This Photo Captures Provincetown's Amazing Sand Dunes at Their Finest

At Dune Shacks Trail, by Mark Anthony Lynett, Provincetown Photography Page, Facebook.

This stunning photo is among the most remarkable images of Provincetown's spectacular dunes that I have ever seen. It was taken by Mark Anthony Lynett as he was hiking over a windswept hill, the first to make the trek since the blowing sands had last erased the evidence of any other beings who had walked this way.
He was kind enough to share it on Facebook, on the Provincetown Photography Page, where amazing photos of the harbor beaches, wildlife in the forests, the sun rising and setting, or a thousand other splendid, poignant images routinely appear, reminding us of the many reasons we live here, or visit when we can.
The Provincetown Photography Page is a public group with more than 12,000 members who range from amateurs to hobbyists to professional photographers who, together, have posted more than 106,000 photos of this place we all love. It is well worth looking up.
Warning - bring a cup of coffee or drinking water with you when you visit this page, and you may even want to pack a lunch, because you'll be here much longer than you can imagine, unable to stop looking at "just one more..."

Provincetown First Responders Had a Busy Memorial Day Weekend With Three-Alarm Fire, and Rescue of 44 Hikers

Firefighters on the Lobster Pot's beach pump
water through the window of the Red Shack.
Photo by a capecodtoday.com reader

Memorial Day weekend turned out to be very busy for folks in Provincetown who are charged with looking after the safety of the public. These are not only police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel, but in PTown we also depend on the harbormaster and the US Coast Guard to keep us safe in an emergency in any of the huge bodies of water that surround us.

We actually have 21.3 miles of shoreline surrounding this little town of maybe 3,000 year-round residents, with a summer population of 30 to 60,000 on any given day of the week. Holidays like July 4th and Carnival Week, we’re told, can bump those numbers well over 80,000 residents and visitors.

It’s also a wooden town, with homes and apartments, restaurants, shops and galleries in very old buildings, some of them dating back to the middle of the 1700s. Many of these buildings stand only inches apart, making us even more vulnerable to the sort of fire that could literally destroy the town overnight. Just such a blaze occurred a week ago, on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

Ladder trucks shot water down onto the rooftops of four Lopes
Square restaurants. Photo by a capecodtoday.com reader.

Fire broke out during the dinner hour in the kitchen of the Red Shack, a busy takeout restaurant in the very heart of Provincetown, at Lopes Square. As in most spots in Provincetown, a fire in one building can spread to others in mere moments. 

This fire was in the very center of a single building occupied by several tenants. The Red Shack occupies a space in a very long, slender building. It sits smack in the middle of the structure, between three other restaurants, a large gift shop and a bit of office space. There are apartments adjacent as well.

When the fire was noticed, in the roof and ceiling of the Red Shack, a call to 911 brought firefighters within minutes. Provincetown, by the way, has the last all-volunteer fire department on Cape Cod. Fire Chief Michael Trovato began directing his crew before he even arrived on the scene. When he turned the corner at Standish Street, driving from Shank Painter Road, just a few blocks away, he could see that the fire was already through the roof of the building, so he called for working fire assignments, which immediately brought more local firefighters to the site. In moments, this blaze would send flames rising some 20 feet into the sky.

The Red Shack's roof was destroyed, while others fared much better. Firefighters
did a remarkable job of containing this fire, Photo by Orleans Fire Department.

A few minutes after his arrival on the scene, Chief Trovato put in a second alarm, which began mobilizing firefighters and equipment from other towns, heading to Provincetown to join the battle. Shortly after that, the chief called a third alarm, bringing more personnel and equipment to town, and moving fire fighting personnel from nearly every Cape Cod town to cover other stations left short-handed as their firefighters drove equipment to the tip of the Cape.

This was a three-alarm fire, which could have had disastrous results, yet the town actually suffered very little damage, given the possible outcome we might have had.

I took this photo from Lopes Square the day after the fire. Structural damage
may keep the Red Shack and Tatiana's from reopening till the autumn season,
while the Surf Club may open sooner. The Coffee Pot aims for July 4th or sooner.

The rapid response and skillful work of our fire department, along with the mutual aid of others who joined us, truly minimized the damage done by this very serious fire. Our police department expertly managed the safety of the dozens of thousands of people here for the first big holiday of the summer, while still allowing people on foot and in their cars to move through the center of town and go about enjoying themselves. We applaud the delicate balancing act pulled off that evening by the Provincetown Police.

