Wildflower walk at Jacobsburg State Park. I use the iNaturalist app to ID and it’s been really helpful in learning the east coast flora. Today’s finds included the following: Common Blue Violet, Dandelion, Spanish Bluebell, Jack in the Pulpit (one of my favorites), Virginia Spring Beauty, Wood Anemone, Red Deadnettle, Trout Lily (which were past bloom), Buttercups, Mayapple, Poison Hemlock, Garlic Mustard, Golden Alexanders, and Garden Yellow Rocket. Everything is suddenly turning green and the days are starting to warm. Everything smells so new and fresh. Spring is a lovely time of year.
I’ve now spent an entire year hiking in Pennsylvania and can honestly say that the summer months are the absolute worst times to hike in this state. It’s hot, humid and bugs (mosquitoes and ticks) abound. That said, the scenery (lakes, woods, wildflowers) is lovely with plenty of active wildlife (bears, birds, butterflies, snakes, etc.) I will admit it hasn’t been easy trying to adjust from high peak mountains out west to low elevation, woodsy trails of Pennsylvania. I miss a good climb and being rewarded with incredible views. Also, the lack of elevation here means there is no escaping the heat of summer. But I digress. I’m making the best of it and learning to enjoy my surroundings and simply appreciate nature.
This past Sunday we hiked a familiar trail in the Delaware State Forest: Egypt Meadow Lake to the Bruce Lake Natural Area. We had snowshoed here in the winter and so it was nice to see such a dramatic change in scenery. I do love the obvious change of seasons here and seeing how different the trails look throughout the year.
Even though we were on the trail early today, the humidity was still pretty bad. There really is no escaping it. But we finished the hike before 11 am, just as the sun was starting to come out from the clouds and really warm things up. I was happy to get out and enjoy an early morning walk in the woods.
Foggy weather made for an eerie day of photos at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Bethlehem, PA. The land for this cemetery that sits on a northern, eroding slope was donated in 1867 by Asa Packer to create the first burial place in Bethlehem for immigrants who worked and died here. At that time, families staked out their own burial plots and maintained them without help of the church. There are first-hand stories of people who witnessed middle-of-the-night burials without permission from the church or formal services for their beloved dead. There is only one noted existing map of the burial locations created by William Sinnott in 1930. Sinnott tried to establish some sort of order to St. Michael’s by mapping out the graves using data he found on the ground. The records are incomplete and many of the grave sites, especially those located higher up the hillside and deeper into the woods are missing. Over the years, severe erosion, wall failure and exposure to poor weather conditions caused many of the headstones to fall over, slide down the slope or become buried. The evidence of this was very apparent as I traversed higher up the hillside and farther back into the woods through leaf debris, decaying vegetation and deep ruts in the uneven ground that exposed broken or mostly buried gravestones. Many gravestones were lost until recent times when volunteers unearthed over 500 stones that had been hidden beneath the sod for decades. Today St. Michael’s is cared for by a group of folks who run a Facebook page called Friends of Saint Michaels. It is their hope to raise awareness of the historic and cultural value of the cemetery and they’re always looking for volunteers to help them with their efforts. It is a huge project to take on and vandalism, eroding soil and harsh weather do not make this an easy task.
The colors are really starting to show in Pennsylvania. Today I went to Jacobsburg State Park and walked from Henrys Woods over to the the National Historic District Site to check out the Henry Homestead/PA Longrifle Museum. I also took some time today to check out the birding area across Belfast Road near Henrys Forge. I didn’t have my birding camera with me, but I was able to get some decent photos of a tufted titmouse, black capped chickadee and a nuthatch. The day was cloudy and a little on the warm side for October. Now is the best time to enjoy the fall color before the leaves fall. It’s a beautiful time of year here on the east coast.
This morning I headed up to the Pocono Mountains to Promised Land State Park in the Delaware State Forest. Promised Land is a huge area with about 50 miles of trails in a very well organized trail system. As per usual, I wanted to hike on a less populated trail, so I looked for the most remote looking area I could see on the map. I found a trail I could access off the 390 from a turnout on North Shore Road where I could link up to the Bruce Lake Trail outside of Promised Land and it would take me to Bruce Lake. According to the park map, the route was mostly a hiking only trail (no bikes) which was a plus, and it was away from the beaches and campgrounds near Promised Land Lake which meant it should be pretty isolated. From the parking turn out I got on the Rock Oak Trail heading east. The path started out wide and grassy through the shaded forest. The ground was a bit rocky as per usual Pennsylvania terrain, but I could still enjoy the scenery and not have to keep looking down to watch my footing. At the first junction I continued eastward as the trail turned into the Telephone Trail. From here it got interesting. I was rock hopping boulders for the majority of this section and bushwhacking through huge towers of rhododendrons. I felt like I was in a jungle, but I definitely was not bored. It was actually fun. As much as I complained about the rocks being a pain in my butt, I did enjoy the test in agility. As I neared the end of the Telephone Trail, I found the junction for the Bruce Lake Trail. This would take me northbound to the natural glacial lake where I could sit and enjoy the scenery before looping around the lake to make my way back. The Bruce Lake Trail started out pretty well maintained, but eventually I was back to bushwhacking my way through. Thankfully, the rocks weren’t that bad. Eventually, I reached another junction to make the loop around the lake. I headed east in a counterclockwise direction. Now the trail was wider and way less overgrown. I could see the lake to my left as I hiked along this beautiful section of trail. As I approached the north side of the lake, the trail came to an opening at the shore. It was absolutely beautiful. All that rock hopping and navigating through brush made it worth it for these views without a soul in sight. I took a nice long break here, had a sandwich and enjoyed the quite. When it was time to return, I made use of the West Bruce Lake Trail heading southbound. This trail was REALLY overgrown and on top of that it was right at the shore of the wetlands so it was super muddy. Luckily, it was still easy to make out the trial and the blue blaze markers/guides were always easy to find. I finished off the day by continuing the loop on the Rock Oak Ridge trail and then eventually the Rock Oak Trial back to the trailhead. It was a fun day. The peace and quiet and views of the lake were definitely worth the effort. I would love to come back again and see more of this area, especially in the next month because the leaves will be changing colors and it will be spectacular.
