Lincoln & Concord - "Remembering Thoreau" winter hike - January 21, 2026

 HIKE REPORT

 

Wednesday, 21 January 2026, Lincoln & Concord - "Remembering Thoreau" winter hike

Hike Leaders:  Margie Lee & Tony Lee

~4 miles, 10:00 am start from Lincoln, MA.  

 

Hikers (12):  Margie, Tony, Betsy Harper, Betty Salzburg, Greg Stathis, Jack Mroczkowski, Janet Miller, Marie Keutmann, Phyllis Evans, Renee Rees, Richard Vignoni, and Susan Sabin.

 

In anticipation of "Henry David Thoreau," Ken Burns' upcoming three-hour documentary, we hiked (sauntered if you were to ask Thoreau) to the Walden Pond visitors center.  The park ranger on duty, Kyle, shared a lot of interesting information about Thoreau and the Transcendentalists and accompanied us to the replica of Henry David Thoreau's cabin, where he lived for two years, two months, and two days, overlooking Walden Pond and writing what was to be "Walden."

We crossed Route 126 and stopped at the site of the cabin, continued part way around Walden Pond, crossed the railroad tracks, and returned to The Food Project via Adams Woods trails.  The day was cold, but sunny, and we moved along well, except for a somewhat extended visit to the replica of the cabin.

There was a lot of food for thought and our conversations continued over lunch at Verrill Farm.

Report by Margie Lee.

Lincoln - Off the Beaten Track winter hike - January 14 2026

HIKE REPORT

 

Wednesday, 14 January 2026, Lincoln - Off the Beaten Track winter hike

Hike Leaders: Marie Keutmann & Richard Vignoni

~5 miles, 10:00 am start from The Pierce House, 17 Weston Road, Lincoln, MA

 

Hikers (22):  Marie, Richard, Aiko Pinkoski, Ann Northup, Annemarie Altman, Armen Kasparian, Barbara Pike, Betsy Harper, Dee Galacki, Don Mannes, Frank Calabrese, Harry Spatz, Janet Miller, Judy Perrin, Lynell Stromberg, Marc Baskin, Molly Schaeffer, Phyllis Evan, Rick Lawrence, Steve Hoffenberg, Susan Sabin, and Zach Woods.

 

The parking lot was sheer ice, so a few of us put on our microspikes to get out of our cars.  Most gathered on the edge of the lot where the ground was bare.

 

We went through open fields, horse pastures, backyards, and woods.  Highlights included traversing Flint Fields above the Flint Farm, which has been continuously occupied and farmed by the Flint family since Thomas Flint came over from England in 1636.  We stopped in the field above to look at rows of young American Chestnut trees which have been planted in an experiment to try to grow them in a way to be resistant to the fungus that destroyed most of the magnificent American Chestnuts a century ago.  In the horse pasture above the field, two friendly horses came over to us, probably looking for food.

 

A few of us put on our microspikes again in the woods along Flint Pond leading up to the Decordova Museum.  At the Decordova, we used the restrooms and continued on by the Slanted House.  Then we crossed Baker Bridge Road on the way to the remaining two miles of the hike by the elementary school and onto lesser known trails which brought us back to the Pierce House.

A dozen or so of us had lunch at Verrill Farm, eating in the warm greenhouse.

 

Thanks to Judy Perrin for sweeping.

Report by Marie Keutmann.

Waltham: Western Greenway winter hike - Waltham, Lexington, and Belmont - December 31 2025

HIKE REPORT

Wednesday, 31 December 2025, Waltham:  Western Greenway winter hike - Waltham, Lexington, and Belmont

Hike Leaders:  Barbara Jacobs & Ted Nyder

4.7 miles, 10:00 am start from Waltham, MA

Hikers (16):  Barbara, Ted, Annemarie Altman, Betty Salzberg, Gerry Sheetoo, Greg Stathis, Harry Spatz, Jeffrey Wallen, Judy Perrin, Lynell Stromberg, Marc Baskin, Margie Lee, Marie Keutmann, Richard Vignoni, Susan Broome, and Zach Woods.

This WW offering helped us close out 2025 with a brisk hike on icy trails. Sixteen people ventured out on the 4.7 mile walk using traction devices that helped us get through the icy trails.  We began our walk at the old Metropolitan State Hospital property on the Waltham/Lexington line.  Our route took us on the Western Greenway trails and carriage roads of the old hospital grounds into Belmont's Rock Meadows and Lone Tree Hill.  We hiked the trails to Habitat, where we had a quick break and checked out the goats.  We then continued to our cars by way of the MetFern Cemetery where approximately 317 residents of the Fernald School and Met State Hospital were buried between 1947 and 1979. 

Fourteen of us had post-hike lunch at Bánh Mì Ơi (Vietnamese restaurant). 

Link for more information on the MetFern Cemetery -

     https://www.metferncemetery.com/

Report by Barbara Jacobs.