Bascom Lodge, Mt. Greylock
Our second destination, provided the weather was okay, was Mount Greylock in North Adams, Mass. We’d been here once before when our son was small. After a long drive up the north side, we finally arrived at the top. We love this lodge; it’s such a welcoming sight.
There are panoramic displays laid out in places to detail what the various peaks and valleys are.
This looked back on where we came from the north and east.
It’s hard not to notice that the trees, as you climb higher up the side, get shorter and shorter. These conifers are only 20’ high or less, and full grown. Many plants we saw were much shorter.
New pine cones
We took the path up to the war memorial. It was very windy, and while it had been hot in the valley, I was chilled quickly as we went along the path.
This explains how it is a boreal forest at the summit.
I’ve often found the effects of the ice ages fascinating.
From the top, this is roughly where our farm is in the Connecticut River valley.
The War Memorial
We had made it to the War Memorial but didn’t tarry as I was cold and the wind constant.
On the other side of the memorial there was this relief of the area.
My helper friend, who grew up in the Berkshires, says Mt. Greylock is just 8’ from being a mountain.
This is as close to walking the Appalacian Trail as I will ever get. My husband says we actually walked and camped on it when we did our trip in 1976, but I don’t remember. Good thing one of us has a memory….
By now I was more than ready to get out of the wind. So we headed back to the lodge.
These maiden pinks were a bright pop of color all over the summit
Inside there was a beautiful fireplace, in addition to wonderful views. Sitting in front of the fireplace was a gentleman. My husband commented on the workmanship and we got into conversation with the man. He said he was 91 years old. He’d asked us to guess his age, but my husband told him we weren’t good at that. (Afterwards, I said I thought he was 82, my husband 83…) When he was a much younger man he’d built a stone wall on his property and taught himself how to do it as he went.
Back outside, my husband wanted a photo of this arch.
We headed back down the other side of Greylock. The trees grew in size again. The roads are lined with these wooden guardrails.
At the bottom, we found a Visitor’s Center and stopped in. It had areas dedicated to the history and flora and fauna of the area.
They had this porcupine in a black cherry tree and we thought he’d have been happier in a hemlock…
There was another relief, much larger and detailed, inside.
So that was our trip to the highest point in Massachusetts on our road trip.