So that was Saturday.

Then, on Sunday, just moments after PTown’s rising tide reached its peak at 1:43 PM, a 911 call came into the Provincetown Police Department, asking for help at the West End Breakwater.

The Provincetown Harbormaster's boat loads up with several of the
44 hikers stranded on the breakwater during am exceptionally high
tide over Memorial Day weekend. Photo by Provincetown Police. 

Several people were reported actually in the water. A number of parties of hikers had walked out onto the granite barrier that slows down the waves and tides coming into the wetlands in the far west end of Provincetown Harbor. On their walk out toward the spit of sand leading to the Long Point Light, 44 people had failed to notice the steadily rising tide that now had them trapped more than a mile from terra firma.

The high tide was approximately 11.7 feet that afternoon, splashing over the breakwater in spots, making it slippery and rather dangerous to walk on. There were likely spots where hikers couldn’t walk forward or back without getting wet. Had a few people slipped and fallen in, or did some of the hikers foolishly think they could swim back to the shoreline? With the water temperature around 52 degrees, it was imperative that anyone who might have ended up in the water get out of it as quickly as possible.

Provincetown Police and Fire Departments, along with our EMS & Rescue crews and the Provincetown Harbormaster all responded, as did the US Coast Guard and TowboatUS Provincetown. Flyer’s Boatyard sent their water shuttle to join the other vessels in quickly getting the hapless hikers back to safety. Five people required treatment by EMS personnel.

During an "average" high tide, even the low spots in the breakwater are still about
about three feet above the water level, so these fishermen had no trouble this day.

The hike along the breakwater and out onto Long Point is one of the most popular recreational activities in Provincetown, rewarding hikers with gorgeous, uncrowded beaches and a panoramic view of our busy waterfront and spectacular harbor.

There are, however, potential risks in taking this walk. For example, the extremely high tide that day was unexpected to most hikers, rising well above the average high tide line visible along the breakwater. The high tide the weekend before had been about two-and-a-half feet lower, at just 9.2 feet, so the casual observer might have had no clue to the possible danger at hand. A tide chart could have helped hikers avoid being caught off guard amidst the rise of very deep water.

This fisherman didn't know what to do when he realized he was
trapped by rising water. He must have been in a low spot. This
tide was three inches lower than Sunday's, stranding 44 hikers.

To help folks safely enjoy this marvelous walk and amazing view, I wrote about it in June of 2012. It’s probably time to review these tips for fun and safety on this walk, so here’s a link to my post Hike The West End Breakwater to Wood End Light. Be careful and have fun, and remember, no flip flops on the breakwater. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes, at least for that part of the hike. And if your legs and feet aren’t used to walking in soft sand, a few gentle, thorough stretches of all these muscles after your hike, and again before bedtime, will help prevent sore muscles the next day, especially if you’ve walked barefoot in the sand for a fair distance. This walk, all the way to the lighthouse and back, will use a whole new set of muscles that you never knew you had.

Another way to get to Long Point Light is to catch the shuttle boat operated by Flyer’s Boatyard. Weather and demand permitting, the Long Point Shuttle is running daily, every two hours, from Flyer’s dock, at 131A Commercial Street. That’s actually down a little alley called Good Templar Place, between Joon restaurant and the Provincetown Antique Market. Flyer’s is behind the restaurant. Times and departure location will change for the summer season on June 23^rd. I’ll write about this great way to get to Long Point in another week or two.

In the meantime, once again, we sincerely thank all the men and women who are PTown's First Responders: our police department, harbormaster and coast guard, as well as firefighters, rescue workers and emergency medical personnel in Provincetown and beyond, who work so diligently to keep us safe here at the tip of Cape Cod.

PTown's Wild Mushroom Season Begins

This visitor from New York gathers Provincetown mushrooms with her family.

'Tis the season for gathering the wild mushrooms found on the outskirts of Provincetown, near Beach Forest, and on the edges of the sand dunes.
People can be found carrying buckets, bags and baskets along the sides of Province Lands Road and in other spots out in the Cape Cod National Seashore, looking for these treasures that may be in short supply this year. I haven't spotted more than one or two mushrooms myself, but I haven't  had the chance to talk with anyone who's been out gathering these delectable morsels yet this year.
Of course, you have to make sure you know the edible ones from the poisonous ones if you intend to go out picking them. You can find out about identifying them by reading my Gathering Provincetown's Wild Mushrooms post from last season. It contains links to great resources to help you hunt safely for these delicious treasures.

