Boston skyline view from Wollaston Beach, North Quincy, MA
View of Moon Island/Long Island from Wollaston
Me on a deteriorating pipeline.
So I missed yesterday's post on account of getting a late start. The rain was on and off for the morning, so I only got out around 3 once the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds. I got off 93 at Exit 13 in Dorchester to lock up my bike. The exit is called Freeport St. but is actually Victory Rd. Looking at Victory Rd. on Google Earth is impossible as the site is completely blurred out. A security guard was very quick to inform me that the entire road was off-limits (as I figured it would be). A Keyspan power plant with a large gas tank resides on that portion of the Neponset River so I locked my bike up down the other way then drove back to Moswetuset Hummock Park for the last time to leave my car there. I walked down Victory Rd. in Squantum, through some backyards of a development, and then onto the boardwalk at Marina Bay. Small and quiet with a few businesses, the boardwalk parking lot housed what looked to be like a big outdoor night club that never happened. Palm trees with their roots wrapped in plastic lay ten abreast across the entrance.
I walked the shore around Squantum Point, a few steps installed there with a faded circle of granite composing a map of the bay. I continued around and ended up walking behind an abandoned Boston Scientific building, apparently a hotspot for fishing at high tide (I have run in to quite a few fishermen since I started). I came out on Shea Blvd and continued down the road until I found an unposted trail leading to beneath the train tracks. I couldn't use that bridge as the Red Line and Commuter Rail were both actively running. I found a still unposted fence leading to a condominium complex construction site which I decided to cut across to get to the legal bridge. I was stopped by a plainclothes cop in a truck who took my information and I made sure to inform him that there were no posted signs where I came in. He let me go and I continued over the river.
On the other side, I found a bike path originating in Pope John Paul II Park and took that before quickly moving to the unpaved shore. As I walked the dirty shore, I began see little curls of metal all over the ground. I then realized that someone had dumped piles and piles of little coils of metal shavings all over. It was kind of shitty to see but I continued on. Running into a patch of wetlands, I diverted over some barbed wire and through an abandoned lot. The only contents of a backpack laying against a Jersey barrier were a sweet pair of Thinsulate gloves (ground score!), mildly damp. Fearing I might be trapped in, I thankfully found a piece of the fence that had been cut out and escaped through there. I walked through a Sea Ray yacht dealership checking out some of the boats and found another strip of fence with a part cut out. This time the purpose was more apparent as I walked by large three-foot-tall graffiti letters. I teetered behind buildings in the little notch before looping around to Tenean Beach Playground, a small patch of dirty sand with a jungle gym by the highway. I continued toward Victory Rd. along the rocky shore and found the rocks either extremely slippery or extremely steep. So I walked up the hill and walked behind the median on 93. I came down the Freeport St. off-ramp and right as I was salvaging ground score number two--a shitty porno DVD--a Jeep came hauling by with a stinky flat tire. I was about to help but then I saw another call pull up. I took a brief stroll around a park which I figured was a park from looking on GE, but isn't marked as one on GM. Check it:
Missing from Google Maps.
On Google Earth.
It's name is Victory Park and it was a nice end to my day even though my boots had been bothering me. I'm going to find out if there is some way I can submit corrections to Google Maps. Anyway, I rode my bike back treacherously on busy and narrow Morrissey Blvd, walked back over the bridge, and then returned home. After no more than three minutes of driving the rain came beating down on my car in heavy loads. I had just missed it.
I went to bed early and woke up at 4:15 for my first day of work which was pretty nifty. I had a walk today also but I guess I'll have to save that story for tomorrow as I need to pack my lunch and plot tomorrow's course.
See you on the coast!
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