Boulder as big as a car rolls down Vermont mountain. Photo shows a motorist got lucky
A visitor to Vermont’s Smugglers’ Notch wilderness spot got extremely lucky Sunday, when a huge boulder tumbled down the mountain toward their car, only to miss it at the last second.
Photos shared by Vermont State Police on Facebook showed the boulder appearing to be parked behind the car.
However, closer inspection shows it damaged the rear of the vehicle. The rock slide, which left a trail of snapped trees in its wake, happened about an hour east of Burlington.
“The owner of the car had gotten out of it just two minutes before this piece of the cliffs broke away and tumbled all the way to Route 108,” reported Vermont Ski + Ride Magazine on Facebook.
The rock slide damaged several vehicles and forced troopers to close the highway for a few hours, but “there are no known injuries,” the department said on Facebook.
Vermont Rock, a guidebook publisher, said the section that fell was a rock face known as “The Castle” and it came to rest after crushing the trunk of the car. “The rockfall must have been the result of many days of very hot weather, followed by several inches of rain and a sudden freeze-thaw cycle, but who knows,” Vermont Rock posted on Facebook
Troopers did not release the car owner’s name or say if anyone was nearby at the time the boulder reached it.
Commenters on social media noted the owner’s luck, while also joking that it might not be easy filing an insurance claim.
“I’m thinking there are some folks that should be speaking to their higher power right now. With that done, I would consider buying lottery tickets as well,” Steve Laskevich posted on the state police Facebook page.
“Hello, State Farm? Yes, I was just rear ended by a rock, am I covered?” Jeremy Goff wrote.
Others suggested the state should leave the boulder where it is, but add signs.
”Be afraid, be really afraid!” Mark Helmken posted.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Boulder as big as a car rolls down Vermont mountain. Photo shows a motorist got lucky."