A short Cape Cod hike that has it all: Dunes, harbor, art and awesome sunsets

TRURO — I was untangling the holiday lights, a rotten job that ramps up frustration and beer consumption, and tends to ignite my inner Scrooge. Muttering Cape Cod curses, like "son of a barnacle" and "tartar sauce," I stomped up the driveway with a ball of electrified confusion and tossed it into a ravine.

"All festivities are canceled!" I yelled at a squirrel.

As dusk approached, I began to feel a bit guilty, so I broke out the giant orange extension cord and plugged it into the snarled mess. I sure was surprised when 5,000 LED lights spelled out the following message: "I need a short hike that has it all. What do you suggest?"

My foul mood lifted like summer fog. I had already been thinking about this very concept! With daylight hours reduced to a brief flash in a sea of darkness, it gets tricky to plan a lengthy outing. This time of year, we all need a reliable three-mile jaunt that takes about an hour and a half.

I whistled for the Curious Prius and we made a beeline for Fisher Beach in Truro. It was almost 3 p.m. and the sun was yawning behind the clouds, thinking about bedtime. But the good thing about walking along Cape Cod Bay in the afternoon is you get to harvest every bit of light before Sol checks in to a motel near Plymouth.

We came to rest in the Fisher Beach parking lot and I popped out of the Prius like a champagne cork. But I didn't walk out onto the strand, I headed down Great Hills Road. That's where the Dalsheimer Trail begins, maintained by the fine folks at the Truro Conservation Trust.

It isn't a long trail, but it is a lovely place. The path curls through the dunes behind Fisher Beach to the edge of Pamet Harbor. And unbelievably, the sun cracked through the clouds and that special late light overspread the land. I watched a boat enter the harbor and this minor event became wildly beautiful, illuminated by the low slant of the sun. Already I was a winner!

I curled back onto the northern end of Fisher Beach and walked out on the little breakwater. "Never bypass a breakwater," is my motto, so I walked out to the end and pretended I was on the bow of the Titanic. I warned some gullible seagulls about the giant iceberg dead ahead, and they jumped off the breakwater into tiny lifeboats.

Now it was time for a good leg stretcher along Fisher Beach, one of my favorite off-season haunts. I found a piece of green beach glass as I headed south, which seemed like a good omen. I've always wondered where the best beaches for beach glass are on Cape Cod, so if you feel like sharing, please drop me a line, so I can start up my Curious Taste jewelry company.

So far, we had seen dunes, a harbor, a breakwater and a fine beach — the hits just kept on coming! And now it was time to delve into the world of art history, and down the beach, I could see a white speck atop a hill: the summer home of the late, great Edward Hopper (1882-1967).

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Sure, you might know that the Hopper painting "Chop Suey" sold for $91.9 million in 2018. And you might have had an inkling that he hung around Truro a bit. But the tiny town was a big deal for Hopper, according to this passage from the Truro Historical Society website:

"Edward Hopper, generally considered the greatest American realist painter of the twentieth century, was in a sense a Truro artist, usually spending at least four months a year in Truro from 1930 to his death in 1967. Truro was more than a vacation spot for the Hoppers: using an inheritance (his wife) Jo received, the Hoppers bought a property in 1933 on a bluff over Fisher Beach and Edward designed a house and studio where he produced about a third of all his work from then on."

I suppose it's fair to say that Hopper's house is also a work of art. So suddenly I was rushing down the beach to get a photo while the light was still good. I didn't want to take a blah pic and disappoint the Hoppers!

It was a close call and I might have gotten the short end of the stick. Seconds after I snapped the photo, the sun dipped behind a bar of clouds and began hissing into the bay. But I couldn't complain: the whole day had been gray until the last hour or so, and a splendid hour in the late fall on Cape Cod is a victory.

Hiking reward: Mysterious trail leads to awesome ocean vista in Truro

Right after the Hopper house, there's a cut in the dune marked by an erosion control sign. It's a little trail maintained by the Truro Conservation Trust that leads off the beach to the end of Stephens Way. It's a pleasant country lane that takes you to Fisher Road, where you turn left to get back to the beach parking lot.

Two of my favorite public works of art are displayed on Fisher Road. One is painted on the back of what appears to be a shed, facing the street. It seems like a riff on the Garden of Eden, with two figures, lots of grapes and a couple of birds. Then, almost back at the parking lot, you'll come across a big basement door, festooned with awesome dancers. I would pay $91.9 million for either one, but first I've got to cash in my change jar.

What do you want to know about Cape Cod? To ask a Curious Cape Cod question, email me at ewilliams@capecodonline.com. I'll do my best to figure things out!

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Short Cape Cod hike that has it all: Dunes, harbor, art and sunsets