A Couple Of June Hikes On The Greater Hazleton Rails To Trails.

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June is here already. The calendar says it is still Spring but, to me, June usually feels more like Summer. It did this past week when we finally got some warm weather with sunshine and temperatures in the 80’s. It has been a mostly cool,wet and cloudy Spring here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. 

I took advantage of my favorite weather. I love the heat and humidity and did some hiking on the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails.  It is only a 10 minute drive from my home. My first hike was Wednesday afternoon. I began my hike on the east end of the 5 1/2 mile trail, at the parking lot on the Hazle Brook road. It was sunny with temperatures in the mid 80’s when I arrived at the trail around  2 p.m.

The afternoon sun filtered through the lush green canopy of new leaves on the mostly oak and maple trees in the older woodlands at the start of the trail.  There were some  late Spring wildflowers blooming along the trail side including  yellow common cinquefoil low on the ground, and,

the white common Allegheny blackberry  flowers. It is nice to still seeing these native flowers, especially the wild  blackberries blooming along the trail. In may areas of our State invasive Japanese knotweed, multiflora rose and Morrow’s honeysuckle have taken over their habitats.

I also saw one of my favorite late  Spring flowers, our State flower,  the mountain laurel was beginning to bloom. Last year was not a good year for the mountain laurel. Some years the woodlands  in the mountains of Pennsylvania are covered with their beautiful white and pink flowers in the middle of June. It looks like this  may a good year.

It was mid afternoon when I began my hike, not a great time to see bird activity and other wildlife.   I was surprised, however, to first see this black and white warbler  with a mouthful of caterpillars and warms. It mist have a nest of young ones nearby.

Then this red bellied woodpeckers started squawking in a tree along the trail,

joined by this scarlet tanager, and

then this red-eyed vireo.  I saw all of these birds in the shade of the trees.

The trail continued through the older woodlands and came to the abandoned anthracite coal mining areas. most of it reclaimed. .  The trail followed the border between the older woodlands and the younger trees in the reclamation area. There were a lot of pitch pines trees here.

Here I saw this prairie warbler singing loudly along the trail in the afternoon sunshine.

There is a fresh water stream along the trail, with native trout. Along the stream I saw some pink azaleas still in bloom.

Native Philadelphia fleabane flowers bloomed along the trail,

and I found these mushrooms growing under the shade of the trees.

The trail took me through a culvert under an active mine road, and into the reclamation area. Once there were deep underground anthracite coals mine here, then the area was strip mined. Recently many of the deep strip mines were reclaimed.

The trail continued through these reclaimed areas. Here young black locusts, birch, alder, and aspen  trees grow along the trail. The are not large enough yet to provide much shade and the strong June sun blazed in the mid-day blue skies.  I often see a lot of bird activity here, but it was pretty quiet in the  afternoon heat.

The only bird I saw  in the afternoon heat  was this indigo bunting perched on a black locust  tree along the trail.

Daisies,

 meadow hawkweed,

and wild radish flowers, all invasive to Pennsylvania,  bloomed in sun in  the fields between the trees  and along the trail.

I hiked on the bridge over the active railroad track,

and through some abandoned strip mine areas that weren’t reclaimed.

Here I saw a few ovenbirds. These birds often sing  during the afternoon on even the hottest days of  the year.

It was hot and I had  walked out about 1 and 1 /2 miles so I decided to end my hike and return to my Jeep. A turkey  vulture  flew overhead, hoping the June sun and heat would end my hike and  provide it with a meal.

I finished my 3 mile hike as cumulus clouds formed in the blue skies.  I was the only person on the trail. I was glad I decided to hike on the trail.  As I was driving home I thought to muself  I need to get there early to see what other birds and wildlife may be living in the woods along the trail.

And I did. On Thursday morning I was  up before dawn. After a cup of coffee I drove to the east end of the trail again to get in a hike before  my 9 a.m. appointment at my Law office.  I was again the only car at the parking lot as I began my hike on the trail.

