Dave’s Photo Blog

Although I love, and I mean love winter, there is one thing about spring that I really appreciate. I can start taking walks in the Middlesex Fells Reservation again without worrying about snow, mud and other off-season problems. Today was a perfect day for my first tip in with the kids in the new year. They love going on hikes and walks. They were begging me all day to go, but there was some pesky rain about and we had to wait until the afternoon. Still, there was plenty of time for a Medford Fells two-fer. Wright’s Tower and Panther Cave.

Parking was full at Bellevue Pond, but I pretty much expected that. It gets very crowded by the tower in fair weather. There are plenty of pull-overs on South Border Road, though, and we just drove a bit further down, closer to Panther Cave to park. There is one thing about heading into the Fells that is quite different from, say, a trip to the local playground. If you live in an urban area, you are not likely to encounter, say, a reptile, the way you might in the Fells. As we were walking around Bellevue Pond, we startled a garter snake. It was sunning itself in the middle of the path and slithered off to the side of the trail as we approached. It was such an awesome moment. My kids, who are young, were both riveted and excited. Seeing a snake in the wild, even if it is just the Fells, is a Big Deal.

The one thing that always gets us down, though, are the locks on Wright’s Tower. I’m assuming they only open up the tower between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That leaves a lot of prime hiking time, especially in spring and fall when we like to go, when you can’t actually go up the tower. But we were still rewarded by the view of Boston, as we have been on past occasions as well. From the tower, and the rocks below it, you can get an amazing panorama – easily 180°. This is just a slice of it. Boston looked more like San Francisco today, as some weather that had missed us rolled off the skyscrapers and into the harbor, leaving the tops of the buildings downtown in clouds.

Turn around, and you get a great view of Wright’s Tower. I’ve posted photos of the tower before, but conditions were really nice today. Perfect for a polarizer, actually, although I didn’t have one. Still, the tower in black and white presents is striking.

Now Panther Cave is a short hike away from Wright’s Tower. It’s more of a rock-fall than a cave. To two young kids, it’s nature’s playground. The cave is off to the right in the photo blow.

There are several caves, or tunnels, whatever you want to call them. This is the main one, and to give you an idea of scale, my son, who is four, can go through this opening with his head bent forwards. It’s bigger than the photo looks. Once inside, it is fairly open to the sky with a ledge, almost a balustrade of rocks, that you can walk up around. We had to be careful, though because it’s obviously more dangerous than a playground and there is also broken glass and other man-made nuisances around.

All in all, it’s a wonder place to spend a few hours on a nice Saturday, enjoying the wildlife and each other’s company.