Coastal Treks.
This is a journey of three women, over many miles, along the coastline of Massachusetts.
Marilee Comerford, Tess Meader and Julie Uhler are the intrepid trekkers.
On July 4, 2012, our idea originated on the beach in friendly conversation. The idea was adapted from Arthur Boers' book "Living into Focus", and the idea of focal practices.
We were inspired to choose walking the coastline of Massachusetts because we like each other, to walk, and the idea of adopting a focal practice.
We are beginning this blog with six treks completed, some more painful than others! We have found that we walk approximately 3.5 miles per hour, depending on the conditions. We aim our walks for low tide to best enjoy the firm sand and staying off the road. Our "prime directive" is to stay on the shoreline, and avoid the pavement when possible.
We have typically walked in early morning to avoid the heat and hot sunshine. With the onset of winter, our walks will probably occur in the afternoons, taking advantage of the warmth of the sun.
As of this posting, we have trekked from Gurnet to Minot Light, and we'll break down each walk. We'll cover photos of the scenery, the weather, distance, time traveled, and general musings of the walk. Most importantly, each walk end with a meal, where we share memories and plan the next venture. The food has been delicious so far! A pint of Guinness helps the weary travelers from time to time...
Starting point: Duxbury Beach parking lot
Ending point: Rexhame Beach, Beadle Rock
Meal destination: Julie's beach house; lunch consisting of chicken salad plate, corona beer with lime, enjoyed in the shade of the patio.
Weather: Sunny, clear, 75 degrees ; perfect walking weather
Distance: 8.0 miles
Helpers and special assistance: Thanks to Paige Comerford who drove us to our starting point
General musings: We were ecstatic to have accomplished our first walk with no misadventures! No ambulances, no broken bones, no blisters, no twisted ankles and no crying or whining!
Starting point: Duxbury Beach parking lot to Gurnet, Saquish turn and returning to
Ending point: Blakemans Restaurant at Duxbury Beach
Meal destination: Blakemans Restaurant, Fried Scallops, Shrimp and Fries, and a cool beer
Weather: 72 degrees, misty
Distance: 12.0 miles (ouch!)
Helpers and special assistance: Paige Comerford dropped us off at Duxbury beach
and provided us with motivational gift bags with beach scented car freshener and photos from our first walk, and a hard copy map to mark our progress. (Thanks Paige! Very thoughtful!) Paul Comerford pick up the weary travelers....
General musings: This walk was ambitious, but very rewarding. We were so happy to see that red restaurant at the end, and could barely lift our 100lb feet over the picnic bench to take a seat! And, silly us, we thought we walked Saquish as well when we passed the three houses on the bend in the road! (We returned to that area and walked that beach on Walk VI. )
Walk III
Starting point: Rexhame, Beadle Rock up through Humarock and around the entire point of Fourth Cliff
Ending point: Humarock, Bridgewaye Inn
Meal destination: Bridgewaye Inn with fried fish sandwiches and a frosty blue moon
Weather: 81 degrees, sunny
Distance: 7 miles
Helpers and special assistance: none needed
General musings: This walk was the inspiration for a party at Marilee's- the "Once in a Blue Moon" gathering, held on the date of our next walk, August 3st. The scenic highlight of this walk was turning the corner and walking the riverside of the peninsula along the South River.
Beginning...
Still walking....
Middle...
End!!
Walk IV
Starting point: Mossing sign at Scituate Harbor through 1st, 2nd and 3rd Cliff, including the Spit
Ending point: JW's Burger Bar on the Driftway
Meal destination: JW's Burger Bar, Fried Shrimp (delicious!) and burgers (also delicious!)
Weather: 72 degrees, light clouds
Distance: 8.2 miles
Helpers and special assistance: We met at JW's and ferried ourselves to the harbor.
General musings: This was the first walk where we utilized the iPhone distance/time traveled app.
Wonderful walk! The highlight was walking the boardwalk to the Spit and completing the circuit, follwed by an up close and personal view of the wind turbine.
Our luck continues for sunny and sensational walking weather!
Front St of Scituate Harbor
Walking along with Scituate Harbor/downtown across the way. The lighthouse is in the far distance at the point.
It's official...we were there!
A stunning walkway to the Spit!
