Walden Pond

After lunch, Teague and I went to Walden Pond. Yeah, that Walden, where the 19th c. author and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau lived for two years in a small cabin in the middle of the woods. Concord locals pronounce his name like "thorough".

 Swimming, canoeing, kayaking, and fishing are allowed. There's a designated swimming area with a beach house and  lifeguards though visitors can swim anywhere around the pond at their own risk. The day we visited, several people were swimming across the pond (maybe a mile and half or two miles). A recent controversy has sprung up as a local group wants to end swimming and boating. Their reasoning is to "preserve the pond for future generations." It would be a shame if swimming is banned. The pond is a beautiful place to swim and picnic. And it's very clean. No one leaves trash. What's the sense of preserving the area, if it's not used? I think some of the locals are fed up with the increased tourist traffic in an area that is already heavily congested.

We followed a path to visit the site of Walden's cabin. We were too busy chatting and missed the stone marker so we had to back track. Nine stone pillars mark the cabin site. The cabin was dismantled long ago.  Yankees, ever frugal, reused the wood. I think I heard the wood from the cabin roof was used as a roof for a pig pen. There's a cairn where visitors leave a stone as a sign of respect. Pick one up before you leave the beach as most of the stones around the site are scarce. Someone left a rose.