Mount Greylock in the Berkshires has a lot of goldenrod on top of the mountain. And many happy butterflies are enjoying themselves.
We also visited The Mount in the Berkshires, where Edith Wharton lived for a while with her husband (before she divorced him) and his dogs. There is a pet cemetery near the garden that has lots of tidy flowers, many of which are butterfly-friendly, like this butterfly bush. The Whartons allowed their dogs to sit at their fancy dining table along with distinguished guests (is that natural? as this is Nature Notes).
We saw this red mushroom besides the trail that we climbed to the top of Mount Greylock.
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When you reach the top of Mount Greylock in the Berkshire Mountains, you are rewarded with lovely views. It looks a bit like a puzzle, the Mount Greylock views below and across (one can see more mountains in the distance).
If you climb this tower on the top of Mount Greylock, you see even more views. My husband and two sons climbed to the top. My daughter and I wandered around below, looking down at the landscape.
There is an inscription in honor of soldiers at the base of the Mount Greylock tower. You can also find two quotes from Henry David Thoreau at the top of Mount Greylock. Supposedly, he too as some point in the 19th century climbed this mountain.
I don’t know who the man in the yellow shirt is, but he added a nice contrast to the scene of the lake or pond below the mountain.
Need refreshment? There is a little cafe in the Bascomb Lodge at the top of Mount Greylock.
At the entrance to the Bascomb Lodge is a butterfly garden. I’ll save my butterfly shots for another post. There are also butterfly-friendly flowers all over the top of Mount Greylock.
On the way down the mountain, we took the Overview Trail. I was hoping for several scenic views on the trail, but we were only rewarded with this one scenic vista looking west.
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We just came back from a trip to the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts. One day we climbed Mount Greylock (the highest mountain in the Berkshires). Toward the top we came across this cabin and pond. The trail is part of the Appalachian Trail that spans the mountains of eastern United States. We only hiked a tiny portion of the trail. In fact, we didn’t even climb the entire mountain. We parked at the top of the CCC Dynamite Trail, walked on Sperry Road to the Deer Trail, then took the Hopper Trail to the A.T. or Appalachian Trail. On the way back we took the Overlook Trail to the Hopper Trail. The Overlook Trail really only has one good scenic vista, so my daughter didn’t think it was worth the extra half mile.
It seems that I am not the only person who found this cabin and pond artistically intriguing. Valerie Carrigan did a lovely pastel painting of this cabin on Mount Greylock.
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What do you think of when you see a balloon escaping into the sky?
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Way back in January, my daughter and I went for a walk on the Meadows trail near Donaldson Park. The trail was cleared back in 2006, and it is a nice stroll through the woods. I like this photo and wanted to share it; it looks a bit like the branches of the raspberry bushes in my backyard. It was a snow-less winter in New Jersey, and I think this photo reflects that sort of empty brownness that we had instead.
I haven’t been able to get into nature much recently myself (other than my yard), as I’ve been taking care of my father who is 82 and has needed a lot of help lately. We are working on getting him a new living situation. Balancing work and my regular family duties with this has taken a lot of my time and energy.
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