Daybreak at Walden Pond

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This is as close as you’ll get to Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond. Early morning, sun cresting and the pond itself utterly pristine. If one plans to spend some time at Walden Pond it is well worth the trip. The best time to go is before Memorial Day. You’ll get the truest sense of what it must have been like to experience this kind of solitude in Thoreau’s time. If you are visiting after Memorial Day make the effort to arrive by 7:00 a.m. While that seems to over emphasize an urgency, there is a reason. This is not under the authority of Concord, MA but is a State Reservation. People from all over the Commonwealth of Massachusetts come here in the summer months and it can get very crowded. Any chance you might have had for channeling Thoreau and the tranquil surroundings he treasured will be gone by mid-morning. A few people start to trickle in after 8:00 and by 9:00a.m. you are reminded you are in a very popular destination.

While at daybreak there are just a few diehard swimmers that brave the coldest waters south of Maine to traverse the length of the pond. They are enjoyable to watch. My daughter and I took a hike around half of the Walden Woods trails yesterday. They extend for miles, however one trail follows the outline of the pond itself and is a wonderful venture with a breathtaking view. We enjoy watching these morning athletes in their wetsuits swim the length of Walden amazed at their stamina and also their fortitude, wetsuit or not.

The best time to go is before Memorial Day. You’ll get the truest sense of what it must have been like to experience this kind of solitude in Thoreau’s time