Walden Pond - A walk in Thoreau's footsteps around his beloved pond - Concord, Massachusetts

Walden Pond is beautiful in every season - Concord, MA
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately. To front only the essential facts of life, and see, if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not when I came to die – discover that I had not lived”

 Henry David Thoreau

One of my favorite spots in the world is Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts near Boston. Walden Pond is actually a lake that is 62 acres in size and 102 feet deep. The pond was made famous by Transcendentalist – Henry David Thoreau when he lived in simplicity here for two years alone in a small cabin in 1845. He kept detailed journals of nature and his observations and compiled all of these materials into a book called “Walden” which he had published in 1854. Walden Pond is now an oasis in the urban sprawl of the greater Boston area. I have visited Walden Pond several times and it is a welcome change of pace from the gnarled traffic of I-95 and the rest of the Boston freeway system. The first time I visited Walden it had just snowed about 3 inches and my wife and I had the entire place to ourselves. There was not another vehicle in the parking lot. It was cold, overcast and grey but the evergreens were quite pretty with their fresh frocking of snow. Most of the pond was frozen but there was a ring of un-frozen water from around 50 feet from the shore to the ice sheet in the middle of the lake. The trees reflected beautifully in this clear still water. It was very quiet except for the occasional “splat” of a big piece of snow falling from a tree, the drip of water from the trees and an echoing “knock” “knock” of a wood pecker drilling into a tree. It was kind of surreal and yet very peaceful having the place all to ourselves.

Silent Walk - Walden Pond
Very cold – frozen ears and nose were the order of the day. Walden Pond is now a State Park that offers, hiking, swimming, canoeing, fishing and cross country skiing. A trail goes all the way around the pond and passes by the site of Thoreau’s cabin. On my second visit to Walden it was the middle of June. It was so very beautiful there and while there were many other people there, it still had the quiet calming feeling about it. People were hiking the trails, a few were fishing and a surprising number of people were swimming way out in the lake which must have been pretty cold. I walked the pond path, photographing all of the wonderful green plants, trees, and water scenes. I then came upon the site of Thoreau’s Cabin where a sign board reads the reason why Thoreau came to the woods. It seems as though the custom here is to bring a stone and deposit it on the pile. There were numerous stacked stones here – one had this inscription written on it “What you love is an incredibly accurate compass of what you should be doing” HDT. I thought about this saying and reflected on my life for a bit and then continued on. The woods around the cabin site are beautiful and they beckon further investigation. The forest floor is littered with leaves and debris of seasons past. The brown of it is a stark contrast to the bright green of the leaves and plants that rise above the forest floor. I very much enjoy my visits to Walden as each time I visit, I reflect on the beauty and peace of nature and it sort of recharges me. If you are ever in the Boston area, I highly recommend a visit to Walden Pond. For more information contact them at Walden Pond – 915 Walden Street (Rte. 126),Concord, MA,01742 (978) 369-3254
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/

Jaromy D. Jessop

Walden Pond Explorations - Concord, Massachusetts

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, Live the life you have imagined"

Henry David Thoreau


"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake"

Henry David Thoreau

"The World is but a canvas to our imagination"
Henry David Thoreau

"Its not what you look at that  matters, its what you see"

Henry David Thoreau

"A morning walk is a blessing for the whole day"

Henry David Thoreau

"Our life is frittered away by detail.........simplify, simplify, simplify"

Henry David Thoreau

"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us"
Henry David Thoreau

"This curious world we inhabit...is more wonderful than convenient, more beautiful than useful, it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used"

Henry David Thoreau



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