 "X" marks just a few of the spots where mushrooms have been found out in the
Province Lands, northwest of the center of Provincetown. Click map to enlarge.

An "X" on this map shows a spot where mushrooms have been found, but, of course, there are no guarantees.
These are certainly not the only spots to look for mushrooms, either. A family of three was seen out walking on the edge of Province Lands Road on Wednesday, each carrying an identical bucket filled nearly to the top with good-sized mushrooms.
If you go out foraging, be sure to cut your mushrooms off at the bottom of the stem rather than pulling them out of the ground. That way the remaining bit of the stalk can grow more mushrooms for someone else to find later on. Happy hunting!

PTown's Cranberry Harvest

It takes a while to pick this many wild cranberries, but it's worth the effort.

I've talked to a lot of hikers and foragers this week, and from all accounts, wild cranberries seem to be abundant this year, and are ready to gather from the low-lying spots in the forests, and even in the very low spots in the dunes, where the water tends to pool up after the rainfall. These are the spots where cranberries seem grow the best, completely wild and natural, and they are ours for the taking. An afternoon spent strolling through the forests can lead you to a cache of cranberries to put in your muffins, jellies, chutneys and any number of recipes that can be enhanced with this tart, toothsome and delightful little berry.
In a commercial cranberry bog, things are a bit different from a wild bog. The amount of water in the bogs can be controlled, and at harvest time the bogs are flooded, with the berries floating to the surface. Machinery is used to agitate the water, and more berries break away from the vines and float to the top, where they are scooped up by more machines. Commercial cranberry bogs cover about 13,000 acres of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, producing over 2 million barrels of cranberries in the average autumn season. The more rain we get in the summertime, the bigger the cranberries, which tend to plump up in years with generous rainfall.
The Provincetown Council on Aging is planning a trip to Harwich on Tuesday, October 21st, at 9 AM, to tour a working cranberry bog. This 1 1/2 hour tour will teach us about the cranberry industry and the harvesting process, and includes a ride around the bog with a guide. A special price of $12.50 for the tour has been arranged for COA members, and the group will stop for lunch at the Jail House Tavern in Orleans, where meals start at around $10, before returning to Provincetown. Call the Council on Aging at 508 487-7080 to reserve your trip.
In the meantime, get out for a stroll in the Provincelands, take a bucket with you, and bring home some of these remarkable, tasty little fruits that are native to this beautiful land we live on.

Tour the Race Point Lighthouse

In this long-distance view from the Provincelands Visitor Center, Hatch's Harbor
lies between the viewer and the Race Point Lighthouse, with the old lighthouse
keeper's cottage to the left, and the old whistle house to the right.

The volunteers that look after the Race Point Lighthouse and the buildings on these grounds will give the public one last tour for the 2014 season tomorrow, Saturday, October 4th, from 10 AM till 2 PM. If you have a four-wheel drive vehicle with the proper over-sand permit you can drive out to this spot, or you can walk out either from Herring Cove Beach or from the tiny parking area at the bike trail underpass near the sharp bend on the hill that lies halfway down Provincelands Road.
This free tour will be given by one of some 60 volunteers who look after these grounds in various ways, from planting beach grass to running the tiny gift shop in the old kitchen pantry of the keeper's house. The Race Point Light Station is operated by the Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation. Sales of souvenirs and T-shirts make up a major part of the funding for the upkeep of this little gem in Provincetown's maritime history, and, of course, contributions of any amount are always welcome as well.
You'll tour the grounds and visit the various buildings, such as the old whistle house, where the steam-generated fog signal sounded constantly in bad weather, saving countless mariners from running aground on the shifting sands just off the shoreline.
The highlight of the tour is climbing up into the lamp room of the Race Point Light, with a panoramic view out over Hatch's Harbor, Cape Cod Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and the little dunes and forests that surround Race Point, so be sure to bring your camera.
For more information click on this link to Tours of Race Point Lighthouse, or call Clay Beless at 508 362-9304. For about 12 years he and his wife Nancy have been among the dozens of volunteers who keep up the grounds and look after the upkeep of the Race Point Light along with giving occasional tours and hosting folks who make a reservation to stay in the keepers house or the old whistle house in the summer. Click to find out about Accommodations at Race Point Lighthouse. Reservations for a stay  during the 2015 season can be made online beginning November 1st, with some people reserving just a minute past midnight to be sure to get the room and the dates they want.
In the meantime, get out to Race Point on Saturday for your last chance of the season to tour this remarkable bit of Provincetown's history.