Ahhhh.....we made it again and are happy for that!
Fabulous lunch at the Burger bar!
Walk V
Starting point: Minot Beach. First we walked up along Glades Road and back. We then traveled along Minot Beach and Egypt Beach, headed inland a bit and walked to the Scituate Lighthouse continuing to Scituate Harbor.
Ending point: the Mossing Sign at Scituate Harbor
Meal destination: Phins Restaurant
Weather: 60's temp, moist fog, misty, slightly cool ocean breezes
Distance: 8.3 miles
Helpers and special assistance: Geoff Meader provided patient transportation to Minot. Thanks so much! Wet doggie licks were provided for encouragement by Bowie!
General musings: We asked for help often from local walkers for general directions. We found the walk slightly disorienting because of the geography. We were forced to go inland at some time because the beach disappeared. This same phenomenon occurred on Walk II when we thought we walked to Saquish!
At the top of Glades Road. Glad to be walking again!
Enjoying the scenery and solving ALL the worlds problems...
What the heck is this? Dog? Deer? Coyote? Camel w no hump?
Houses precariously perched along the way.
At the destination end...the Mossing sign at Scituate Harbor...off to Phinns restaurant for lunch to regain our strength!
Walk VI
Starting point: The hut at Gurnet Beach. We trekked along Saquish to the end and back along the road to Duxbury Beach
Ending point: Powder Point Bridge, Duxbury
Meal destination: Milepost Inn, clam chowder and 'stuffies', and a pint of Octoberfest
Weather: 50's and sunny, clear to the horizon
Distance: 8.3 miles
Helpers and special assistance: Geoff Meader (again!) delivered us to the Gurnet Hut (with licks and wags from Bowie!) We rode the Marilee Red Bug (The Ladybug) to the restaurant, after parking, (illegally) in the Duxbury lot accessed through the Marshfield side of the parking lot.
General musings: Amazed to see the unique community residing in Saquish. The wanderings on the beach were poignant because of the recent devastation of Hurricane Sandy.
Another happy begining! You can just see the Gurnet lighthouse in the far background.
Saquich Head behind us, Standing on Saquish Neck
Strolling along Saquish
Beautiful sunlight and birds feeding at Saquish
Weeks later, I painted this scene from a photo of our walk.
It's an 8x8, oil on canvas "Strolling Along"
Back at the head of Saquish, now we need only to walk to Duxbury Bridge...
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Our destination keeps us putting one foot in front of another!
Delicious lunch of chowder and stuffies at the Milepost
Yumm! Enjoyed and earned this sustenance!
Walk VII
Dec 16, 2012
Starting point: Duxbury Bridge/Powder Point parking lot
Ending point: Halls Corner, Duxbury
Meal destination: Milepost
Weather: Cold and windy
Distance: 5.8 miles in a little over two hours.
Helpers and special assistance: Paul C graciously picked us up at the Milepost
General musings: Wonderful walk. It was an astronomical high tide and we'de never seen the water come up so high (to the road!) along Powder Point Rd.
We started on the Powder Point end of Duxbury Bridge. The bridge was closed to car traffic due to Hurricane Sandy, but foot traffic was allowed.
Here's the starting weather: (see that "Feels like 29 degrees" ???)
First we walked across the Duxbury Bay bridge to the Atlantic. Brrrrrr!
Always happy to be out and about on our treks!
My, my it was windy that day!
But, we persevered....all along Powder Point. Alas, we spot the perfect tree, far in the distance.
Truly a work of art. Also notice how high the water is! Astronomical high tide, lapping at the road.
We continue along until we feel the need to venture into French Memories Bakery along Washington Street. Lo and behold, we see dear David Lodemore and his son Charlie, picking up some goodies for dinner tonight. (We know this because we are joining them! hahaha!)
We continue to stroll along the lovely and historic Washington Street. We're thinking that Charlestown, just north of Boston, won't look exactly like this...
We make our destination: Halls Corner, Duxbury. But hunger drives us to walk a mile or so more to the Milepost Restauraunt, where we find.....the Milepost Restaurant. Nice food, great pub.
And, at the destination, the facts are:
A Guinness, a stuffie (stuffed clam) and a cup of chowder. Life is good. : )
Until next time...
Until next time....
