Bash Bish Falls & Copake Iron Works

Ann and Vern had tried to find Bash Bish Falls twice from the Massachusetts side. They had heard that it was easier from the New York side and Taconic State Park. We headed off to NY (Sharon CN is very close to both Massachusetts and NY). We found the falls and hiked in 3/4 of a mile to what was described as the most beautiful falls in Massachusetts. The walk was through the woods and it was a little cool.

The falls are beautiful. At the board next to the falls the park service has posted descriptions of about ten accidental falls (some fatal, some not) to deter people from swimming in the pool below the falls or climbing up the rocks next to the falls. There are big signs prohibiting swimming in the river.

Also in Taconic State Park is the Copake Iron Works. This area was heavily developed to produce iron in the mid-1800's. It had water, limestone, iron ore and wood to make charcoal. The furnace (above) is one of the only extant furnaces from this era. There were great descriptions of how the iron was produced. By the early 1920's almost all these iron works went out of business due to competition from Pennsylvania and Minnesota. The Copake Iron Works was famous for producing plows, railroad wheels and other tools, which it continued doing after it ceased to produce big slabs of iron. To entice workers, duplexes were built by the company. These houses still exist and have been converted into cabins. The owner's house is now the house of the park manager.

This is one of the few buildings remaining from the iron works. The furnace is located to the right of the photo, in the trees. There is also a company store and storage shed for dynamite. A small museum is located in the building.

White Mountains & Boston

Bob and I left Montreal early Monday morning on September 8 to avoid the commuter traffic. We traveled the back roads to the border crossing in Canaan VT where we were the only car and there was one border guard. He asked a few questions, swiped our passports and we were on our way. We decided to travel the Three Rivers Scenic Byway, a route along three rivers where logs were floated to mills and which passed through the White Mountains. We were going to drive the road to the top of Mt. Washington (known for the worst weather in the US and the highest wind gust ever recorded at ground level, 231 mph), but the $27 cost, the 39 degree weather at the top with 47 mph winds and 100' visibility deterred us. Instead, we continued on to the AMC cabin in Pinkham's Notch (Pinkham arrived on a sled pulled by a pig) and took two short hikes. The first was to a rock outcropping about 450' above the road and looking towards Mt. Washington (which is in the clouds) and up the valley (see above).

The second hike was to Glen Ellis Falls, a delightful short walk to these beautiful falls. The trail had been laid by the CCC. Afterwards we continued through the White Mountain National Forest towards NH 153, another scenic byway and stopped at Crystal Lake for our picnic lunch of Montreal bagels, chevre cheese and fruit. Our destination was Boston where my niece Catherine and her husband Arjun and son Miro live.

Arjun is doing a post-doc at MIT and Catherine is pursuing prerequisites for an MSW. Miro, who is 19 months old is a cutie. Catherine speaks only French to him and Arjun speaks English. He is very verbal and communicates in both languages. It's wonderful to see how the next generation is raising its children. After Miro went to bed, Catherine fixed a wonderful dinner and we all toddled off to bed.

The next morning Miro woke up at about 6:30 and we all ate breakfast and yacked until Arjun had to go to work at 8:15 and Catherine and Miro were headed off to a coop daycare play group for Catherine's first 3 hours without Miro. We headed off on the Mass Turnpike towards Sharon, Connecticut in what became a driving rain. As we took the back roads we traveled through small Massachusetts towns, passed an old Quaker Meeting House, saw Amherst and eventually stopped for lunch in Lanesborough, MA (where the Road Food book had recommended a restaurant that no longer exists). However, we stopped at a pub and had yummy belly clam sandwiches (Bob) and buffalo burger with sweet potatoes (me).

We arrived at Ann and Vern's cabin, Gavel Cabin, at around 4 in the afternoon. It's about 4 miles outside Sharon, CN on its own pond, surrounded by state forest, lovely gardens created by Ann and quiet.