Scenes from Cape Cod: 12/26-28/22

Various scenes from the Lower Cape in late December, a quiet and beautiful time of year there, though the wind can be biting!

Nauset Marsh from the Fort Hill Trail, Cape Cod National Seashore, in Eastham.

Nauset Marsh.

Gnarled old tree on the Red Maple Swamp Trail, part of a 1.5 mile loop with Fort Hill Trail.

Boardwalk on the Red Maple Swamp Trail.

Doane Rock in Eastham, the largest known glacial boulder on Cape Cod. It was named for early Eastham settler Deacon John Doane. The rock stands 18 feet high and extends 12 feet underground. A fun little scramble to the top.

Strollers on Coast Guard Beach.

Pre-sunset over Nauset Marsh.

In the South Truro woods, Cape Cod National Seashore. Hundreds of wild, undeveloped acres here.

 

Heading towards the ocean on a sandy fire road.

Approaching the top of a towering sand cliff. Blue, blue water on a crisp December day.

Looking down at the Great Beach and out to the mighty Atlantic.

View from Bearberry Hill (115 ft.) in Truro, accessed by the Pamet Area Trails in the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Highland Light in Truro. The original lighthouse was built in 1797; the current one was built in 1857. In 1996 it was moved 450 feet back from the eroding clay cliff at the ocean's edge. Henry David Thoreau visited this lighthouse several times in the 1850s. He enjoyed hearing the tales of the lighthouse keepers.

Looking across Cape Cod Bay towards Provincetown at Corn Hill Beach in Truro.

Home plate view of Eldredge Park, home field of the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod League, the premier summer collegiate baseball league in the country. Many current major leaguers have played here, including Aaron Judge, Chris Sale, Josh Donaldson, Kris Bryant, Jackie Bradley, Jr., Pete Alonso and George Springer. Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk played for Orleans (then named the Cardinals) in 1966, and fellow HOF inductee Frank Thomas played here in 1988.

 

It's a long poke to dead center. In 1988, Frank Thomas, "the Big Hurt," launched one over this sign.

Open glade of pitch pines by the shore of Flax Pond in Nickerson State Park, Brewster.

Pride Rock, on the shore of Flax Pond.

Geocaching, of course!

 

Flax Pond, a busy place in summer, but on this late December day we saw only three people on the 1 1/2 mile loop around the pond.