Yesterday was a gorgeous day… sunny with temps in the high 40s. It felt like spring, after all of the cold and snowy weather that we’ve had the past few weeks.
Phil and I took a nice walk on Boat Meadow Beach. The tide was low and the views were spectacular. Little did we know that when we moved here this would be in our backyard! It doesn’t get much prettier.
Red Maple Swamp Trail At Fort Hill is one of our favorite hikes. There is so much diversity. I’ve posted many photographs of the hike but never a map, which is at the end of the blog along with more photographs throughout the blog.
The trail starts out at the trailhead of the first parking lot where you can see sweeping views of the fields which, in the summer, is teeming with wildflowers and butterflies, and out to Nauset Marsh. In the distance you can even see Nauset Beach. Follow the signs for Red Maple Swamp Trail and it will lead you through the woods and to the boardwalk across the swamp. It is beautiful.
From there you can stop at Hemenway Landing and watch the boats going in and out or just sit on one of the 2 benches and enjoy the views. As you head back up the hill, there are several places where you can see Nauset Marsh from above with Coast Guard Station in the distance. You will pass Indian Rock on Skiff Hill which is very interesting.
At the big rock and intersection, you can meander along the shores of Nauset Marsh or head back up the hill to the upper parking lot where you will see more spectacular views. It is the perfect hike for the whole family …any season of the year!
“Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat CG-36500 is a historic, 36-foot lifeboat that is berthed at Rock Harbor in Orleans, Massachusetts. Built in 1946, it is notable for its involvement in the SS Pendleton rescue, one of the most daring such events recorded in the history of the United States Coast Guard. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, and now serves as a museum boat.”
You can see this historic boat, featured in the Disney film “The Finest Hours, at Rock Harbor in the summer months or at Meetinghouse Pond in the winter months. I took this photograph a couple of weeks ago. If you haven’t read the book, The Finest Hours, or seen the movie with the same name produced in 2016, put it on your list. It was a incredible, historic rescue of 32 of 33 crewmen in the dead of winter when the SS Pendleton broke apart off of Chatham, MA.
