Whispering Giants Grand Tour: Ong-Gwe-Ohn-Weh in Dunkirk, NY

By Fuzzygalore | July 18, 2015 | Comments 2 comments

After visiting the Kinzua Viaduct, I pulled up the list of favorites in my GPS. One of the closest was the Whispering Giant in Dunkirk, NY. At less than 100 miles away, stopping for a visit seemed like a no-brainer.

Ong-Gwe-Ohn-Weh was restored by Peter Toth in 2014. He cuts a very handsome image there by the shores of Lake Erie.

My hope for the now missing Williamsport, PA giant is that he will also undergo some restoration. Hopefully he hasn’t been discarded. ::crosses fingers::

Lakeshore Drive
Dunkirk, NY 14048
42.486248, -79.342841

No matter how much I tried to squeeze and shuffle my stuff around, he just wouldn’t fit in my Givi box 🙂

Ong-Gwe-Ohn-Weh has its own Facebook page. Scrolling through the timeline, I noticed that someone posted photos of what the interior of the giant looked like during its restoration. A neat behind the scenes look:

Whispering Giants Grand Tour: Williamsport, Pa. Giant is Missing

By Fuzzygalore | July 5, 2015 | Comments 3 comments

The Williamsport, Pa. Whispering Giant was right up the block from the hotel I stayed at in town. My plan for the day was to swing by, take a picture of it and then head off towards Lock Haven to start a ride loop.

When I pulled up the spot where I’d seen it on Google Streetview there was… nothing.

I parked and walked up to find only the pedestal and plaque remaining. My heart broke a little.

One of my friends who is also doing the Whispering Giant Grand Tour posted a photo of it on Facebook in April, so I knew it hadn’t been missing for long. I was bummed.

Now that I have had an opportunity to search the web, it seems that the Giant was removed in mid-June. I came up a day late and a dollar short on seeing Chief Woapalanee.

Whispering Giants Grand Tour: Enishkeetompauog and Enisketomp

By Fuzzygalore | April 21, 2015 | Comments 3 comments

On Saturday morning, I rolled Kenny’s Tiger out of the garage and set off for the Orient Ferry on the east end of the Island. My Tiger is in need of a new chain and sprockets. It’s nice to have a “spare” around for just such an occasion. 🙂

The Orient Ferry drops you off in New London, Connecticut on the other side of the Long Island Sound. From there it’s a hop, skip and a jump to visit Enishkeetompauog, the Whispering Giant in Narragansett, Rhode Island.

Enishkeetompauog is in good shape considering his age. He was dedicated in 1982. Apparently this statue is stained. I’m not sure that’s common among the other Whispering Giants.

While I was standing around checking him out, I became fixated on some type of cocoon or grody to the max egg sack lodged in his right nostril. Poor guy. He’s gonna have a mug full of creepy crawlies pretty soon.

It was before noon when I wrapped up my visit with the big man. My original plan was only to visit the Rhode Island giant but since I didn’t need to be home for any particular reason I zipped over to Plymouth, Massachusetts to see Enisketomp. You know, while I was in the neighborhood.

Enisketomp stands about 30 feet tall to the top of his feathers. He is wonderful. A pair of long braids drape down along the side of his face. I’m so bummed that due to the time of day I visited, he was really backlit. I couldn’t manage to get a great photo of his whole visage. You’ll have to Google him, he’s great to look at.

So these two fellas make 3 Whispering Giants visited for me. I’m thinking my next stop with either be Williamsport, PA or Laconia, NH. Maybe I’ll flip a coin to see who wins: Chief Woapalanee or Keewakwa Abenaki Keenahbeh.

Whispering Giants Grand Tour: Omiskanoagwiak – Springfield, MA

By Fuzzygalore | April 12, 2015 | Comments 4 comments

On Saturday morning, I hopped on the ferry to head towards Springfield, Ma. to photograph my first Whispering Giant for the Team Strange Grand Tour.

My plan was to take a quick zip up the slab to Springfield, 85 miles and then to saunter home.

The giant that I visited is named Omiskanoagwiak, the wolf people – medicine man.

When you get up close to him, the amount of expression that conveyed through the carved wood is amazing.

All afternoon I was surprised to find that there were still large piles of standing snow and frozen lakes in the Berkshires. As bad as our winter must have been on Long Island, the folks in the mountains must have had it really rough. I’m thankful that spring is finally starting to settle in.

I came home feeling excited about going to visit other giants. I wonder who I’ll get to visit next?

Planning: Whispering Giants Grand Tour

By Fuzzygalore | February 1, 2015 | Comments 6 comments

When announced in late 2014, I decided to sign myself up to take part in the Whispering Giants Grand Tour. This weekend I received my rider flag and a spiffy sticker.

Even though the tour runs for like 8 months, I don’t see myself riding to the far-flung corners of the US this year. But I suppose anything is possible. Especially if you don’t have plans.

These are the “doable” locations on the map where I’ve research that there is in fact an accessible Giant or points opportunity.

Though there are many Giants listed in the database as existing a little sleuthing may be needed before heading out to visit the locations. Some of them are out of view for repair, were destroyed or have gone missing. Three such Giants that fit that bill were in Wheeling, WV, Groton, CT and Atlantic City, NJ. Each of those was in easy snagging distance for me.

In addition to the Giants themselves there is an opportunity to pick up points for a photo of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts flag flying, which features an Algonquin on it and up to 3 Native American Reservation boundary signs. That quad of photos is good for 20 points.

Picking up at least 30 points will make me a finisher. But, I’m actually quite looking forward to getting out on the road and visiting the Giants themselves. I see some good day trips in my future.

Tag: whisperinggiants