Another day of blue sky and snow. We hiked from the trailhead at the PEEC on the Two Ponds and then the Tumbling Waters trail to make a loop. I guess a lot of people don’t like cold weather in Pennsylvania, because yet again, there was nobody out hiking today. We hiked past the ponds which were all frozen over and down to the waterfall. The sun felt so good when we stopped at the falls to enjoy the scenery. Then we made our way up out of the gorge to enjoy the vista at the top and then looped it back to the trailhead. Didn’t see a another soul out on the trail today.
Another cold, icy day. Seems like we’ve had to deal with more ice this year then last year. We headed out to Locust Lake. We’ve had really great weather lately. Mostly blue sky and not the typical winter gray that I remember from last year. We hiked a loop that took us along Locust Creek, up to Broad Mountain then back down. After the hike we stopped to enjoy the icy beach. I’ve never see the beach in the summer and wondered how crowded it gets. Well, no one was here today! So we sat for a while and looked out across the frozen lake watching the ice fisherman before heading home.
What a difference a day makes. We went back to Jacobsburg State Park today. It had just finished snowing and it was just beautiful. Fresh snow, no tracks laid down yet and all was quite. We hiked the same trails as we had the previous day and what a difference in scenery. I will admit that is one thing I enjoy about the east coast… everything looks so different each season.
Took a walk around Jacobsburg State Park. Lots of ice on the trails. Found an area that I’d never been to before with an incredible larch plantation and a trail that went along the creek just as pretty as Henry’s Woods. Always love exploring new areas. This section of the park was much more secluded then the main area. Trails are for the most part flat walking, but still very pretty, especially through the larch forest.
Swiftwater Forest Preserve in Paradise Township is a very quite, very beautiful short loop in and out of tall white pines and hemlock trees. It was still pretty cold out this weekend, but the sun was shining and the snow was frozen enough to need light traction to keep from slipping. We hiked the short loop around the preserve which is just about 2.5 miles, stopping for a moment by the chimney to watch the white pines sway in the wind. Many times when I’m hiking, I like to stop, feel my feet connect to the earth and observe the stillness of my surroundings. There’s a lot to be learned from what you find in the forest, and today these wise old trees had a lot to say. After a short meditation, we headed back around the loop and headed home feeling at peace having and such a beautiful day.
