Mount Greylock
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Template:Mtnbox start Template:Mtnbox coor dms Template:Mtnbox climb Template:Mtnbox finish Mount Greylock is a mountain of 3,491 feet (1,064 m) in elevation, located in northwestern Massachusetts. It is the highest point in the state.
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Location
Mount Greylock is located in northwestern Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The summit is located in Adams, but the entire landform is also contained within the towns of North Adams, Williamstown, Cheshire, New Ashford and Lanesborough. The mountain is composed of a north-south oriented central ridge: Saddle Ball Mountain (elev. 3,247 ft; 990 m), Mount Greylock (3,491 ft; 1,064 m), Mount Fitch (3,110 ft; 948 m) and Mount Williams (2,951 ft; 899 m); flanked by two subordinate ridges: on the west by Mount Prospect (2,690 ft; 820 m) and Stony Ledge (2,560 ft; 780 m), and on the east by Ragged Mountain (2,528 ft; 771 m).
Geographically, Mount Greylock forms an island-like range between the Hoosac Range to the east, the Green Mountains to the north, the Berkshire Hills to the south and east, and the Taconic Range to the west (with which it is closely associated in geology). The mountain generally rises 1,000 feet (305 m) above the surrounding landscape, where on a clear day views upwards to 70-100 miles (110-160 km) distant are possible into five different states: Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire.
History
Prior to the arrival of Europeans the Mahican people were closely associated with this region. The traditional trade route connecting the tribes of the Hudson and Connecticut River Valleys (today, Route 2 known as the Mohawk Trail) passes beneath the northern flank of Mount Greylock. The mountain was known to eighteenth century English settlers as Grand Hoosuc(k). In the early nineteenth century it was called Saddleback Mountain because of its appearance (Saddle Ball, the name of the peak to the south, still reflects this).
However, the origin of the present name of Greylock and its association with the mountain is unclear. It first appeared in print about 1819, and came into popular use by the 1830s. It may be in reference to its appearance, as it often has a gray cloud, or lock of gray mist upon his head, or in tribute to a legendary Native American chief, Gray Lock. Gray Lock (c.1670-1750) was a Western Abenaki Missisquoi chief of Woronoco/Pocomtuc ancestry, born near Westfield (MA). Continued English settlement onto Abenaki lands erupted into a new conflict in 1722. While the French, New York colonists, and Iroquois watched on, Abenakis from coastal Maine to Lake Champlain focused raids on the Massachusetts Colony. Known as Dummer's War, Three Years War, Lovewell's War, The War with the Eastern Indian or Father Rasle's War, Gray Lock was prominent in the course of the conflict by conducting guerrilla raids into Vermont and western Massachusetts. Gray Lock consistently eluded his pursuers, and acquired the name Wawanolet (Wawanolewat, Wawanotewat), meaning “he who fools the others, or puts someone off the track.” Eastern Abenaki groups made peace with Massachusetts in 1725 and 1726, and Abenakis from Canada agreed to peace terms in 1727, but Gray Lock refused to negotiate a settlement. Although it is not clear whether he actually was ever personally associated with the mountain, perhaps in tribute to his notoriety the mountain eventually came to bear his name.
Timothy Dwight IV, President of Yale University, along with Williams College President Ebenezer Fitch climbed Greylock in 1799, probably over a rough route cut by a local pioneer farmer Jeremiah Wilbur (in that time more land had been cleared on the slopes for farming than today). In his account from Travels in New England and New York describes his period experience, although it was noted the summit vegetation was so thick that they had to climb a tree (balsam) to get a better view: "(Saddle Back) is the highest land in the state...Its southeastern front is extensively visible throughout Berkshire, and from high elevations in the states of New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Connecticut at very great distances...During a great part of the year, it is either embosomed or capped by clouds, and indicates to the surrounding inhabitants the changes of weather with not a little exactness."
Williams College (founded in 1793) in nearby Williamstown, has always been closely associated with Greylock and the study of its natural history. On May 12, 1830 a group of students directed by college President Edward Dorr Griffin, improved and further cut a trail from the end of the Hopper Road to the summit. Today this route is the Hopper Trail,on which a traditional climb up Greylock by Williams students continues each fall during "Mountain Day." In May of 1831 the first wooden meteorological observatory called "Griffin’s Tower” was built on the summit by students. Later in 1840, it was replaced by a more substantial 60-foot tall wooden observatory tower, from which Donati’s Comet was later photographed in 1858. In 1863 the first organized hiking and nature study club in the United States, the Alpine Club, is founded by Professor Albert Hopkins, and the club frequently camped on the mountain.
By the mid-nineteenth century improved transportation into the region, along with close proximity to Boston and New York City, attracted many visitors to Greylock. Among them writers and artists became inspired by the mountain scene: Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Cullen Bryant, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Herman Melville, and Henry David Thoreau. Melville is said to have taken part of his inspiration for Moby Dick from the view of the mountain from his house Arrowhead in Pittsfield, since its snow covered profile reminded him of a great white Sperm Whale's back breaking the ocean's surface. Thoreau summited and spent a night in July of 1844. His account of this event in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers described his approach up what is today the Bellows Pipe Trail. Scholars contend that this Greylock experience transformed him, affirming his ability to do these excursions on his own, following his brother John's death; and served as a prelude to his experiment of rugged individualism at Walden Pond the following year in 1845.
By the late nineteenth century clear-cutting logging practices had stripped much of the mountain for local industry: wood products, paper and charcoal. Along with this exploitation came devastating forest fires and landslides. Concerned for the protection of the mountain, a group of local businessmen incorporated the Greylock Park Association (GPA) in 1885, one of the earliest land conservation groups in the state. They purchased 400 acres (1.6 km²) on the summit. The GPA also undertook long-needed repairs to the Notch Road so that carriages could access the summit. Aside from shares to fund its operation, the GPA charged a 25-cent toll for the carriage road and a 10-cent fee to ascend the iron observation tower (built 1889).