Gathering Provincetown's Wild Mushrooms

Some beautiful, big mushrooms await those who pursue them.

Provincetown's annual mushroom harvest is underway out in the Provincelands. I met these folks, who had travelled here from New York just to gather some of the wild mushrooms that can be found in the forests and at the edges of the dunes at this time of year. There were four of them, hiking the hillsides and cutting mushrooms as they found them. Mushrooms need to be cut from the plant at the base of the stem so the root remains in place, allowing it to continue to sprout more mushrooms later on.
Of course, not every mushroom found amongst the trees and shrubs in these sandy little hillsides will be of the edible variety. You must know exactly what you're doing if you intend to pluck this delightful fungus as you hike.
The Twin Eagles Wilderness School has a website to help you identify wild mushrooms. And David Fischer, an expert on the ecology and identification of wild mushrooms, has a wealth of information for you at americanmushrooms.com. You'll find all the basics, and some more advanced topics relating to safely gathering these delicious morsels, along with a couple of great videos, although they play some really cheesy new-agey music in the background while you watch a slide show of stunningly beautiful wild mushrooms. This site also offers a number of books on foraging for fungi.
Read my blog post Gather Ye Mushrooms While Ye May, written last autumn when conditions were similar to this year's, about finding these elusive delicacies on the outskirts of Provincetown.

Wildlife Abounds in PTown

Wildlife of all kinds treks over the hills of Provincetown. Click on this photo.

The tracks of all kinds of wildlife can be found on the sandy hillsides and dunes around Provincetown. The forest, wetlands and the dunes are home to deer, fox, raccoon, coyote, rabbit, skunk, turtle, opossum, squirrel, chipmunk, meadow vole and hundreds of migrating birds, along with many others. At any time these little hillsides can show us the tracks of all of these, and many more, including the humans walking over the hills and out to the beaches. We should try to disturb as little of this delicate habitat as possible while enjoying our own recreation.
If you go walking out this way, please make sure you are not contributing to the erosion of the dunes by treading on the plant life, which can be very fragile even though it's resilient enough to grow in nothing but sand. And if you can't resist the urge to climb up on top of some of these hills, please be careful about how much sand you dislodge and send rolling down the slope behind you. Please do your part to preserve the fragile environment that surrounds this bit of paradise we call Provincetown. These lovely hummocks get a little smaller with each one of us who clambers up to conquer the hill.

Now for the High Tides...

This tide easily exceeds the average high tide line, and it's still rolling in.

My last post showed an extremely low tide that allowed folks to walk across the tidal flats all the way out to the spit of sand that becomes Long Point. This photo shows the voluminous high tide the next afternoon, and there were more to follow.
In fact, from now through September, we're likely to have many more  of these tremendous high tides during the full moon as it continues to orbit 31,000 miles closer to the earth than at any other time of the year. I've studied up a bit on all this moon and tide stuff in the last couple of days…
It seems that the moon orbits the earth in a kind of ellipse rather than a perfect circle, with the earth situated slightly off center, just a bit closer to one side of that giant oval shape the moon makes as it travels around us. That means that the moon is actually orbiting closer to the earth from July through September than it does at any other time of the year. It's called the perigee, when the moon is in the part of its orbit that brings it closest to the earth. That's why the moon looks so much larger right now than it does during the winter, when it's at its farthest from the earth, during its apogee phase.
I made it to the Far West End of Provincetown Harbor for this photo a bit before the real peak of the high tide this day, so the water actually rose a bit higher than shown in this photo. Read my June 16th, 2012 blog about hiking the breakwater to the Wood End Light, where you'll find links to a tide chart and a bit of information about the lighthouse, as well as the American Lighthouse Foundation. Unfortunately, the VISA card program cited there, benefitting the ALF, has ended, so that link is no longer valid. But you'll find info on getting to the Far West End and tips to keep you safe on your hike, as this trip can be a little tricky in spots, and may be rather strenuous for most of us.
One day soon I'll write about hiking out to the Long Point Light, at the very tip of Cape Cod. After all, I can't write about this area every day (although I actually could write about it every day, for at least two weeks or more…)
Enjoy your hike, and please, be careful. Or you could simply sit on the benches and watch the water change colors all afternoon, or watch the artists who flock to this spot nearly every summer day to paint the wetlands before they disappear beneath the high tides.

