Thread by @MilesPerHoward

Currently doing this and *really* enjoying it.

Hence follows an urban hike thread for Boston.

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https://twitter.com/MilesPerHoward/status/1385784226252005380

Starting the Emerald Necklace traverse at the western edge of Franklin Park. Estimated journey to Boston Common will be roughly 9 miles. I’m not keeping track of mileage in real time but I am taking plenty of photos and trying to remember to hydrate just as often.

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Arborway Part 1. The first half was nice and shaded, but the rest will be a lot more pleasant to stroll when the saplings planted along the walkway get bigger. I’m not loving the car centric nature of this section, but good things lie ahead...

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Arnold Arboretum, baby. The Las Vegas of Boston green spaces. Everyone is here to chase their most bucolic weekend dreams. Even the Willow Path, typically quieter, is bustling today. The pebbly streams are looking really fine. 😍

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Arborway Part 2. More cars, unfortunately, but the arbors here are much more prominent. Plus, some of the most opulent houses in JP round out the landscape here. I almost want to ring a doorbell, just to see who lives in these things.

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Jamaica Pond. Closest thing I have to a house of worship. (I live pretty close to here.) Walking through here on a Saturday reminds me of the park sequence in Mary Poppins, or the Altamont documentary Gimme Shelter. Sometimes both. It varies.

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I really love this nameless (?) section of woodland between Jamaica Pond and Olmsted Park. Lots of stone stairs, bridges, and streams. It feels like a piece of the Middlesex Fells transplanted on the nexus of JP and Brookline.

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Chilling by the water in Olmsted Park for awhile, as goslings run about nearby. You don’t have to embellish these things when you’re on the Emerald Necklace.

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I like that the Emerald Necklace isn’t *just* greenery. There are stretches that remind you that you’re deep in a city, and this little connector between Olmsted Park and the Riverway is a nice example.

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The long corridor of trees and bridges along the Riverway. The way it’s sandwiched between the Longwood medical area and the Riverside Green Line tracks makes the abundance of arbors feel unlikely and special. I barely even noticed the sound of cars on the Jamaicaway nearby.

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A cyclist’s memorial at the Fenway intersection. A grim reminder that the walkable and bikeable nature of the Emerald Necklace, while a treasure, is not the norm in Boston and most US cities. We could have it so much better, for the good of our health, happiness, and safety.

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The Fenway is truly a trove of curiosities, from all the intramural leagues at Clemente Field to the maze of community gardens. These days, I come up here for this stuff more than Fenway Fenway.

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Easily the least Emerald-y part of the Emerald Necklace: connecting from the Fenway to the Comm Ave Mall. When you force pedestrians and cyclists to jockey for tight space like this, bad things can happen.

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Off to a lovely magic hour start on the Comm Ave Mall, but I couldn’t find a way to negotiate the underpass while staying on the greenway. Nor was there an obvious crosswalk for getting to the neighboring sidewalks. Weird. Seems like something that’s easily fixable.

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The Comm Ave Mall gets greener. Boston Common gets closer. My feet are starting to get tender. Emerald Necklace traverse is almost over.

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Another tricky spot along the Comm Ave Mall. Twin crosswalks but no walk signals, plus heavy and constant car traffic that you don’t really want to play chicken with.

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Technically the Boston Public Gardens and the Boston Common are two things, so...some garden scenes to celebrate the penultimate yards of the Emerald Necklace.

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Emerald Necklace traverse: done. 8.85 miles. 10.5 if you count getting to Franklin Park from my house and getting back after taking the T back to JP. Sitting atop the hill at Boston Common at dusk and gulping down water is a nice reward.

But why be a Puritan and stop there?

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County roads
Take me home
To the place
I belooong

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So, Emerald Necklace traverse. Highly recommend it! Great walk, great workout, and scenery so varied and interesting that you don’t even feel like you’re working. We’re very lucky to have these parks in Boston. We should build more of them and connect them via foot/bike path

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