By the winter of 1897, with the GPA venture in debt, conservation interests in the state sought to protect the mountain through other means. Legislation was filed to transfer the GPA land holdings on the mountain to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. On June 20, 1898 Greylock State Reservation was created, with the stipulation that the state add to the original acreage (to ultimately total 10,000 acres (40.5 km²)). With this land acquistion the Massachusetts State Park system was created. A three-person, governor-appointed Greylock (Reservation) Commission, a body of Berkshire County government, was entrusted with the care and maintenance of the reservation. The title Reservation refers to county management of state land, since there was only one state forester and a handful of state fire wardens in service at the time; similarly other early State Reservation properties in Massachusetts were previously managed and operated by county commissions for the state.
In 1906 began the surveying and construction of another approach from the south. Two years later it was opened to the public, and today the Rockwell Road is probably the most popular route up the mountain. Afterwards the Commission turned its attention to the foot trails, and by 1913 it was able to boast that 17 trails existed on the mountain.
By 1929 the Appalachian Trail route up Mount Greylock was first cut, and most of the Massachusetts section route was complete by 1931. But due to disputes between the local Berkshire Hills Conference trail group and the outsider Appalachian Trail Conference/Appalachian Mountain Club Berkshire Chapter, the trail was in jeopardy of growing back in until the local Mount Greylock Ski Club assumed maintenance in 1937.
The greatest period of recreational development on Mount Greylock occurred in the 1930s. The Massachusetts War Memorial Tower on the summit was constructed (1931-32). The Civilian Conservation Corps (107th Company, Camp SP-7) made extensive improvements on roads, trails, vistas, firebreaks, forest health programs and recreation area development. The CCC built Adirondack lean-to shelters, the Thunderbolt Ski Shelter (1940) and completed work on Bascom Lodge (1933-37). The CCC also cut the Thunderbolt Ski Trail (1934), site of the United States Eastern Amateur Ski Association (USEASA, today the United States Ski Association) Championship Races in 1938 and 1940.
In 1966 following years of legal disputes, led by the conservation group the Mount Greylock Protective Association, over the Greylock Commission's intended commercial use of public land, responsibilities for management and operation the mountain reverted to the state park system.
Features
Today, the 12,500 acre (50.6 km²) Mount Greylock State Reservation is managed and operated by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of State Parks and Recreation. The ridgeline of Greylock, between Mount Fitch on the north and Saddle Ball on the south is the only place in Massachusetts where a boreal forest or sub-alpine forest flourishes. A paved auto road crosses over the mountain and is accessible to traffic from mid-May through late-October (as long as safe driving conditions permit; call ahead). Access to the park is free; however, there is a $2 fee to park at the summit. The staffed Visitors Center in Lanesborough is open year-round (1.5 miles off of Route 7) and provides orientation, trail maps, informational brochures, exhibits and accessible rest rooms. The campground on Sperry Road provides both individual and group sites, reservations are suggested. Five lean-to shelters are available for backpacking. Bascom Lodge on the summit provides meals and lodging. About 70 miles (110 km) of hiking trails approach the mountain from various locations, including the Appalachian Trail. For specific information on the park visit the Mount Greylock State Reservation website.
Image:Greylock summit monument.JPG
Prominent features on the summit are the Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower, Bascom Lodge, the Thunderbolt Ski Shelter and a television/radio tower. Based on the cultural significance of the summit and excellent examples CCC period park structures, the area was designated a National Historic District in 1998.
The War Memorial Tower was legislated in October of 1930, supported by Senator Theodore Plunkett of Adams and Governor Frank G. Allen. The memorial was designed by Boston-based architects Maginnis and Walsh, and built by contractors John G. Roy & Son of Springfield in 1931-32 at a cost of $200,000. The tower takes the form of a perpetually lighted beacon to honor the state's dead from World War I (and now subsequent conflicts). The architectural design of the tower was intended to have no suggestion of Utilitarianism, but to display classic austerity (Starved Classicism), a 93-foot (28 m) tall shaft with eight frieze-framed observation openings. It includes some minor details of Art Deco such as the decorative eagle on the base. Inside the base is a domed chamber for a reverential shine, that was intended to store tablets and war relicts from wartime units in the state’s history. Although local legislators and residents advocated for local stone to be used, it was ultimately quarried from Quincy (MA) Granite. In part, it bears the inscription "they were faithful even unto death." The transluscent globe of light at its top, originally illuminated by twelve 1,500 watt lights (now six), is said to be visible at night for 70 miles (110 km). The formal dedication ceremony in 1933 by Governor Joseph B. Ely, was attended by about 1,500 and broadcast nationally over NBC radio.
Image:MtGreylockSummit.JPG Bascom Lodge was begun in 1933 by Jules Emil Deloye, Jr. and completed in 1937 through the Civilian Conservation Corps, built using native materials of Greylock Schist and Red Spruce. Designed by Pittsfield Architect, Joseph McArthur Vance (1868-1948) it displays the rustic architectural design of period park structures. It is open from mid-May though mid-October, operated as a concession by arrangement with the state. It sells hot food and rents overnight lodging.
Television/Radio Tower: Three stations transmit from a broadcast tower below the summit on the west side:
- WAMC (90.3 Albany, New York)
- WCDC-TV (19/36 Adams, Massachusetts)
- WNYA-TV (51 Pittsfield, Massachusetts)
- A NOAA Weather Radio station (WWF-48, 162.525 MHz) also broadcasts from this site.