Very Low Tides Make for a Great Walk on the West End Tidal Flats

With the full moon comes not only a few days of quite high tides, but also some exceptionally low tides as well. I don't pretend to know how all that moon and tide stuff works, but I've noticed that a very low tide and a very high tide seem to go hand in hand. Whenever I see a very low tide it seems to be pretty well guaranteed to be followed by a high tide that exceeds the average high tide mark, that dark strip that runs the length of the breakwater in the West End.
When the tide is this low you can easily walk across the tidal flats along the left side of the breakwater all the way out to that little spit of sand that leads out to Long Point, the very tip of Cape Cod. It's a little less strenuous, perhaps, than walking out on the breakwater, where you sometimes end up having to hop from one rock to the next, although you'll use a different set of muscles walking barefoot in the wet sand that squishes up between your toes. It's a good idea to do a few gentle stretches of your legs and feet before and after you take this walk, and again before you go to bed, particularly if you're not used to this sort of walking. And you might want to take a small pail along for interesting shells and other treasures you'll likely find along the way.

Couples Day on the Breakwater?

Provincetown's breakwater offers couples a romantic stroll across
the west end of this spectacular harbor, and perhaps a picnic along the way.

On one of these glorious spring days we've had recently (although the date on the calendar insists that it's now summer) it almost looked like couples day out on the west end breakwater.
With calm waters near high tide, and the charm of the Wood End Light in the distance, the stroll out onto the granite breakwater can have a certain romance to it, especially for those who are taking in this breathtaking sight for the first time. On this particular afternoon, everyone I could spot out on the breakwater was paired up in a couple of one sort or another, and that gave me a smile.

Wildflowers Blossom in PTown Forests

A family hikes the Beech Forrest trails.

As our recent weather proves a bit more tolerable every day, we're finally able to really get outside and enjoy a little recreation. This cold, windy, rainy spring seems like one for the books to me.
I don't remember such chilly weather hanging on into June in the 26 years I've been here…
This family grabbed their sweaters and headed out on the bike trail near Herring Cove. The air was still a bit brisk this day, but the sun was glorious, actually casting shadows for a change.

Lady's slippers are jewels along the trails.

Soon the lady's slippers will be in bloom on the Beech Forest trails and on the Old Colony Nature Pathway, where Harry Kemp Way meets Howland Street.
These showy wildflowers are part of the orchid family.  They are becoming a bit harder to find these days. Look for them in the shady spots in the forests, often beneath the pitch pines, and also sometimes amongst the oaks and maples.
Try to resist the urge to pick them. It takes the seedlings several years to mature, and each plant grows a single stem with one lone flower. They're also a food source for white-tailed deer.

Spot More Species of PTown Wildlife

This little box turtle blends into the colors of the forest floor around it.

This week's wildlife pic is a box turtle I found walking through Beech Forest, headed through the trees toward the hill that it would have to climb to reach Black Water Pond, which seemed to be where it might have been set out for. The pattern on its shell and its coloring helped it to blend in with the colors of the forest floor, covered with bits of leaves, dried grasses, twigs and fallen pine needles.
Have you ever noticed how good the cover of the wildlife around us really is? Whether I'm hiking in Foss Woods, walking out in the dunes or near the beaches, or even driving through Beech Forest, I just sort of keep my eyes moving back and forth for anything else that's moving, because the camouflage on some of these animals is so good that you can be looking right at them and still not see them unless they are moving. I spot a lot of flora that way, just by watching for anything that moves.
Try it the next time you're out on the bike trails, or walking on the Old Colony Nature Pathway, or strolling on Duncan Lane. Watch for something moving around you or in the distance, and stop once in a while and stay still for a few moments, maybe sit on a fallen log or an aging fence rail for a bit, keeping your eyes moving. These and so many other areas in Provincetown are simply teeming with wildlife, and you'll see more of it if you just have a little patience, and a bit of luck, and look sharply for anything that moves.

PTown's Recent Spate of Very High Tides Makes Breakwater Walk a Bit Tricky

A cormorant bobs on an exceptionally high tide at the West End Breakwater.

