[BACKLOG] Great Island (Cape Cod National Seashore)

Great Island Trail Extended Loop, excluding the sand spit to Jeremy Point.

Hike Type: Loop
Distance: 7.4 miles
Elevation: 387 feet
Time: 3 hours, 4 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Cape Cod National Seashore Trails; 52 Hike Challenge

The Hike
Gen and I had one more hike to do on the cape to finish out self-made challenge of hiking all the trails on the national seashore to earn our made up patch (we ended up finding a couple on EBay)! We ususally start hiking around sunrise but I had read on AllTrails that this trail can be submerged at high tide, which was convienently just after sunrise. We made it to the trailhead at 9:18am with no clouds in the sky but chilly wind.

From the parking lot we descended to sea level where we circumnavigated the marshland behind the dunes. There was a narrow footpath paralleling uphill, likely caused by hikers hiking at high tide. The trail was still wet from the rain and the high tide, but was navigable. We did get a little "lost" at the further end of the dunes - the path we were following turned into marsh so we "bushwacked" back to the dry sand. 

This brought us to what I'm calling the first island. The main trail goes around the island halfway then climbs into the forest, and another shortcut trail goes right into the forest. We took the shortcut trail into the forest to give the tide time to lower some more. The open pine forest was beautiful and the path was wide. When we reached the trail junction, we turned left instead of going straight to loop us back to the beginning of the first island. The forest trail was really beautiful, and we found a side path to a beautiful overlook on a STEEP sandy cliff. We followed another unmarked trail from there and eventually bushwhacked our way back to the main path. We eventually descended back to the original trail junction along the marshland where we were greeted with the land of dead seagulls and a larger dead creature with it's bones scattered about. Eerie, but very cool! Went back into the woods, following the same trail as before, and continued straight where we had turned left the first time. 

After some more woods walking we descending back into the second area of marshland. Very similar to the first, but this time the trail kept us on the dunes for longer. The weather was finally starting to warm up but I had realized I lost my sunglasses - sad. I bought them becuase they were specifially made for "pumpkin sized heads," but they were still tight. I guess it's okay...

We eventually climbed up island number two, kept left at the fork, and worked our way though beautiful pine forests, stopping at a monument honoring a former resident, and reached the island's end! We turned to head towards the beach. A lot of this path was flooded, but we were able to "marsh-hop" (I guess that's a term now?) to the dunes. Now on the beach, we could have turned left and went towards Jeffrey's Point, but that would remain submerged for a few more hours, so we turned right and started the lovely walk back to the car.

The dunes were amazing from the beach side. There were tons of rocks and shells and very few people. We made our way back across the dunese at the end, back to the car, and started our journey home. 

Photo Album

Originally written March of 2022.