Fifth annual Walden Pond hike - February 19 , 2020

HIKE REPORT

Wednesday, 19 February 2020, Fifth annual Walden Pond hike
Hike Co-leaders:  Judith McMichael & Janet Miller

4-5 miles, 10:00 am start from The Food Project parking lot, Lincoln, MA
 
Hikers (25):  Janet, Judith, Ann Northup, Barbara Jacobs, Barbara Martin, Bob Cheney, Butch Pemstein, David Fay, David Wean, Everett Briggs, Greg Stathis, Jack Mroczkowski, Margaret Coughlin, Margie Lee, Marie Keutmann, Moshe Werba, Patrick Ward, Robyn Maislin, Rochelle Holman, Roy Westerberg, Sally Chapman, Ted Nyder, Tony Lee, and first-timers, Aiko Pinkoski and John Riley.

Twenty-three WWs met their leaders in the wet and muddy Food Project parking lot ready for our hike.  We took the trail that starts at the bottom of Baker Bridge Road to walk towards Heywood's Meadow - no longer a meadow, thanks to the activity of the beavers there.  The beavers would like to make the pond even bigger, but are kept in check by a Beaver Solutions pond leveler installation, to prevent a flood and associated damage to the Fitchburg railroad tracks.  We saw no beavers, but did see a muskrat dive into the pond and under the ice.  As we walked around Heywood's Meadow, we observed lots of fresh beaver activity, with some sizable trees having been felled.

We hiked on to Walden Pond and visited the site of Thoreau’s cabin, before continuing around the pond.  Judith described how this very large kettle pond was created by the retreating glaciers.  Greg Stathis told us that the Commonwealth authorities had poisoned the pond with rotenone in 1968 and then restocked the water with “more desirable fish” for anglers.

We stopped briefly at the Visitor Center, where an enthusiastic ranger told us much more about Walden Pond.  Then we headed up Pine Hill, home to a large underground water tank and a view of Mt Wachusett.  After leaving Pine Hill, we caught sight of the building that houses the Walden Woods project, which is devoted to the legacy of Thoreau. 

After the hike most of us gathered at Verrill Farm, where we ate in the warm sunshine of the greenhouse.

Report submitted by Janet Miller and Judith McMichael.