Unusually deep tides have edged higher and higher along the length of the West End Breakwater recently. Over the last several weeks I've seen the tide rise well above the average high tide mark on many, many days. Part of the reason may well be because of the full moon, and I don't pretend to know how all that moon and tide stuff works, but we had tides of ten-and-a-half feet during the last full moon and during the time of the very slightest sliver, so it isn't all about the phases of the moon. Tides have risen above 11 feet several times recently.
Last week, amongst a group of people, I wondered out loud if these seemingly higher tides could have some relation to the melting polar ice caps. A murmur of assent spread through a good bit of the crowd as many people nodded and began conversations with those around them, with one marked exception: a man who quietly turned slightly red in the face as his jaw clenched and he began aggressively shaking his head from side to side, conveying an angry but silent "No way, you idiots" message to the rest of us. His wife turned her head up and away from the crowd, looking over her shoulder as though there were suddenly something compelling to watch going on behind her. It was plain that she knew better than to have an opinion on this topic.
Why are these folks who insist there is no such thing as "climate change" so angry? They can't all have stocks in the oil companies and auto industry, can they? I nearly ended up in a fistfight with my sister a few years ago, before she retired from her lofty position in the accounting department of the Porsche automobile company, when I innocently muttered something about the world being better off if we all drove cars that got better gas mileage. It was strictly the company line coming out of her mouth as she went off like a rocket about global warming being the most vile and insidious lie ever perpetrated on the American people. Some folks still cling tenaciously to the opinion that it doesn't matter one iota how much energy we use in our quest for more and fancier "stuff."

The great blue heron is usually seen in the wetlands, in deeper water.

At any rate, the tides have been noticeably high here recently, whatever the reasons might be, with the water splashing right over the top of the breakwater a bit on windy days that bring whitecaps into the harbor, so be a little cautious when you go out for a walk to Long Point or to Wood End. And keep an eye out for the herons in the marsh to the right of the breakwater. One was found on the tidal flats just a couple of feet from the rocks at low tide the other day, which was a pretty unusual sighting.

Gather Ye Mushrooms While Ye May

Persistence pays off in the search for mushrooms.

It took the better part of the day, but this gentleman and his family (his wife and their two children) finally were able to gather enough wild mushrooms to nearly fill their bucket. They drove to Provincetown on their annual mushroom pilgrimage and went wandering in the little hillsides surrounding Province Lands Road, out near the visitor center, where the land isn't exactly forest and not exactly dunes either, but rather a verdant combination of small, sandy hills and little pockets of pitch pines and scrub oaks, with the occasional fox or coyote thrown in for local color.
These folks rambled over dozens of scenic acres, peeking beneath shrubs and around tree trunks for the elusive edible mushrooms that are scattered all too sparsely through these little hummocks this year. The dearth of rainfall this spring may have something to do with this year's scarcity of the fungus that brings carloads of visitors to this part of the Cape Cod National Seashore each autumn for a peaceful walk among the changing colors of the season while they forage for these delicious morsels.
My favorite Provincetown chef told me he hunted for two hours the other day and found just two mushrooms, and he remarked that the cranberries looked to be about three weeks behind schedule, too, with none quite ready to pick that day. We've had rainfall this year far below the amount we receive in the average year. This spring we got very little, and we stand at less than 10% of the average rainfall over the past month, which may have something to do with the lack of mushrooms this season, and the slower growth of the cranberries. But I've also met a few folks who have filled their mushroom baskets and buckets to the brim, with persistence paying off during a longer walk.
If you know your mushrooms and are confident in your ability to recognize the edible varieties, by all means, get out for a little hike and find the tasty few that await you. Just remember to be careful not to walk on any of the plant life as you wander. Some of these plants and grasses are extremely fragile. And remember to cut your mushrooms off at the base of the stem rather than plucking them out of the ground so that they can continue to sprout more mushrooms for others to find later. If you don't know very much about wild mushrooms, get out and enjoy the stroll anyway, but simply admire the lovely mushrooms you might discover and just walk on by. We want you to live to take another walk amongst the mushrooms another day.

PTown Indian Summer

Most folks on Provincetown's breakwater this afternoon are fishing as kayakers revel in Indian summer weather.

