Lanesborough sits at the foot of the Berkshire Hills in the far west of Massachusetts, at about 350 metres, in the broad valley of the Hoosic River, with the great bulk of Mount Greylock to the east. At 1,064 metres, Greylock is the highest peak in the state, a broad, forested massif that dominates the skyline for miles, and a ride to its summit is the main reason for coming here. The town itself is a quiet, rural place of farms, old white houses and a lake, Pontoosuc, that fills with boats in summer.
The mountain has a literary pedigree. Herman Melville lived at a farm near Pittsfield, and he wrote Moby-Dick in a study that looked out toward Greylock, whose long, humped outline is said to have suggested the shape of the white whale. He dedicated a later book to the mountain. The summit is crowned by the Veterans War Memorial Tower, a tall granite lighthouse-like structure built in the 1930s, and the view from the top on a clear day reaches into five states, with the Catskills, the Green Mountains and the Taconics laid out below.
The road to the top, the Mount Greylock Scenic Byway, is a narrow, winding mountain road with fine surfaces, tight bends and long climbs, and it takes about forty minutes to ride at a leisurely pace. It passes through forests of northern hardwood and spruce, with the smell of balsam and damp earth, and the temperature at the summit can be fifteen degrees cooler than in the valley. The road is closed in winter, usually from late autumn to mid-May, so check before you set out. In October, the maples blaze and the road is crowded.
Fuel is available in Lanesborough, a small town, and in Pittsfield, a few kilometres south, which has a full range of services, and in Dalton, whose paper mill has made the paper for American banknotes for generations. Bring a layer for the summit, and expect fog and wind. Black bears live on the mountain, and so do moose, so keep an eye on the verges. The Appalachian Trail passes over the summit, and hikers with huge packs are a common sight. A cup of tea in the lodge at the top, with the whole of the Berkshires below, is a quiet pleasure.