Bascom Lodge On Mount Greylock

Having explored the summit of Mount Greylock on foot and climbed the War Memorial Tower, I was ready to walk over to Bascom Lodge to revive more pleasant memories:

This beautiful, rustic lodge was built of native stone and lumber, procured mostly from the clearing of hiking trails. It opened in 1937 to skiers, hikers and sunrise-seekers:

I entered the front door and encountered this lovely rustic sitting room:

This is not a deluxe hotel but rather a rustic inn, a pleasant night in a real bed for many hikers of the Appalachian Trail:

Each day Bascom lodge serves homemade meals made from local ingredients grown without pesticides and shipped without preservatives. They were serving until 4:00 but I'd already eaten so I just snapped a picture and continued on my way:

I walked onto the back porch with its gorgeous views of the surrounding Berkshire Mountains. Alas, the moose head which used to hang on the wall was no longer there:

Off limits to non-paying guests, the stairs lead upstairs to the rooms which can be rented. In days past I've broken the rules and sneaked a peak. I found them to be barracks type rooms whose main purpose is to allow Appalachian Trail hikers a respite from the hard, stony ground:

One more glance back as I exited the Lodge:

Directly outside the front door is this amazing scene:

A young couple was walking down the hill through the field of wildflowers on their way to Bascom Lodge. But it was time for me to head home so I walked back to my car and began the journey:

War Memorial Tower Atop Mount Greylock

My next order of business was to visit the War Memorial Tower. A plaque informed me that it was built between 1931 and 1933 and dedicated before a crowd of 1200 people assembled on the summit (it must have been quite crowded up there). It was intended to stand as a beacon for peace, with its light beaming for miles from the atop the highest point in Massachusetts. I've seen the tower from atop Berlin Mountain in New York state, but only during the daytime. I've never seen it lit up at night:

I entered the base of the tower and was impressed by the beautiful rotunda with its elaborately painted ceiling:

The walls bore dedications to fallen war heroes:

One more look at the lovely ceiling before I began climbing the spiral staircase:

The stairs began in a narrow tube:

Which then opened up to a steel spiral stairway filled with people climbing up and down:

It was a shorter climb than the Pilgrim Memorial in Provincetown, though there were more people:

When I reached the very top, I could look out through the windows at the surrounding countryside. Plaques informed me what I was seeing. This is looking west toward the Hudson River Valley, The Taconic Mountains, the city of Albany and Berlin Mountain, all in New York:

Looking north toward the Adirondacks of New York, the towns of Williamstown and North Adams (Massachusetts) and the Green Mountains of Vermont:

Looking south toward the town of Cheshire, the Berkshire Mountains, Onota Lake, the city of Pittsfield (all in Massachusetts) and the Catskill Mountains of New York: By the way, that's Bascom Lodge below us, my next stop about which I'll post tomorrow:

This is looking east toward Mount Monadnock, Mount Wachusett, the town of Adams and the Hoosic River Valley:

And then I descended the spiral stairway. It was not as empty as it appears here. There were people climbing up and going down. The adults were courteous but the children expected everyone else to get out of their way: