A Snowy Shaker Mountain, Hancock, MA

Tuesday I hiked with the Berkshire Hikers on Shaker Mountain across from Hancock Shaker Village. I have been there many times but never in snow which made for beautiful scenery. The well-crafted stone walls were mostly covered by snow, but the reservoir, which was still open water, and the trails looked entirely different in the new snow. 

Luckily the temperature was in the 30s providing for comfortable hiking. The only time my fingers got cold was when we stopped for lunch and I took off my gloves. But they warmed up soon after we started walking again.

It's a 6.5-mile moderate hike, much of it on woods roads. There was water on sections of the trail because of the wet fall we've had. 

Shaker Reservoir on the north side of Rte 20.

Ellen told us about the history of the reservoir. First built in 1818
and enlarged in 1894, the reservoir supplied water for the village,
the washing rooms, the stables and the livestock,
and power for the machinery. The water moves
through an underground aqueduct to the village,
and is still in use today. 

The snow on the hemlocks was beautiful!

By the time we climbed up to the Holy Mount, which was the site
 for the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village's Sacred Lot,
we were in the clouds!

The Berkshire Hikers at the Shaker Mountain Mount Sinai Holy Ground.