Marjorie Turner Hollman is an author, creator, observer, and disability advocate who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
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We have visited the Cape Cod Canal countless times. As colder weather sets in we can count on seeing multiple flocks of eiders swimming near the shore as we stroll along the paved walkway overlooking the waterway.
The eiders’ burbling calls are clearly audible since they hug the rocky embankment just below the path beside the canal.
Some perched on the rock wall itself, the structure that prevents the canal from washing away in the power currents that surge back and forth through this busy shipping corridor. We also spotted about four loons (no burbles or haunting cries) farther out toward the middle of the swift-flowing current. The eiders seemed content to burble and paddle against the tide. The loons were busy diving into the depths looking for lunch.
The north side of the canal near Scussett Beach holds a special significance for me. On a previous visit I took a photo of the trail and used it for the cover of my book, My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Reclaiming Hope in a World Turned Upside Down. On this most recent visit the sky was the same clear blue as when I got the photo for my book. I snapped some pictures, thinking about that perfect photo I’d taken a few years ago.
None that I took on this most recent visit came out exactly the same, but the book cover benefitted from photoshop, which removed a telephone pole and a lane marking on the pavement.
As we came around the bend in the path, we spotted a new addition to the landscape. Construction barges, several tug boats, and huge lengths of iron pipe stood right off shore.
Workmen clambered about the iron pipes, which appeared tied together. We puzzled over the project. Were they installing new pipe? Surely not—these were very old looking and of a shape no longer in common use in construction.
We met some other walkers who told us that many fewer lengths of pipe had been in the water when they visited the previous month. Plans are in the works to replace both bridges over the canal, but so far we have not located the purpose of this project we observed on our walk near Scussett Beach.
We certainly did not have the walkway or the beach to ourselves, but late fall/winter is still a great time to visit the Canal. Parking areas at the beach and the fishing pier are open. No attendant is posted so summer admission charges are waived. We found bathrooms open next to the fishing pier. Altogether, a great place to spend an afternoon.
Plus … Chen’s Kitchen, just east of the Sagamore Bridge on the road to Scussett Beach, provided us with Hot wonton soup (so many vegetables, so many wontons), and egg rolls, warming us up as we settled ourselves at a picnic table next to the fishing pier. Another satisfying trip to the coast. Till next time. Happy trails!
Marjorie Turner Hollman 