News Flash: Ice-out at Thoreau's Walden Pond
March 23, 2009

"Walden Pond officially iced-out this morning, March 23rd," announced Michael Mitchell of Walden State Park Reservation on Monday. "It was a cold and snowy winter in this part of Massachusetts this past year."

American naturalist Henry David Thoreau kept ice-out records for Walden Pond in the mid-1800s and recorded them in his celebrated book, Walden. Thoreau wrote of simplicity, of finding your own way in life, and of watching the natural environment around you. When Journey North began 15 years ago, we included Thoreau's tradition so you could compare modern records to the historic records at Walden. How does this year's ice-out date compare?

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Ice-Out Records for Walden Pond
How does this year's date compare with historic ice-out dates at Walden Pond?

Collected in the 19th Century by Henrry David Thoreau

• 1845 April 1
• 1846 March 25
• 1847 April 8
• 1851 March 28
• 1853 March 23
• 1854 April 7

.....and in the 20th and 21st Centuries by Journey North

• 1995 March 18
• 1996 March 23
• 1997 February 22
• 1998 February 26
• 1999 March 1
• 2000 March 9
• 2001 April 12
• 2002 February 23
• 2003 April 2
• 2004 March 21
• 2005 April 5
• 2006 March 13
• 2007 March 28
• 2008 March 20
• 2009 March 23