A Walk at Walden Pond

"Near the end of March, 1845, I borrowed an axe and went down to the woods by Walden Pond, nearest to where I intended to build my house, and began to cut down some tall arrowy white pines, still in their youth, for timber."

 Henry David Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods

It was only a mere 69 years ago this week, that Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond was discovered.  We decided to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and go and discover it for ourselves.  I admit; I had never been to Walden Pond before.  Upon approaching the entrance, I was a bit disappointed to find that it looked much like any other state park.  Perhaps it's the rugged sign, or the paved parking lot that greeted us.  Where was the pond, I kept asking.  What drew Thoreau here?  What did he find so special?  It was only minutes after we crossed the road, that the pond came into view, along with the reason it has captured all of our hearts and thoughts.

It's so much more than just a pond.

Peace and quiet.  It's easy to find at the edge of the pond.

Where fallen leaves meet the sand.

I certainly did not expect this.

Recreation abounds here.

The bathhouse fits into the landscape.

After lunch at the shore, we began our walk.  The white pines that Thoreau wrote about were everywhere.

There is discreet fence lining the paths but it's a necessary evil in order to avoid further erosion.

Not far from the center of Concord, we were never allowed to forget our proximity to civilization.  There's a glimpse of a commuter train at the far side of the pond.  Planes came and went from the nearby airport.

"What sort of space is that which separates a man from his fellows and makes him solitary?"  HDT

The simple bridge invited us to come to the other side.

"I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time." HDT

As we came upon the site of Thoreau's cabin, I found the pile of stones a bid odd.

"Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?" HDT

"Though the view from my door was still more contracted, I did not feel crowded or confined in the least."  HDT

"When I came to build my chimney, I studied masonry.  My bricks being second-hand ones required to be cleaned with a trowel, so that I learned more than usual of the qualities of bricks and trowels."  HDT

The Emerson - Thoreau Amble is a footpath between the home of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau's cottage.  Our shadows accompanied us on the path, but so did the spirits of those who walked it before us.

"On such a day in September or October, Walden is a perfect forest mirror, set round with stones as precious to my eye as if fewer or rarer."  HDT

"A walk through the woods thither was often my recreation." HDT

"A field of water betrays the spirit that is in the air." HDT

"Nature and human life are as various as our several constitutions." HDT

A replica of Thoreau's cottage sits in the woods near the entrance to the park.

"For more than five years I maintained myself thus solely by the labor of my hands, and I found, that by working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living."  HDT

"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth." HDT