Archive for January 2021

A Couple Of December Hikes in the PPL Wetlands

I haven’t had a lot of time to post here on my blog these past few weeks but I’m finally catching up on some of my hikes. So here are some photographs and thoughts from a couple of December hikes I took in the PPL Wetlands in Salem Township, Luzerne County, one of my favorite…

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Cold Weather Visitors In My Backyard

I haven’t seen any bears or migratory song birds these past two moths. The bears are hibernating and the song birds have flown south. But I still have had some cold weather visitors in my backyard here in Hazle Township, Luzerne County.  My bird feeders have not suffered any assaults from the bears that usual…

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A Visit to the Rain Swollen Susquehanna River.

As I  mentioned in a previous post, a nor’easter snow storm followed by a heavy rain storm flooded our streams and rivers here in Northeastern Pennsylvania last month. The day after the  Christmas rain storm I drove to the PPL Wetlands in Salem Township, Luzerne County to observe  the rain swollen Susquehanna River. The swift…

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January Sunshine At The PPL Wetlands

Many days this month  were dreary  here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Cloudy, windy and cold they were.  It was nice to see clear blue skies  when I awoke last  Saturday morning. It was a cold 18 degrees here in Hazle Township, Luzerne County.  But I knew that  the clear skies meant there  would be abundant January…

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A Wintery Hike On The Broad Mountain In Carbon County

The weather forecast called  for clear skies and cold temperatures  last Sunday.  I decided to drive to  the Broad Mountain in Carbon County and hike out to the overlook atop the Lehigh River Gorge.  It was partly cloudy and a cold 25  degrees when I  arrived early in the morning at the State Game Lands…

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January Thaw? A Hike At The PPL Wetlands

Most years in January, when  I was growing up here in Northeastern Pennsylvania , after a few weeks of frigid arctic air, we would have a “January thaw”. This year we haven’t had any real  frigid arctic weather so I am not sure if the mild  weather we had again last week can be called…

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Not Much Frozen Water In The Lehigh River Gorge

Usually, in January, there are many forms of frozen water here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Snow, sleet, and all kinds of ice. Not this year, another mild Winter has resulted in only light snow cover and only at  the highest elevations near my home in Luzerne County. On my hike in the PPL Wetlands last Saturday…

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A Last Minute Decision To Visit Our Nation’s Capitol

As a citizen of the United States, I watched with horror and sadness at the insurrection that resulted in the loss of life and desecration of our Nation’s Capitol in Washington DC two weeks ago. And for the past year I watched my Nation suffer from the Covid-19 virus which  caused  over 400,00 deaths. Difficult…

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Winter Returns To The PPL Wetlands And Riverlands

The mild weather we’ve had this Winter continued this past  week, until a cold front moved though our area on Friday . I awoke Saturday morning with a temperature of 18 degrees and a strong northwesterly wind at my home here in Hazle Township. Skies were mostly clear. There was a dusting to a half…

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Sunshine, And Some Ice At The Lehigh River Gorge

The cold air that started to filter in Northeastern Pennsylvania on Friday, settled  in  Saturday night.  I awoke on Sunday morning to  clear blue skies, a strong wind  a frigid, but average in these parts,  18 degrees. I decided to return to the Lehigh River Gorge in Rockport to see how much  ice  had formed…

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