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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Cape Cod Canal, Bourne, Sandwich, Massachusetts, USA


Whether walking or cycling.......

......tourist cruise boating or.........

....fancy pleasure boating (and a random cormorant drying his wings) or........

........sailboating or......

........fishing boating - lots of small vessels use the Cape Cod Canal to shave off 160 miles by not having to travel the ocean around Cape Cod.

Some folks decline exercise and just sit and watch the vessels traverse the canal.

Some folks just prefer to sit, read a New York tabloid, and bake their flesh in the hot sun.

Others bypass the canal completely and go directly to Scusset Beach State Park which is immediately adjacent to the canal on the north side.

The routine I've worked out is to begin my walk from the Sagamore Recreation Area parking lot (free parking shown above at the red dot).  There are restrooms and a water fountain adjacent to the lot. One mile west is Herring Cove which also has restrooms and a water fountain. One-and-a-half miles east is the Fishing Pier that also has restrooms and a water fountain. There are half mile markers on the paved path so I can determine exactly how far I want to walk - usually four miles - one mile east and back and one mile west and back - never too far from water in or water out - my kind of place at this point in life.

Many disparage the two auto bridges that cross the canal - too old, too narrow, too ugly, etc.  But just think for a moment about the creation of those structures. 80 years ago, someone had to imagine, then design and engineer, then actually build them without the modern tools and machines we have today.  Those were some can-do folks back then.

Today, I extend a thank you to the US Army Corps of Engineers who maintain the canal and support the recreational aspects for us all.


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