Three Taconic Valley Towns

I'd hiked up Mount Everett with three of my dogs and was on the way back home when I decided that I just had to take a few more pictures of the countryside. Mount Everett itself is on the Appalachian Trail in western Massachusetts. The closest "town" is Mount Washington, Massachusetts. This church is about the closest thing you'll see around those parts resembling a town center. That garage-like building behind it has a sign proclaiming to be the Mount Washington Town Hall:

The tiny town of Mount Washington, Massachusetts has a few very expensive looking homes, beautiful scenery and lots of state land which is mostly kept natural. It's right on the New York border and one of New York's two Taconic State Parks, which include the magnificent Bash Bish Falls. I was struck by this historic and serene cemetery resting quietly along a mountain road:

I passed over the New York state line, through the Taconic State Park, past Bash Bish Falls and into the tiny town of Copake Falls, New York. This is its Post Office:

And the only church I could see. A family next door was having a picnic as I snapped this photo:

Surprisingly, for such a tiny hamlet, this rather large, stone pillared tavern seems to do a pretty good business. I ate lunch there once with a friend many years ago after hiking up Mount Everett:

And continuing my drive home, I passed through another very tiny town - Austerlitz, New York. Most of the photos I took didn't come out well, but I wanted to share two of them. This sign proclaims it as the former home of the poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay. She lived there for 27 years in a farm house named Steepletop on 230 acres, most of which are now State owned preserves. I had performed in a choral performance the previous night which included a song with one of her poems as its lyrics, so I was especially interested. By the way, if you want to hear the performance of that song, "Afternoon On A Hill," you can find it here. Or if you'd like to hear more of the choral performances, the play list may be found here:

And one last photo to illustrate the small town of Austerlitz. Their Post Office looks to me like something out of the old west: