Yesterday, in a fit of ambition, Joe, Benjamin and I baked two loaves of zucchini bread and fried up a mess 'o' zucchini cutlets before heading over to meet our friends in Wendell, Dean, Kristen, Marley, and Astha, for an outing to a nearby swimming hole. I did not grow up visiting local swimming holes unless you count the vastly concreted and chlorinated waters of the Burbank City Pools - which I do not - so visiting a pond is clearly a rural activity not to be missed.
So late in yesterday's summer afternoon we drove just a couple miles up the road from Dean and Kristen's place to
Fiske Pond:
Fiske Pond is in the North Quabbin Woods and was established as a cooperative project:
"...by the Town of Wendell Conservation Commission, the people of Wendell, and the Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services, the 125-acre Fiske Pond Conservation Area offers interconnecting trails for hiking, cross-country skiing, and bird watching. Visitors also enjoy unsupervised swimming and non-motorized boating at this lovely, tranquil retreat. Outdoor education groups are especially welcome to explore the field and the forest, the pond and the park."
We were a large and noisy group as we descended the wooded path toward the pond,
and the aforementioned "tranquility" of the area was badly disturbed for several hours, as more people joined us, and then a dog, and then more people. It was sunny but not too hot, the water was practically bathtub warm and very clear, with a gravel beach, and silty bottom. Good times people, GOOD TIMES! (Click on the images below to see larger versions).
 |
| On our way... |
 |
| Joe got right in. |
 |
| Benjamin took a little longer... |
 |
| ...but he couldn't resist. | | | | |
|
 |
| No snakes! We promise! |
|
|
|
 |
| Hmm...that is warm. |
|
Fiske Pond is in the North Quabbin Woods and was established as a cooperative project:
