travel – Wellfleet Conservation Trust

Our Annual Guided Walk set off from the Cape Cod National Seashore Headquarters in the Marconi area. Partly sunny skies and a breeze at our backs made walking easy for the thirty-seven walkers set out at 9 a.m. to a crossroad in the middle of the area. There President Denny O’Connell greeted the participants, and South Wellfleet historian Pam Tice gave a brief history of the creation of the Cape Coc National Seashore.

The walkers headed east through the Seashore’s recycling area, where pallets and old wood were stored. Advice to all was to keep walking. At the top of the high bluff above the ocean, Denny O’Connell discussed beach erosion, and Bill Iacuessa distributed photos of the Camp Wellfleet’s unmanned target planes and told how the military trainees shot at them until the sock trailing behind or the drone plane itself went down.

From there, the walk took a turn to the north and followed a path along the top of the bluff. Dwight Estey, historian of the Wellfleet Museum and Historical Society, outlined the area of notable shipwrecks including the end of the Castagna.

At the end of the path, Alice Iacuessa gave information about the famous Marconi Station a little further to the north. She concluded the history of the Marconi area with more history of Camp Wellfleet during WWII and through the 1950’s and 60’s.

The walkers turned west and crossed the paved road leading to the Marconi towers site and entered a trail that led them to a portion of the Old King’s Highway. Bill Iacuessa gave the final presentation on the history of Old King’s Highway, which ran from Sandwich to Provincetown. This section brought to everyone back to the rear of the headquarters building, completing a full circle from where they began.

Back in the parking lot, many tired, but happy, walkers commented that this walk was one of the best walks ever.