Tag: #trails

Forests and Folklore…Joshua’s Pond

A view of Joshua’s Pond last night.

This weekend I took long walks, and a few glorious swims wandering the trails around Micah and Joshua’s pond. This land isn’t just a quiet, beautiful getaway it’s also rich with history and lore. 

The ponds were carved out roughly 18,000 years ago by retreating glaciers. While Micah’s Pond is an untouched kettle pond, Joshua’s Pond is fed by clean, cold underground springs and considered the cleanest ponds in the region. 

Long before European settled the land, it was the homelands of the Wampanoag people, specifically the Cotochese tribe. 

When the Europeans came so did the legend of Liza Tower Hill. Born Elizabeth Lewis in 1711, lore has it that she was raised”wild” and independent on the outskirts of Barnstable, she eventually married William Blatchford and built a home deep in woods near the ponds. Because she lived far from the village people and had knowledge of the forest,  townspeople began fearing her. As the rumors grew,  Liza was no longer seen as a fiercely independent woman, she was said to be a witch. Anything going wrong in the area from a missing traveler, to failed crops were blamed on her. Soon tales of travelers witnessing her dancing barefoot upon the glassy surface of the forest ponds at night, surrounded by flickering flames, while bedeviled fish swam beneath her feet and strange animals gathered at the shoreline were being spread. Centuries after her passing in 1790, her name and lore still remains, the road you take to Joshua’s Pond is named Tower Hill Road after Liza a true woman of the woods.

And finally the paths have just a little more history for you. The Kennedy Family once used these trails to run their horses. These trails have become my favorite of the area, and nothing beats a swim in a pristine quiet pond. The days like I had this weekend , when you get the woods to yourself are truly heaven for the soul…

Have a great Sunday evening everyone!

A Walk at Two Ponds Conservation…

Two Ponds boardwalk

On a beautiful Friday morning, (that they said would be rainy) I took an early morning walk through Two Ponds Conservation area in Falmouth Massachusetts. This was my first time at this trail but I was excited to check it out finally and check it off my “want to go box” on Google Maps.

Once a popular 9-hole, par 3 golf course, the land was donated to The 300 Committee Land Trust in 2014, since then it’s been protected land.

This 14.75-acre features Jones Pond and Sols Pond, and an Atlantic white cedar swamp. The swamp was the main attraction I was coming for, but I stayed a little longer for the bird songs. I even learned a little something. I learned that old sea captains brought the water from the cedar swamps on board because the acidity in the water made it safer to drink and that the early European settlers used the wood from the cedars because they resisted rot and insects.

The Upper Wetland Loop Trail has a beautiful boardwalk and viewing platform where I sat on a bench and just absorbed the view for a bit. While I was hanging I was visited by a beautiful bird that was not at all afraid of me being there, and just sat on a branch above my head singing away.

The red winged blackbird, a beautiful bird with a little yellow on his wing was singing away.

Warm sunlight, beautiful view and great music was very relaxing. I highly recommend this trail if you’re in the area.

You can do the shorter loop or the extended one that includes a connecting forest network and spend the day like I did. Either way taking that second for yourself in nature will be with it!