Pretty pretty nature stuff

Ok, I'm almost done sharing stories and photos from my week in MA. Along with various farm animal and art encounters, we went on a few walks through new, spring-fresh forests to see some lovely waterfalls. And because we seemed to be hitting the Berkshires directly in the off-season, we rarely encountered another hiker and had the quiet of the forest all to ourselves. 

The Cascades

Tucked at the end of a quaint residential street between Williamstown and North Adams, the trail to The Cascades is short, and most definitely worthwhile.

Wahconah Falls

Audible from the parking lot, this picturesque waterfall tumbles over angles and edges into a large pool, surrounded by lush, mossy vegetation, and so many different kinds of ferns!

Tannery Falls
Not the easiest to get to, but if you adventure along the use-at-your-own-risk "road" (more like ATV trail), you will be rewarded with not one, but two spectacular waterfalls. Double waterfalls! What does it mean?! Only a few hundred feet apart, but completely different from one another.

Natural Bridge State Park

On the site of an old marble quarry, a waterfall tumbles over stark, white marble and through rock forming kettles and channels and the namesake bridge.

Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation

Made up of two bumps rising sharply out of the Pioneer Valley—North Sugarloaf (791 ft) and South Sugarloaf (652 ft)—these loafs offer a commanding view of the Connecticut River and the Holyoke Range to the south. I wouldn't say I'm afraid of heights, but driving up the narrow road running up the dramatic cliff-edge of South Sugarloaf was scary! (Worse going up, because you're on the outside of the road, closer to the edge...)

Sunset on the Mohawk Trail

The Mohawk Trail was one of the first scenic byways in the United States, along what was once a trade route connecting Native North Americans on the Atlantic with upstate New York. It winds east-west from Greenfield to North Adams, through the Berkshires, along the Hoosic River, getting increasingly narrow and winding (and impossible to photograph!) through Florida county, where evidence is still visible from the surging hurricane waters of Irene last summer.

We got to the top of the famous hairpin turn as the sun was setting, so we sat, and waited, and watched the light change. From this vantage point overlooking North Adams and Williamstown, you can see the Taconic range in New York to the west, and the Berkshire mountains extending into Vermont to the north.

Hancock Shaker Village

I could relay so many interesting things that I learned about the Shakers. About their lovely architecture, amazing innovations, penchant for hard-work and quality craftsmanship. Or about their admirable values of gender equality, responsible land stewardship, and pacificism. But as has become a theme of this vacation, I'm going to rave about the animals.

It was lunch time by the time we got to the round barn (which could be a post on it's own, for it's remarkable architecture), and we were lured to the pens by loud, raucous bleets, oinks and other bellowing. One little lamb in particular, Alice, followed the farmer around like a puppy, and it was this adorable little lamb that I got to bottle-feed!

Art in the Berkshires

The Berkshires are home to some seriously impressive collections of art. In Williamstown we visited the Clark Art Institute (free!) and the Williams College Museum of Art (also free!), the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art near Amherst, but unfortunately missed the MASS MoCA in North Adams.

The Clark

I was totally blown away by Sterling and Francine Clark's—heirs to the Singer sewing machine fortune—personal collection, which includes (to name just a few) Impressionist, Renaissance and Dutch works. Even a Botticelli! Are you kidding me?! Amazing.

Domenico Ghirlandaio (Domenico di Tomaso Bigordi) Portrait of a Lady, c. 1490, tempera and oil on panel

Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, modeled 1880-1; cast 1919-21, bronze

Claude Monet Rouen Cathedral, The Façade in Sunlight, 1894, oil on canvas

Lawrence Alma-Tadema The Women of Amphissa, 1887, oil on panel;
detail from Preparations for the Festivities, 1866, oil on canvas

Joachim Wtewael The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis, 1612, oil on copper

I think the security guard makes a nice fifth bust in this row, don't you think?

Williams College Museum of Art
This on-campus gallery houses works from antiquity to present day, including a Hopper! I don't think I've ever seen an original before! I love that exciting first impression of seeing the original of a painting I studied in school. You can get up close and see the detail, the brushstrokes, the dimension of the paint... there's just something magical about seeing the piece that they actually worked on—standing just as close as they once did—rather than a reproduction in a book. 

