not in the biblical sense...(which for anyone who doesn't know, Jacob's Ladder refers to the prophet, Jacob, in the book of Genesis who dreampt he saw the straight path into Heaven)
Last year when I was driving back from the retreat, I noticed an area on the side of the road which alluded to Jacob's Ladder and the name stuck with me. Before I returned to the Berkshires for the against the stream vispasana retreat this year, I did a bit of research on it to see if I could work it into the trip:
The Jacob's Ladder Scenic Byway is a pleasant alternative to the Massachusetts Turnpike, which it roughly parallels. It winds its way through five towns in the Berkshire Foothills, beginning in Lee, Massachusetts and continuing through Becket, Chester, Huntington and Russell. Also known as the "Jacob's Ladder Trail," the 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 20 was designated as a scenic byway by the state of Massachusetts in 1992. From the Boston area, it takes only about two hours to reach the Jacob's Ladder Scenic Byway; from New York City, it is about 2½ hours (by car, and about a day by bike).
Jacob's Ladder Trail traverses the scenic southern Berkshires. The scenic byway follows the same rivers and streams that guided native Americans of the Mohican and Woronoake tribes as they traveled between the Connecticut and Hudson River valleys. In 1910, the road was opened as the first highway built specifically for the revolutionary new horseless carriages. Crossing the Berkshires as it does, it was dubbed "the First of the Great Mountain Crossovers,". The Trail attracted automotive pioneers from far and wide to test themselves and their machines against the rugged terrain. Within a few years, the Trail had become a part of a continent-spanning highway linking Plymouth Rock with Seattle Washington, known as the "Yellowstone Trail." (maybe that will be on the 60x60)
According to a few guidebooks, a ski area called Jacob's Ladder operated 4.1 miles east of Lee, from around 1947 until at least 1951. Originally operating with a 750' tow and a slope and a trail, the area expanded to include 2 trails and 2 slopes by 1949. The vertical at this area was 155', with runs that had a maximum grade of 24 degrees. A ski dorm (Here U R Inn) and restaurant were located on the premises. The area was operated by Floyd Rossi.
This year, I made arrangements to ride my buddy's bike, the Baroness, from the retreat to Brooklyn over Labor Day weekend and to climb part of Jacob's Ladder.
A little Foster-Wallace on the Baroness... Matt didn't name her. She's a Masi, which due to free association, I link to Masochist. According to wikipedia, the term “Masochism” was named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. He practiced masochism and wrote novels expressing his masochistic fantasies. These terms were first selected as professional scientific terminology, identifying human behavioural phenomena and intended for the classification of distinct psychological illnesses and/or malicious social and sexual orientations. Leopold wrote a novel in 1870, Venus in Furs, which I downloaded via Project Guttenberg. After partially reading it, decided to name the Masi, The Baroness after Wanda von Dunajew, the novel's central female character, was modelled after Fanny Pistor, who was an emerging literary writer. The two met when Pistor contacted Sacher-Masoch, under assumed name and fictitious title of Baroness Bogdanoff, for suggestions on improving her writing to make it suitable for publication.
this is how we climbed Jacob's Ladder:
Day ONE - Earthdance to the Old Creamery Coop to Guido's (the worst name for a) Fresh Market to JACOBS LADDER (there wasn't a sign for it) in Lee, Massachusetts to renegade camping at Butternut Ski Resort
the plan...
Old Creamery
commuter treasures
renegade camping
Day TWO - started at Riverbend Cafe (yay Mirza for finding ALL the vegan places along the way) to the Harlem Valley Rail Trail in Millerton, NY to Carmel (where I hit a wall and dropped my basket) along the Putnam Trailway to Mahopac and ended at the no-tell motel.
outside Sharon, CT and my favorite road of the whole entire trip (we passed a lot of names of places which I have heard about from stories of my dad's youth)
murder tarp at the no-tell motel...
Day THREE - the Putnam Trailway south to the North County Trailway to the South County Trailway to the Old Putnam Trail. The North County Trailway is the longest of the four connected rail-trails breathing new life into the former New York Central Railroad's Putnam Division line. The "Old Put" provided passenger and freight service between New York City and Brewster, in Putnam County, from the 1880s. Passenger service ended in 1958 and freight services ended in 1980.
Though a portion of Old Putnam rail corridor extends south, it is heavily overgrown. We headed south from the entrance a short distance to see the remnants of an old passenger platform. All that remains is the rusted metal framework. The trail's best scenery and its most unusual sight are immediate. The trail skirts Van Cortlandt Lake and then passes 13 large stones along the west side of the corridor. Railroad baron Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt had these stone slabs shipped from quarries to determine which would be best (most impervious to weathering) for building Grand Central Station in New York City. Despite the results of his experiment, Indiana limestone was chosen because it was cheaper to transport. The Indiana limestone sample is the second southernmost stone in this lineup.
after the Old Putnam Trail:
Then we were pretty much in the city, we rode along the Hudson River and down into Manhattan. We rode through Times Square and Union Square with the touring bikes, which tickled Mirza pink. We ended our trip at the Greene Point Dharma Punx meditation group. which was perfect. and beyond words.
Before cleaning the Bronx off the Baroness:
After cleaning the Bronx off the Baroness:
...i suppose i could say that this trip was so amazing, that i did die and go to heaven... in which case... i did climb Jacob's Ladder in a biblical sense. namaste.
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