Southern New England Outdoor and Nature Site: The Outer Cape- This should be on your bucket list!!!

For the last three days Laurie and I have been at the ocean. I wasn't getting much time off this summer, so we planned a quick three day vacation. We left early Wednesday morning and came home Friday afternoon. We started our trip off with a whale watch and ended it with some birding with a whole lot of fun thrown in.

The whale watch was out of Plymouth but the rest of the time was spent out on the Outer Cape. I have to admit, I am surprised by how pretty the scenery was. I knew and expected miles of beaches. I didn't expect the diversity of other habitats like beech forests and miles of vegetated sand dunes. I completely misjudged how incredible it is out there. I would highly recommend everyone take a trip to the outer Cape. You don't have to do the things I did, but there is is much to do I think you would find a trip with a little research highly rewarding.

Whale Watch

The whale's fin is white but because of all
the plants in the water it glows a bright green

We took our whale watch out of Plymouth at Captain John's boat. Whale Watch's can also be taken from Boston and Provincetown that go to the same place, Stellwagon Bank. Our trip departed Plymouth Harbor at 9 am. It cost 45 dollars (plus tax) for an adult. The trip out to the bank lasts about an hour. I have been on whale watches before, but not for a few years. All summer, I have been hearing reports of amazing whale activity. I was hoping to see some breaching. We didn't see any breaches, but he were really close to some humpbacks. They came right next to the boat, sometimes within a few feet. We had some really good looks at about five whales (including a mother and a calf). On our way back to the dock, the ocean exploded with whales and we could see blow holes everywhere, but we couldn't stop to see them. I really had a good time.

Nickerson State Park Camping

We stayed at Nickerson State Park in Brewster on Wednesday and Thursday nights. After we left the whale watch we headed over the Sagamore Bridge en route to Brewster. From the bridge, it's 40 minutes to the campground. We had reservations at Area 7 (there are actually seven camping areas

We had the beach to ourselves at Cliff Pond

spread out in this huge park). Area 7 is near Higgins Pond, a trout pond I haven't fished yet. Our site was flat and near the bathroom. All was quiet Wednesday night. Since it is dark around 8 pm, there isn't a lot to do. Happily everyone was quiet sans a few car doors slamming. Thursday, not so much, one camper had a radio blaring until almost 10:30. After that, all was quiet.

The state park has evening programs at the Amphitheater almost every night . Wednesday the program was about mammals but we were out (see below) Thursday it was about African drumming and we did not go.

Nickerson has many "beaches" in the Kettle Ponds. We went for a swim on Thursday night. We went to Big Cliff Pond about 5 pm. To my surprise, no one was swimming at all ( a guy and his grand daughter came for a swim after we got into the water). The water was warm and clear. I could see about six feet down with my snorkel and mask.

I believe camping cost MA residents $22 a night. I think it's pretty good deal. It comes with use of a huge state park that has swimming, biking, hiking, campfire programs and fishing. Also its location is second to none being close to beaches, Chatham and very well centered in the middle of the Cape.

First Encounter Beach sunset

One thing I was hoping to do, was squeeze in a sunset looking west over Cape Cod Bay. Happily, we had some free time on Wednesday night after we set up camp. I had scouted my map book for a west facing beach. First Encounter is named because it was where Pilgrims and Nauset Indians met. It was easy to get to off of Route 6. We were not the only people with this idea. A few others set up lawn chairs, some with a glass of wine to take in the view. It was well worth sitting around a few minutes. The setting sun put on a spectacular show. We watched it light up the sky as it sunk behind the horizon.

Provincelands Bike Trail

The view from the top of a hill on the bike trail faces
Race Point Light

I had read before how awesome the Provincelands bike trail was. I had read it is challenging going up and over dunes and that it was very pretty. I was still not prepared for the splendor of this trail. The trail goes through a beech forest and up and over dunes. It also has spur trails to a freshwater pond, Herring Cove Beach and Race Point Beach. This is now officially my favorite bike trail. It is hard, there are some very long uphills. However the tight turns, huge sand dunes, and the views from the top of some of the dunes make it all worth it. If you like bike riding, DO THIS TRAIL!!!It's only 5.4 miles to do the loop, but you can add on a couple more doing the spurs to the beaches. We went to Herring Cove Beach but not Race Point Beach. It is a nice beach facing west. There is a food shack and restrooms. Do this path!!!

