Trail Hound

DIY exploration of Cape Cod's national treasure

While the nation continues its third century of debate over the role of federal government, from propping up the economy to providing access to health insurance for all citizens, it's useful to step back and appreciate some things we have entrusted to government to preserve.  Medicare and Social Security, for example, are federal programs to preserve the health and well-being of the elderly and disabled.  We may not be able to afford them in their current form for much longer - and that's another important debate - but they've made a difference in the lives of generations.

In 1961, four years before the federal government took on health insurance for the elderly with the passage of Medicare, the National Park Service became caretaker to nearly 40 miles of Atlantic coast when President Kennedy signed into law the establishment of Cape Cod National Seashore.  Forty-eight years later, the thousands of acres of preserved dunes, marshes, woodlands and shore are still available for the public to enjoy.  No gated communities or private beaches.  No development to the water's edge.  Compare this to, say, the Jersey Shore, Rhode Island, or even much of Nantucket Sound.

When my husband and I began vacationing on the Cape some 20-plus years ago, we would set out to explore a National Seashore self-guided trail on most days.  We followed the boardwalk through the jungle-like labyrinth of the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail in Wellfleet.  We closed our eyes and tried the Buttonbush all-senses Braille Trail at the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham.  Our favorite Thanksgiving dessert recipe, cranberry pake, came from the trail guide to the Pamet Cranberry Trail in Truro. 

Over Labor Day weekend, a perfect end-of-summer weekend if there ever was one, we celebrated our wedding anniversary by revisiting one of our favorite National Seashore trails, Fort Hill Area in Eastham.  The plant growth around the meadow trail has increased in depth and richness over the years, and we didn't see quite as many rabbits as before.  But the view over Nauset Marsh is just as spectacular.  A handicapped-accessible boardwalk through the Red Maple Swamp Trail, new since our last visit there, allows extensive opportunity to wander through another diverse habitat.

The National Park Service doesn't generally allow traditional geocaches on park land, but a virtual geocache, one that requires photographic or other non-physical proof that a cacher visited a specific location, is OK.  "Where's the Fort?" was my geocaching souvenir from this trail.

So as populist furor heats up over federal indoctrination of impressionable schoolchildren, encouraging them to work hard, or  over creeping socialism of extending to those under age 65 the option of benefits currently enjoyed by senior citizens, it's time to calm down and take a step into a national treasure.  A self-guided trail tour is an excellent escape from political crazy season.

Photos, from top:

Vine-covered back of Captain Edward Penniman House, Fort Hill Area

Winter view of shed along Salt Pond, CCNS Headquarters, Eastham

Nauset Marsh from Fort Hill