A Cold Hike And A Cool Hawk Along The Scenic Lehigh River In Historic Weissport.
I decided to hike along the Lehigh River on Saturday. It is one of the three major rivers that flow near my home in southern Luzerne County. The Lehigh, the Schuylkill and Susquehanna River watersheds are all within a few miles from my home in Hazle Township. I have hiked and explored many of their tributary streams and creeks in my younger day. I now enjoy hiking and exploring the rivers and learning about their history. And there is a lot of history in and around Weissport. I drove the 22 miles to Weissport and arrived around 8 a.m. on Saturday. It was clear and cold. The temperature was near 10 degrees.
Weissport is located along the Lehigh River in what was known as Gnadenhütten, a settlement founded by Moravian missionaries and the site of a dispute and massacre that occurred in 1755 during French and Indian War. One of the reasons for the dispute was the Walking Purchase when colonists from Philadelphia cheated the Native American Lenni Lenape out of the homelands. 
As a result, the colonial Pennsylvania legislature authorized a series of forts to be built along the Kittatinny Ridge (Blue Mountain) to protect the settlors. Benjamin Franklin was put in charge of the fort building and arrived in Weissport in 1756 and built Fort Allen and two other forts. The well from the original fort still exists in the town. I stopped to see it on my arrival in Weissport. So much more interesting history here and the links I provided can get you started if you want to learn more.
I drove to the park in the center of the small town of under 500 people and began my hike on the former towpath between the old Lehigh Canal and the Lehigh River. The Lehigh Canal was completed in 1829 and played an important part in the Industrial Revolution in our Nation. It is now part of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. I have provided more history and info on the canal in previous blogs you can find using the search tool in my blog.
Besides it’s long history, the canal is also a great place to hike or bike, even on a frigid December day. Most of the waters of the canal were covered in ice on Saturday, but there was some open water. I took some of my most beautiful photos of wood ducks here on the open waters of the canal on a similar cold December day a few years ago. I hoped to see some wood ducks on this hike along the canal. 
I walked on the trail aunder and the many old oak, maple and other ancient harwood trees along the canal. 
I walked past one of the old locks which raised and lowered the barges that transported mostly coal from the anthracite mines down the Lehigh and to the Delaware where it was transported to Philadelphia, New York and other cities along the East Coast. 
The trail soon neared the Lehigh River and followed it as it meandered through the surrounding hills. 
There are usually a lot of folks walking or biking on the trail, or fishing in the stocked waters of the canal,, but I didn’t see a single person at the beginning of my hike.
There wasn’t much wildlife either. The first bird I saw on my hike was this hairy woodpecker looking for a meal on the branches of a tree.
And, as usual on cold days, when you find a woodpecker high in the tree tops there are other birds feeding nearby. I think the flock together fpr safety. I saw this winter wren scurrying in the shrubs near the trail and
a few song sparrows scrambling on the ground along the trail. 
I continued on the trail and came to the first of two overflow bridges that were recently constructed on the trail, replacing old wooden bridges that often flooded. They were made of cobblestone , as was the original towpath. They will be much welcomed by the bikers who use the trail.
I continued on the trail under the deep blue skies and brilliant December sunshine. It was a cold, but invigorating, walk. 
There wasn’t much green along the trail, there were some garlic mustard plants that with green leaves but they were covered in a heavy frost. 
There were also a few marginal wood ferns growing along the trail,
and a lot of green rhododendron. The leaves of the rhododendrons curl in the cold.
There were also some red winter berries,
and orange oriental. bittersweet berries along the trail. 
The oriental bittersweet is an invasive species but it and the winter berries provide food for the wildlife in the Winter. I soon found a flock of eastern bluebirds feeding on some of the oriental bittersweet berries. 
They are beautiful birds especially in the bright sunshine. 
I had hiked about 2 miles when I came to the “Bridge to Nowhere” a well known landmark on the trail. It has been here the 10 years I have been hiking the trail bit is now in disrepair, 
although it’s message remains as clear. 
The trail now approached some steeper hillsides and, after about 2 1/2 miles came to the Christina Van Gelder Observation Deck, another landmark along the trail built also in disrepair. 
The views from the deck are still breathtaking, even in December. 
I began my hike back now encountering a few bikers and hikers along the way. The brilliant sun was now in my eyes but I continued to look for ducks and geese on the river and canal. I usually see some common mergansers on the river in the Winter months. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any on this hike. 
I did see a few Canada geese fly overhead.
I also saw a few more birds along the trail, this red bellied woodpecker,
a pair of Carolina wrens singing their cheerful songs, 
and a few American goldfinches. 
I continued my hike along the ice covered canals, 
observing the withered milkweed pods 
and grasses along the trail. I was already looking forward to seeing the skunk cabbages appear in February and March, the first signs of Spring. 
On my return I passed a lot more folks hiking and walking their dogs as the sun warmed the cold morning air. 
As I was finishing my hike I saw this northern cardinal, and, 
while taking the photo of the cardinal I noticed this beautiful bird perched in a tree near the parking lot, a juvenile red-tailed hawk.
It watched as I got closer, 
and remained perched on the branch for almost a 1/2 hour while watched. It was enjoying the late morning sunshine.
I waited and watched, while it shifted it’s position and cleaned its feathers 
hoping to get some photos of it flying off. 
Sure enough the moment I looked away it finally flew off. Although I didn’t get those photos it was a great way to end my hike along the Lehigh River.
As I ended my hike at the parking lot where I finally saw some ducks. They weren’t the wood ducks I was looking for, but large flock of mallard ducks on the ice. 
Although not as striking as wood ducks, they are still pretty birds, especially in the bright sunshine. Here is a link to a gallery with some more photos of the birds, including the juvenile red-tailed hawk, that I saw on my cold five mile hike. Weissport Canal birds December 15 2024. 
As I was leaving Weissport I reflected on my hike, the sounds of Lehigh River, the blue skies, brilliant sunshine and wildlife, expecailly the red- tailed hawk. I also wondered if Benjamin Franklin had time to enjoy this beauty when he visited almost 300 years ago, Here is a link to a gallery with some more photos from my cold five mile hike along the Lehigh River . Weissport Canal December 15 2024. 
A river seems a magic thing. A magic, moving, living part of the very earth itself. Laura Gilpin
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