Thompson Island (3 of 34)

Apparently, Thompson Island is open to visitors only on summer Sundays. We are excited to know that for future visits. However, on valentine's weekend this year we took a walk around the quiet island. During low tide it is possible to walk across a sand bar onto the island. We set out right before low tide to try to maximize our time. On the aerial, the sand bar that connects Thompson Island to Squantum is quite clear. From Squantum, the sand bar is accessed via a park that seems somewhat secret and seems to be called Chappel Rock Park or Squaw Rock Park. The Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center currently operates on and maintains the island. I remember going there for a visit in 3rd grade as part of a nature's classroom/teamwork trip. It has long been an island for (misfit) children, nature and agriculture as outlined in the time line on the outward bound website: http://www.thompsonisland.org/about-us/history-of-thompson-island

We started off in the park on Squantum that has a great view of Boston.

We could see Thompson Island from the park, and many winter ducks, hard to get on camera.

There's a lovely birch grove in the park.

This monument reads "Captain Myles Standish with his men, guided by the Indian Squanto, landed here Sept. 30, 1621. This Memorial is erected by the Daughters of the Revolution, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Quincy Historical and Bostonian Societies Sept. 30, 1895".

The sand bar...

The high tide line is marked by frost on the rock.

Before low tide, we walked onto the sand bar from the right...

There were many large oyster shells (we think these are osyters at least) along the sand bar...

and one lone tire...

As we turned the corner on Thompson Island, we faced Spectacle Island, the two snowy hills on the horizon.

Though the winter ducks were generally too far for us to photograph, the Brants were close enough to be documented.

A small building on what looked like a little pond...

Old pilings that perhaps acted as a bulkhead.

Other random objects found on the beach...

A nice clean beach- on this side of the island it was sheltered from the wind, and a little sunny. A nice place to relax and scope out the scene on the water.

The bridge in the distance is between Moon Island and Long Island.

Outward Bound high-walk towers...

Spectacle Island

We wrap around the island and start heading Northeast.

Erosion of the high land on Thompson.

All at once we turned the corner and downtown Boston came into view.

From here, Spectacle Island was quite close.

The JFK Museum is straight ahead in the distance.

Downtown Boston from the island.

On the far right in this photo is Castle Island which we recently visited.

People normally get to Thompson's island on a boat that arrives at this pier.

It was incredibly windy and cold on this side of the island. But the views were unbeatable.

The JFK Library and UMass Boston...

A toothy stone.

As we make our way around the island we turned to see Marina Bay in Quincy in the distance.

The pond with Outward Bound towers in the background.

I lift a newly discovered barbell on the beach.

A "trust excercise" to get across the outlet?

We came upon a beach of broken dishes on the western side of the island...

...and then a beach of bricks...

the Boston skyline behind us...

the twin buildings are in Marina Bay

We turn the corner again...

...wrapping back around to the sand bar...

We go around a small body of water...and find a Outward Bound "trust wall" that looks purposeful with the red cedar beside it.

docks that are usually out in summer and tied to trees on shore...

as we come back to the sand bar we notice this sign that has it's back to us- we went counterclockwise, while the sign seems sited to those who might go clockwise around the island. We are pretty sure no one else was on the island while we walked around. There were no boats on the water anywhere.

foamy ice lines the shores

we walk back along the sand bar to Squantum, thankful that the tide does not look too high yet.

We see Spectacle Island again...

As we approach the main land we realize that the end of the sandbar is much shallower than the rest. The small piece of land we walked over at the beginning is now underwater.

Since the next low tide wouldn't be until midnight, we decide to try to find the shallowest point and wade through the water...The water is moved relatively swiftly..

...but we make it! and pour the water out of our boots...

A good view of the shallow part of the sand bar...we'll remember this next time.

But we feel triumphant for now (albeit a bit wet).

we walk back through the park

checking out the graffiti in the distance...

and the birch grove...

that hides the view of Boston in the background...