
Henry David Thoreau was known for Walden Pond and seeking solitude... He also visited the 'barred and bended arm' (Cape Cod) many times and would walk a 28 mile stretch from Eastham Beach to Provincetown, spending the night along the way in various places such as the Highland light house or the welcoming house of an oysterman. The seashore to Thoreau was a 'wild and rank place, and there is no flattery in it' yet ....'the seashore is a most advantageous point from which to contemplate the world' ...So we can assume, he came for solitude.

Later on, as my girls were young, I would take long adventures with them into the Blue Mountains or Wallowa Mountains, but I have to admit, solitude wasn't quite in the cards. I tried....but you know how life is with kids that young and packing and prodding them around goat trails and shifting land. The mountains here in spots are an odd combination of soil and shale, make each step a challenge against slanted hills.