Turns can be sharp and steep adding to the fun

Provincetown

Dogs were everywhere in Provincetown
Although this isn't my favorite kind of dog
it was the first dog I saw after I realized
I should get a picture of one

I don't care what your views are about gay marriage (For those of you that don't know P-town has a very large gay population), I am telling you right now, Commercial Street is one of the most fun streets in America. There is a lot of places to get food. P-town also has a large population of artists.. Many of which have galleries in shops on the street. I was more than happy to get a burger since we were hungry after doing our bike ride. I then got talked into a cupcake from Scott's Cupcakes, that is supposedly one of the best cupcakes in the country.

After that we walked around a bit looking at the art and the harbor. Commercial Street runs right along P-town harbor. Then we went to one place where we got a pina colada and a

Commercial Street is colorful.
Hope you like rainbows

Key Lime tart and ate it on the deck overlooking the harbor. Yeah, it was a Jimmy Buffett moment. We hung out in town for about four hours, bellies full we left (and went for the
swim mentioned above at Big Cliff)

A view of Provincetown Harbor

Friday morning birding

The Salt Pond Visitor Center had a bird walk scheduled for Friday morning.Since I like birds and

Laurie wanted to keep the trip as low cost as possible, it was an easy decision to go birding. The walk started at the VC, but we quickly drove to a place called Doanes Rock. There is some upland habitat, a marsh, and finally the path comes out to Coast Guard Beach at the ocean. There wasn't much to see in the woods (nesting is over and songbirds migrate about a month from now)

However, shorebirds are migrating right now. There was quite a few in the marsh. We saw laughing gulls, Lesser Yellowlegs, Black Bellied Plovers, Dowitcher, Snowy and Graet Egrets, Great Blue Heron, and common sandpipers. We didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but good numbers of the more common shorebirds.

Out at the beach we didn't see any birds, but we saw plenty of seals. The ranger told me the Cape Cod

seal population has exploded to 15,000! We saw a few of them swimming right in the surf line at Coast Guard beach.

After that walk we went to the Welfleet Bay Audubon Sanctuary. I had never been there. There is a

five dollar fee for non-members. Laurie's feet hurt so we did the shortest trails to the ocean. This still resulted in a couple miles of walking. There is a large marsh that empties into the sea. We saw a couple good birds. We had a Whimbrel, a Dunlin, and I'm almost positive a Stilt Sandpiper. We had almost all the other shorebirds I named above also.

Bike Trails and the National Seashore

This area of the Cape has some of the best biking around. Besides the Provincelands trail there are miles of bike trails in the area. Nickerson State Park has miles of paved bike trails. The Cape Cod Rail Trail runs for 22 miles through the center of the Cape (you can pick it up at Nickerson among other places). There are shorter trails that leave the Salt Pond Visitor Center. Many trails lead to beaches that would otherwise have full parking lots.

As for the National Seashore, the best advice I can give you is to get a park newspaper. These can be

picked up at Vistor Centers. There is so much to do and see and it is all in the park newspaper. You could just spend every day at the beach, but you would be missing out on a lot of fun stuff. A list of ranger led activities and programs is in the paper. IT TAKES UP FOUR PAGES. Anything you could hope to do outdoors is available. From kayaking quiet marshes, to ranger led bike rides and hikes, there's something for everyone. Many programs are free ( like our bird walk) others cost money, but are very reasonable. It would be worth a few minutes to pick up a park paper and see what programs are going on the days you are there.

So as you can see, I loved my time on the outer Cape. We got lucky with the weather, it was absolutely perfect. There was so much to do, I could have easily stayed the week. I plan on going back many times. My eyes were opened to an amazing area only ninety minutes from home. More pictures below.