Beauty and Belief in the Berkshires

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The Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts are by no means the highest peaks in the United States, but, foot for foot, they might have inspired more writers than any other range. In particular, Mount Greylock, the highest peak in the state at 3,500 feet, has attracted and inspired scores of famous writers: Melville, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Holmes, among others. From his study at his Arrowhead farmhouse twenty miles away, Melville was inspired to describe the white whale from Moby-Dick based on his view of the snow-covered Mount Greylock. In the 19^thcentury, Mount Greylock was an isolated place that had a special allure to creative types. Henry David Thoreau spent a night on the summit, surrounded by an “undulating country of clouds.” Nathaniel Hawthorne set his haunting story “Ethan Brand” on the mountain’s summit. The poet Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote of the “cloud-girdled” mountain that welcomes visitors to its “purple throne.”

Today, the mountain continues to attract hikers and poets to its slopes. There are numerous trails to the summit with different levels of difficulty. I recommend the Cheshire Harbor trail, which is the easiest and shortest ascent route from the base to the summit. The route takes about 4-5 hours round trip and has a 2,100 feet elevation gain. But on a spectacular autumn day, the miles go by quickly as you climb through the multi-colored foliage. The October day I ascended the peak, the weather cooperated, offering spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and the valleys in the crisp morning air. For visitors who don’t want to hike, there is also an auto road to the summit, which features a ninety-foot-tall Veterans Memorial Tower.

About a forty-minute drive from Mount Greylock is the Hancock Shaker Village, which was inhabited by believers of the Shaker religion from 1790 to 1960, after which it was converted into a museum. At its peak, the village had a population of about 300 believers. The Shaker religion (so called because of their dances in which they “shake out” sin) was founded by Ann Lee (Mother Ann) in Manchester, England in 1747. Its formal name is the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing. Misunderstood and often persecuted in England, Mother Ann and her small group of followers came to America in 1774. Followers of the religion grew in the New World, forming communities that stretched from Maine to Indiana. The Shaker population reached its peak in the mid-19th century, with an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 adherents. Today, the Shaker community remains active at just one location: Sabbathday Lake in Maine, with three believers.

The Shakers lived a hard-working communal life, with men and woman living separately in dormitory-style accommodations. They attempted to attain spiritual and temporal simplicity, pacifism, and perfection in all aspects of their lives. In essence, they wanted to create a working Heaven on Earth. Their buildings lacked religious iconography, for their religion was based on the concept of a direct communion with spirituality, as manifested in their songs and dances. The Shaker songbook contains over 10,000 tunes, the most famous of which is “Simple Gifts,” which the composer Aaron Copland incorporated into his ballet “Appalachian Spring.” A Shaker meeting typically consisted of song and dance lasting for up to two hours, although one Shaker noted on his diary of a meeting lasting 22 hours!

The Shaker Village is beautifully maintained and offers a variety of talks and tours throughout the day. The community sits cradled in the Berkshire mountains, which, on my visit, were aflame with autumnal colors under a vaulted blue sky. On such a spectacular day, it was easy to embrace the simple gifts that nature had to offer.

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