more smaller ones in the ravines to the south. on the north side of long pond are another set of cliffs, but houses have been built on that side of the lake so we couldn't see how you'd get access to them. unfortunantly, the local audubon society has banned climbing here. the signs are posted all over. talking to a warden who was hiking the area (to keep the kids from coming out and smoking dope at the crags) the area is off limits for climbing because of liability concerns and rescue difficulty. not that i'd call the audubon society for rescue mind you! but that was their concern. according to one hiking guide, walks and ramble in rhode island the area is jointly owned by the audubon society, the nature conservancy and the state of rhode island -- makes me wonder who should be setting the policy.... even without the climbing it's an excellent hike. with the lake being frozen you could hear the ice groaning and creaking with echo's bouncing up and down the lake. (or in andrew's words "it sounded like laser's or light sabre's or something")
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