the pond the back way
Today was real summer. I was sure this morning that Walden Pond would be closed for lots of the day due to capacity, and I wanted to swim without worrying about that timing. So we went in the back way! Of course, that meant we had to walk a couple miles to get there, but that was all part of the fun.
walk to swim
We parked at the Walden Woods project and walked in along the Sudbury River. We didn't take the longest path, but it was far from the shortest either. The hiking was fun, and it was actually the imminence of lunch time that kept our route from extending even farther. It was lovely and cool in the woods, and the bugs weren't bad at all (we were nervous when right at the start we crossed paths with someone wearing a full mesh veil). We got to the pond right at lunch time, and even though everyone was hungry the water looked so beautiful most of us had to take a dip before eating. And I can tell you that nobody waited half an hour (an hour?!) afterwards!
yay pond
On the way home we took the most direct path to the car—only about a 20-minute walk. It would have been fine even longer though, since spirits were still high. Good outing.