Modern Day Thoreau » south shore

World’s End Trail – Hingham, MA

admin — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:27:51 +0000

So after a rather long summer hiatus from hiking of any kind, due to various life events, Erin and I decided to go for a like 4 mile hike during the beautiful Labor Day weekend here in New England. The temperatures have been a farcry from what they were a few days ago, so it was perfect weather for nice day hike.

World’s End Trail is part of the Trustees of Reservations trail system, so if you are a member it is free and if not its only $5, certainly not much to preserve such a beautiful piece of land on the South Shore of Boston. The trail is located on the border of Hingham and Nantasket about 25miles south of Boston. If your coming from the north just take 93 south to exit 12 and follow the signs for Quincy Center and then take a left turn on route 3A and that will bring you too the reservation.

In terms of equipment and things to bring, you don’t really need much else other than water and a camera for this hike as the whole loop is only 4.5miles and is easily done in under 1.5 hours. The trails are well groomed and allow bikers and hikers/walkers alike. If you prefer to spend a little more time, there are an abundance of areas why you could have a picnic at, many of which are off the main trail for a little privacy. Perfect for a bottle of whine, a french baguette, and some brie (just remember the wine opener of that could be a mood killer).

There are several variations to the trail that you could do, all of which are different lengths for your hiking tastes. Be sure to stop along the way and take pictures as the views of Nantasket, Hingham, Weymouth and of course Boston are amazing. Below is the GPS track for our trip and some pictures below that. Feel free to comment any other tips for this gem on the south shore. Also here is a link to the Trail Map.

worlds end at EveryTrail

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Photo of the Week: 2-12-09

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:14:03 +0000

Taken on the Ponkapaug Trail hike, this little tree was all alone in the field. Click the image to see the full size.

Ponkapoag Pond Walking Trail

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:32:17 +0000

Last weekend I bravely decided to go for a winter hike in the cold January weather in the hills of the greater Boston area. Blue Hills Reservation is a great spot that offers numerous trails of all different lengths and skill levels (if you’ve read any of my other post you know I’m quite fond of the spot). On saturday, in the low 20° New England weather I thought I’d try a trail that was a little more flat since the ground was so frozen. So, me, my trusty side-kick Erin, and my camera embarked on a small winter quest. Ponkapoag Pond is located on the southern part of the reservation just south of RT 95 and is on a dead end street right off the highway, so you can’t miss it. The first part of the trail in a 1/4 mile path that is fitted for vehicles and is actually just an access road to YMCA center and subsequently the trail itself. The trail is 4 miles in total, but due to the cold, we only were prepared to do about half of that, which included our trek down the frozen boardwalk and eventually to the pond itself. As we walked along, we passed several groups of people who were cross-country skiing as well as several snowhoers. This would would be a great place to get som exercise and enjoy the outdoors as well. As we ventured down the boardwalk trail, it was easy to see several meters into the brush since there were no leaves, but we weren’t fortunate enough to spot and winter woodland creatures on our journey. We passed serveral clearings along the way that provided great shots of the marshy surroundings, and with the sun in the 2 o’clock spot (or 10 if your facing back) there lights provided great shadows.

At the end of the trail we came to what seemed like a huge clearing, only to realize it was actually the pond and it was frozen solid. There were several people ice-fishing and several more cross-country skiing as well. We figured it had to be safe enough to walk on, so we ventured out on the ice. It was very convienent that the ice was covered in snow, as it made it very easy to walk on.

There is something very peaceful about a frozen pond and the cruching of the snow under your boots. It’s a very relaxing experience, assuming your warm enough to enjoy it. While the glare off the vast snow-covered pond, made it hard to get a good exposure, the visual camera (the one in our head), always takes a perfect shot.

I highly recommend this as a nice way to get outdoors in the winter to remain sane, and given that it only took us 2.5 hours including traveling from Quincy and back its a nice way to spend the afternoon even when its 20° out. Check out more photos from the hike here.

Photo of the Week: 9-18-09

admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:36:20 +0000

Sorry for the delay in this post, but here’s the photo of the week for the second week in September. You can see more of my photos on my flickr page.

Photo of the Week: 8-28-09

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:54:29 +0000

Hey all,

Here’s my photo of the week. This was taken on the south shore of boston during the Thayer Trail hike. Enjoy!

Dandelion Trees

Check out more of my photos.

Photo of the Week 6-19-2009

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:42:37 +0000

Here’s the photo for the week:

This was taken on a hike on the south shore of Boston. Check out more photos on my Flickr as well as other photos on my artistic gallery

Photo Of the Week: 6-5-09

admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:16:09 +0000

Wollaston Beach During Winter

See more at my My Photography Site

Turkey Hill and Thayer Trail

admin — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:20:01 +0000

Today we decided to try out a new trail about 30 minutes from Quincy in Weymouth. The trail is part of the Trustees of Reservations. There are several entrances to this land, but we chose the Turkey Hill entrance due to its proximity to route 3A. We parked in the small dirt lot that was only occupied by three other cars. Erin decided to play around with the camera while I was getting the GPS and my bag ready which led to a series of random shots finishing with me ever so concentrated on configuring the my iPhone GPS to get a good signal.

As we entered the trail there we were greated by two older (60s) gentlemen leaving the trail in a very disshevled way. Neither looked as though they had been prepared to end up in the woods when they left their house that day, but somehow it seems that was what their day turned into. One of the men tripped over a succession of three differnt rocks as they made their way past us towards their car and all I could think was that whatever their purpose had been for being in the woods, I was pretty sure that mine was not the same.

The beginning of the trail was a well packed stone trail that curved its way up the side of the hill with 12ft wood boards laid out across the length of the trail to prevent erosion during the rain. The trail then ends up in a large field with several paths cut into the three to four foot grass. It is very quite and peaceful in the field and there are plenty of bird houses strew about to make for great bird watching as well as a pleasant symphony playful bird chatter. The top of the hill, through the field, is a low grass patch that has a great view of Boston, the south shore, and out into the Atlantic.

As we left the field towards the other side of the hill we encountered a few cows just hanging out getting sum lunch and enjoying the weather much the same way we were. I snapped a few pics of them and one of the cows seemed to stare at me with the same perplexity that someone eating in a restuarant would have if you took a picture of them while they were eating. The other cows didn’t seem to care much that would soon be all over the internet.

As we left our spotted friends we decended into a more woodsy part of the path that led us to another farm a little farther away that had goats. The goats didn’t seem to care at all that I wanted to get a picture of them and simply went about his business. From here on out the trail got a bit more woodsy and we found out selves moving at a very slow pace stepping of pricker bushes and getting attacked by spider strings, you know the things they leave behind as the travel from one tree to the next in the air. We eventually made our way back to the field were we had a picnic with a great view of Boston.

I highly recommend this trail for a nice leisurely hike with great views of Boston. On my scale I give it a 7 out 10. You can follow my GPS track here and my flickr stream on the right. Also my web page where I host all my art photos for sale here.