OK, true "Indian summer" weather usually means the return of summer weather after a killing frost, and we haven't had one of those yet, but I'm going to count it, especially after the overnight low temperature was a chilling 39 degrees two nights in a row last week. I don't know a better way to describe these absolutely gorgeous days we've been having. Get out and enjoy this beautiful weather today, because this may be the last of it, with a pretty good chance of rain tomorrow and daily highs dipping down into the 60s next week. That'll make it more like fishing weather than kayaking weather, but still lovely for hiking, biking and many of the outdoor activities that make Provincetown such a remarkable spot.

The West End Breakwater is One of PTown's Greatest Recreation Areas

Kayaking, picnics and sunbathing are popular activities at the breakwater.

The breakwater in the Far West End is a great spot for all kinds of recreation. You can fish for striped bass off the left side, casting toward the Long Point Lighthouse. You can picnic on the edge of the breakwater, or you can walk out to the lighthouse at Wood End and have a picnic there, along with a swim and a little sunbathing in a spot where you aren't likely to have many people around you. You can practically have your own private beach, especially if you're willing to walk a bit farther once you get out to that little spit of sand across the harbor.
You can launch a kayak or a canoe or an inflatable raft and paddle out to Long Point, the very tip of Cape Cod, where you can also fish, swim, sunbathe and picnic to your heart's content, with hardly anyone around you. Folks I talked to last week rented a kayak and paddled out to the far side of Long point, on the edge of Cape Cod Bay, and found seals all along the beach there.

During a very high tide you can swim through the wetlands.

A lot of people will go swimming off the right side of the breakwater, out into the wetlands if the tide is high enough, or just paddle around within a few feet of the shoreline at the head of the breakwater, never getting more than a few feet from the shoreline. Others will try their hand at snorkeling in this area as well. And as the water recedes as the tide goes out, the tidal flats that are revealed yield shells, bits of sea glass, hermit crabs and all kinds of treasures for beachcombers. Families with small children can be spotted carrying nets and buckets to scoop things out of little tidal pools that form at ebb tide.
You can also catch the shuttle boat to get out to Long Point. The Long Point shuttle leaves MacMillan Pier on the hour all day long in the summertime, and it leaves Flyer's boatyard at 10 minutes past the hour, traveling out to the area near the Long Point Lighthouse and back again several times during the day. There is no dock out there, so you'll take off your shoes, roll up your pants legs and hop off the boat in knee-deep water. You can take beach chairs, a small cooler or whatever else you need for the day, but be considerate of others taking the shuttle, too. Don't expect to take the 80 gallon cooler, the barbecue and a side of beef on the shuttle boat. For that kind of party you want to check into renting or chartering a boat of your own.
With this glorious weather we've had recently, there are dozens of ways to use this area we call the breakwater. A lot of folks will simply take a walk out on this enormous granite barrier that forms a walkway from the land at the west end of Commercial Street out to the spit of sand that stretches into Long Point and the tip of the Cape. However you may choose to use this spot, it is one of Provincetown's greatest recreation areas. Be careful, be safe and have fun!

This PTown Trail Dates Back to 1873

The Old Colony Nature Pathway follows the old railroad right-of way used when
trains finally began steaming all the way down the Cape to Provincetown in 1873.

Where Harry Kemp Way meets Howland Street you'll find a conservation, public park and recreation area with a nature trail that will lead you out through the woods toward the water tank found on Mount Gilboa.
The combined efforts of a number of local people and PTown organizations led to the establishment of this beautiful public recreation spot back in 1995. The trail follows the old railroad bed established by the  Old Colony Railroad when train travel to Provincetown finally became possible. Railroad service from Boston to Hyannis began around the middle 1850s, but it was many more years before trains would run all the way to the tip of the Cape.

Our thanks to those who worked to preserve this wild space.

On July 23rd, 1873, a brass band heralded the arrival of the first trainload of dignitaries to make the journey. Before the advent of new railroad service to Provincetown, visitors had to rumble here by stagecoach, no mean feat given the long, rough ride from Boston. With the new railroad in place, it also became much quicker, easier and cheaper for Provincetown's fishermen to ship seafood, even to distant markets. At one time, our fishing fleet provided the majority of all frozen fish consumed in the midwest. Passenger service stopped in 1938, but freight cars still made the trip until 1960, when the railroad tracks in the area of North Eastham were abandoned.
Wildlife abounds on this trail, with all kinds of birds and plant life flourishing along the former railroad bed. At this time of year you'll find the lady slippers beginning to bloom along the edges of the trail. Whether you walk it's full length or just a short distance on this path, you're in for a lovely stroll through this beautiful conservation area.