Walden Pond Swim Trivia

With the Tuesday night swims getting into full swing, Frank KJ decicded it was time to share a bit of trivia about Walden Pond. Here's his report:

"With swim season at Walden Pond in full gear, I thought I’d share some facts and trivia.

Walden Pond is a 102-foot (31 m) deep pond, 61 acres in area and 1.7 miles (2.7 km) around. A famous example of a kettlehole, it was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000 - 12,000 years ago. More data and photos on WIKIPEDIA'S WALDEN POND ENTRY.

Walden Pond is of course famous because of Thoreau but what you may not know is that Thoreau had first chosen a section of shoreline of Sandy Pond (Flints Pond); I am sure you trail runners are all familiar with Sandy Pond, which is not accessible as it serves as drinking water for Lincoln. Tradition say, however, that Thoreau was not granted a permission to build a cabin because Captain Flint had heard about the extensive forest fire Thoreau had set by Fairhaven Bay (also known from our runs in Lincoln Woods). Had Thoreau had his will we might have been swimming in Sandy Pond instead.

Finally, if you just want to know how far you have been swimming in Walden, then you can find just about all the yardage listed in the PDF posted here, courtesy of Breakwater Sports Training.