I heard the same birds I saw and heard the previous afternoon, mostly red eyed vireos and ovenbirds but I was only going to photograph new species of birds  I would see since I only had a few hours for my hike. On weekends I sometimes spend five hours hiking five miles to captures the photos of the birds I see on my hike. I quickly walked through older growth woodlands and to the reclamation area along the trails,

where I was able to  capture the beauty of the early rising June sun to the east.  I don’t think I had hiked on the trail this early before.

I will do it again, it is beautiful out there at dawn.

 I hiked through the reclamation areas, a little disappointed I didn’t see more birds activity.

I did see a few more indigo buntings singing in  the early morning sunlight along the trail.

I next came to the bridge 0ver the active railroad track  , and I was delighted to see a train pass under the bridge. This is a link  to a video on the on my YouTube Channel of the train. https://youtube.com/shorts/Rc0a84dCuMs?si=tb0RNWjeh-KmlZIM

and into  the abandoned coal mining area where I did see a few chipping sparrows chattering along the trail.

I also saw this cedar waxwing perched high in a tree top in the morning sun. 

I walked the small pond in the abandoned strip mine  were I saw the scarlet tanager a few weeks ago singing on the same tree branch.

I walked out to the old Beryllium road,  ( I provided more information on the history of the trail in previous blog post. You can find them using the search too  in my blog).

Here I saw a few more birds, including this gray catbird singing while  perched on a tree,

and this American robin gathering some worms and caterpillars for it’s family.

After about 2 1/2 miles I , reluctantly, began my hike back. It was a beautiful morning  and it looked like the birds were getting active. But I had to get to my office for my appointment. On the way I saw the first person  on the trail on my two hikes, a man  taking a early morning bike ride.

and  then this snake stretching  across the trail. I  have learned it is a harmless eastern milk snake. .

It was not moving very fast from the cool temperatures overnight and was warming itself in the early morning sun.

I left the snake and finished my 5 mile hike seeing  this blue gray gnatcatcher near the end of the trail. It was a great way to start the day. I made it home in time to shower, change and make it to my 9 a.m. appointment. 

Rain was back in the forecast on Saturday morning. It was supposed to start around 9 a.m. with a possibility of thunderstorm. So I decided to stay close to home again, and I returned  to the trail for a third time. I wasn’t going to bring my camera there was a chance I’d get caught in the rain. I changed my mind the last minute and took my camera.  I was glad I did.  I again began my hike on the eastern end parking lot.

I heard many of the birds I saw and photogrpahed on my two pervious hikes and didn’t stop to photgraph them again.

One of the things I noticed was how many more of the mountian laurel growing along the trail were now in bloom. 

I had hoped to hike out to the 3 mile mark of the trail where there is a large concentration of mountain laurel. It is magical here when they are  in full bloom during a peak year. Hoever, there were now thunderstorms in the forecast so I didn’t ‘t want to hike out that far  and  get caught  in  a storm.

Instead, I hiked around the reclaimation and back in the old growth woodlands  area seeing a few new birds, including this brown thasher perched on a tree top.,

and a couple  eastern phoebes

The thunderstorms just misssed me, and I only experienced a brief shower, so I hiked back out on the trail. However, after I had hiked out another 1/2 mile the thunderstorm warning re-appeared so I decided to finish my hike.

On my way back I saw this great crested flycatcher,

and an elusive eastern wood peewee.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web site with some more photos of the birds I saw on my hikes. Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails birds. June 4 – 7  2025.

I also saw a few red efts crawling along the trail, and this

eastern chipmunk.

I finsihed my five mile hike just in time. Rain began falling as I drove home.   It wasn’t the nicest of  my three  hikes on the Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails but it was better than sitting inside.   There are so many great State parks, State forests and trails here in Norrtheastern Pennsylvania. It is hard to decided where to hike, and I often overlook this great trail right in my own backyard. If you haven’t hiked on it please so, you won’t regret anf you will  enjoy it too. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web site with some more photos from my  my hikes. Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails . June 4 – 7  2025.

“A walk in nature walks the soul back home.” – Mary Davis