Cutler Park, Needham
We went to Cutler Park in Needham, Mass. on Sunday. It's the "largest remaining fresh water marsh on the middle Charles." That's right, a big ol' swamp, just outside of Boston, and we went after a couple days of solid rainy weather. It actually sprinkled on us a bit, but waited to pour until after we were done slogging hiking. This little building is peeking out of some of the tallest garlic mustard I've ever seen.
A long, straight boardwalk crosses the biggest cattail marsh I've ever seen.
One path is actually the area mowed beneath the power lines, and it was flooded in several spots.
The commuter rail runs through the park, so the path continues on a tunnel under the tracks.
Where some of the most talented graffiti painters I've seen in the Boston area have their work up.
cottonmanifesto and rockbalancer, who have much better cameras than mine, took pictures of beautiful tiny things.
Pathetic improvised boardwalks were like playing Russian roulette with your foot dryness. This board fully submerged when stepped on.
Charlie found lots of grass and sedge to eat.
There were thousands of these flowering shrubs, which I initially took to be blueberry, but now I think I'm wrong. Do you know what it is?
My muddy feet.
Charlie's muddy feet.
A railroad bridge had some more decent graffiti. Notice the face on the upper right.
Alexis photographing the cattail swamp boardwalk on the way back.
This is my attempt to capture the vastness of it. On the left you can see the traffic on Rt.95, the loop highway that encircles greater Boston.
Where the professional boardwalk ends and the improvised boardwalk begins.
Visit at your own risk! ;) We encountered a group of young men at this point, and while we stood to the side to let them pass, they minced carefully across. One plunged a white sneaker into the muck and whined that he wanted to turn back. They cracked me up with their carefulness and fear of mud. Hope they made it out before the downpour!
Alexis' pictures of the day are here, featuring ferns, lichens, fungi, a slug, and a group of bird's foot violets.