Seated Vairocana, gilt bronze from the Yuan Dynasty (1280–1368),
and Louise Bourgeois, Eyes (nine elements), 2001, bronze

Edward Hopper, Morning in a City, 1944, oil on canvas

Mary Cassatt Ellen, Mary Cassatt in a Big Blue Hat, c. 1905, oil on canvas

 
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Other than baby piglets and llama hiking, this gallery was a major highlight for me. As you can tell from my Pinterest boards, I am drawn to illustration, specifically for children's books. For the last ten years the permanent exhibition has been The Art of Eric Carle: The Birth of a Book and a Museum about Carle's life and process, with the originals for the book Slowly, Slowly, Slowly said the Sloth. A very inspiring exhibit; I was excited to learn that he was a graphic designer too! The other exhibition space displayed paintings by Kadir Nelson from his latest book WE ARE THE SHIP: The Story of Negro League Baseball. The Carle also has an extensive library of children's books and a fantastic bookstore—I could have easily spent all day (and all my money) with all those wonderful books.

Leo Leonni, Imaginary Garden, 1978, bronze

Street Art
After visiting the Carle, we went to Amherst to explore the lovely university town, and judging by the number of professors in robes and students in cap and gown, I'd say it was graduation day! Anyway, in Amherst we spotted this nifty street art:

 

Llama hiking

When we found out we were going to Massachusetts, I assumed we would do certain things, but never anticipated that hiking with llamas would be one of those things. I didn't even know it was a "thing." But, turns out, there is more than one farm that offers this interesting activity. Enter: Hawkmeadow Farms.

I was excited. Didn't know what to expect—do we ride them? do they carry our stuff?—I didn't really care, I just wanted to hang with some animals!

As a naturalist, Richard made an excellent guide, pointing out features of the land that we might not have noticed. Like the large beech tree, called a "babysitter tree" because mama bear sends her babies up it while she forages, hence all the claw marks on it's trunk. Or the area of freshly dug earth, indicative of a bear rooting around for grubs. Or dissecting some scat, revealing rodent bones, to determine just who's scat it was. Coyote, likely.

The llamas made interesting and unique hiking companions. When my llama, Picasso, wasn't munching on every possible thing he could reach (which was a llot, his neck is llong), he engaged in an activity called "pointing." I would notice the slack in the lead tighten, and would turn to find him stopped, and looking, pointing, intently into the forest. I would follow his gaze, as Richard said this often would lead to a sighting of some sort of wildlife. But I never saw anything, which actually started to freak me out after a bit. Especially after Richard kept pointing out fresh evidence of bears and coyotes.

By the end of the hike, Mark and Happy Jack were besties, and his llama would rub it's face on Mark's arm. But note Picasso's distinct lean away from me. He would have none of it. But I love him anyway. How could you not love those big eyes and prominent underbite? And did you notice the spot on his left eye is shaped like Africa? How cool is that?!

Cricket Creek Farm

I've got a bunch of posts to share with you this week about my vacation last week in western Massachusetts! Western Massachusetts, you ask? Why'd you go there? Well, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of some awesome friends, we were given a week's stay in a timeshare hotel, in an area known as the Berkshires. And though this area hadn't previously been on my radar (overshadowed by more well-known places on the east-side of the state, namely Boston and Cape Cod), I'm so glad we were given this opportunity, and I would absolutely go back. The Berkshires are full of things to explore: picturesque towns and winding roads, art galleries and antique stores, organic farms and hiking trails...

In doing a bit of pre-trip research, Mark came across this awesome farm that was our first stop: Cricket Creek Farm. If I ever come back in another life, please let me be a barn cat on this farm. Situated in the Taconic hills, overlooking the highest peak in the Berkshires and all of Massachusetts: Mount Greylock. Surrounded by green, rolling pastures and beautiful forests, the farm raises dairy cows and sells raw milk, raw milk cheeses, bread, baked goods, local honey and beeswax products, maple syrup, preserves, jams, and even pottery! The farm store runs on the honour system: put what you owe in the box, and take change if you need it. Plus they host monthly potlucks to the members of their CSA. There is nothing I don't love about this place! Plus, when we were there, there were brand new, 5-day-old piglets! Piglets, baby cows, barn cats, chickens—I was in heaven!

Of all the cheeses they offer, we tried the Tobasi and Maggie's Round, and both were fantastic. We also got some raw milk, which I'd never had before (since it's illegal in Canada; don't get me started on that one), and ohmy, it's good! So good! So fresh and clean tasting. Just like regular milk, but better!