February of 2021 brought the Lehigh Valley 38.8 inches of snow, the highest amount for the month to date. The days have been dark and gloomy, but today the sun made a glorious appearance. It was bound to be an amazing day, so we gathered our gear and headed out on the road into the Pocono Mountains. Our destination was Natural Lands Bear Creek Preserve. The early morning temperature was 19 degrees and the parking turnout at the trailhead off White Haven Road was still frozen. We suited up and hit the trail. We started out by following the purple trail south which took us through a hardwood forest scattered with mountain laurel and moss covered boulder formations. The beech trees still holding onto their autumn leaves glistened with a warm orange hue. We passed by a ravine with a waterfall now frozen into a striking 10 foot flow of ice. Sunlight danced on the frosty boughs of hemlock that still hung heavy with snow. As we meandered along the winding trail we began to descend closer to Shades Creek. We then connected to the gray trail as we reached the swinging bridge and crossed over the rapids. The winter landscape looked so amazing as we followed along the snow covered banks. We made our way in and out of rhododendron tunnels stopping every few feet to admire the fast flowing cascades. Sparkles of snow glistened in the sunlight as they fell from the trees like fairy dust. Before we knew it it was already getting to be late afternoon. As much as we wanted to stay, we knew we should start heading back. When we reconnected with the purple trail, we decided to make a quick side trip and follow it south. It crossed over Bear Creek on a primitive bridge and from here we went off trail to continue a little further along its edge. It was a beautiful section of trail, but we didn’t go too far since it was too late in the day to explore. We turned around making note to save that adventure for another time. We ascended steeply back up the hill, back into the hardwood forest and past the frozen waterfall. By this time, the sun had shifted lower on the horizon illuminating the landscape with its radiant afternoon light. When we arrived back at the trailhead, the frozen parking lot was a swimming pool of melted ice. We loaded up the car and headed home after another amazing winter’s day.
It was another bitter cold morning, but I wasn’t about to give up a perfectly beautiful day outdoors. Today we headed to Schuylkill County to visit Locust Lake State Park. Temperatures were in the 20s again and the winds still hadn’t let up much since yesterday. We parked in the lot on the south east side of Locust Lake which was frozen solid. There were a couple of ice fishermen in the lot getting ready to head out onto the lake to try their luck. We geared up and headed west on the paved bicycle trail that would take us to the trailhead and into the woods. As we walked, we passed by the campground which I imagine would be absolutely beautiful (and also very crowded) in the summer. As we approached the trailhead I could see Locust Creek coming into view. There was a dusting of snow on the ground and the water shimmered in the morning sunshine. We crossed over a foot bridge and onto the Oak Loop Trail which followed along the beautiful Locust Creek. The sunlight cast a warm evergreen glow on the hemlocks above us and the icicle covered cascades sparkled as we hiked along the edge of the creek. This was a beautiful section of trail. I must have stopped every 5 feet to snap a photo. The trail had interpretive signs pointing out the trees and different vegetation. At about 1.7 miles the trail started to lead us up and out of the evergreen forest and into the hardwoods. It then made a beeline up the east side of Broad Mountain on a fairly steep grade. I was happy for the climb to keep the blood flowing on this chilly winter day. Along our route we passed an interesting rock outcropping. We stopped here to check it out before continuing. The trail eventually looped back east, and we descended down some switchbacks until we arrived back at the creek. Before leaving we decided to walk around the lake on the Bicycle Trail. By this time there were a few more people out braving the cold. It was a beautiful day and this was a very beautiful trail.