This weekend I went back to Stoney Valley to find the old coal mining cemetery. I parked just off Gold Mine Road and began the 3.5 mile walk to the junction with the AT on the Stoney Valley Rail Trail. This time I detoured off the main trail and made my way down to the Evening Branch Beaver Swamp to get a better look at it. I saw some frogs, but no luck seeing any beavers. I walked back up to the rail bed and veered off again when I reached Sand Spring. Sand Spring is true to its name with its sandy waters flowing out of the mountainside. It was a lovely day and temps were in the low 60s, perfect for hiking. When I arrived in Rauch Gap, I headed south on the AT in search of the cemetery. It wasn’t too hard to find. There’s a junction off the AT with a sign. Last time I was here I just didn’t hike in far enough to see it. There are only three readable headstones left in the cemetery; however, there are 100s buried here. These old coal mining towns have such a fascinating history. I can only imagine what it must have looked like in the 1800s. Along the way back up to the AT, I veered off trail again to check out more ruins of the town. I found lots of old stone building foundations hidden away in the woods. Once back on the AT I decided to check out the water crossing at the Beaver Dam. There’s a diversion to get around it about 1.6 miles east on the Stoney Valley Rail Trail for thru hikers. On the way to the crossing, I saw another hiker who said she tried to cross the dam but was unsuccessful. It was obvious, because she was wringing out her clothes! When I reached the beaver dam, I could see what an ordeal it would be to try and cross. Lots of deep mud and not exactly a short crossing either. There were trees growing up out of its waters and all kinds of wildlife including a couple of otters. Beaver swamps are a very strange sight to see coming from California where everything is so dry. This isn’t something I’d see too often (if ever) along the west coast trails, but on the east cost wetlands seem to be quite common. The light here was amazing as it changed and reflected off the murky waters. I spent a good amount of time here walking around exploring my surroundings before heading back up to the AT where I found a couple of campsites. I stopped near the creek to have a snack and enjoy the peacefulness of the wilderness. It was a quiet day and it was a while before I saw any other people pass by. After the break, I went back up to the rail trail and up to the Summit Siding rail bed which I had visited last time I was here. I followed it further out this time until I got tired of hopping over boulders and trees. It was very overgrown. Since I was here, I went back down to see the bridge piers at Rauch Gap again before getting back on the main rail trail. There was one more trail I’d seen last time that I wanted to check out before heading back. I found the red blazed trees off the rail trail and got on the path. I followed it north until finding a sign on the ground that said “to upper rail trail”. I am guessing this would have taken me up to the original rail bed. This trail was even more over grown, so I decided to turn around and head back. It was a really great day. There is still much to see in this area, so I’m sure I’ll be back again.
Today I wanted to hike some of the Appalachian Trail. I figured it would be a nice way to experience more of the terrain and try out the rock scrambles because that seems to be a common thing here. After I got on the road, I realized that I’d forgotten my camera. Ugh. So all of my photos were taken with my mobile phone.
I started this hike at the Fox Gap trailhead and did the Wolf Rocks Loop. The hike starts out mostly flat, but the terrain is rocky in most parts so you have to watch your step or you’ll stub your toe like I did about a million times.
The trail meanders through beautiful groves of fern and it looks like something out of a fairytale at times. There isn’t much elevation to gain until you reach the boulders where you’ll scramble your way up to the ridge to the overlook. Once on the ridge you’ll boulder hop your way across. You can pick any of the outcroppings to climb up and check out the views. I could see a little above the tree line and make out some of the area’s high points, one of which is called Pimple Hill, a summit in Monroe County that stands at 2,197’. What a funny name. We sat for a bit on the boulders and enjoyed the cool morning breeze before heading back. It was a fun early morning hike and we saw only a few people on this trail. I would like to come back to this trailhead and next time hike it northbound from Fox Gap towards the Delaware Watergap.
