Always Fun To Explore New Territory, A Hike Over Spring Mountain

It was another overcast and rainy morning here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it has been cloudy and rainy for over a week.  It may clear up tomorrow so I decided I will wait until then to visit my favorite PPL Wetlands to see how Spring is progressing. This morning I decided I’d head back out to the local rails to trails near Stockton. 

This trail is such a great asset to our community and, hopefully, will soon be expanded.  Shortly after I started my walk I saw this bird, I think it is a hermit thrush fluttering in the thick scrub oaks along the trail 

I continued my walk and immediately noticed a lot more new leaves on some of the trees, mainly the aspen and birch. 

There were also leaves sprouting on many plants including the blueberry and blackberry bushes. 

There wasn’t a lot of wildlife activity, I heard some geese on the reservoir and saw a few robins. sparrows, crows and this bird , which I think is a yellow rumped warbler. 

The overcast and cool weather also kept the human folks away too. The trail was quiet and I only encountered  two men who were geocaching. We had a nice chat as they explained their hobby to me. Anything that gets you outside and appreciate nature is a good thing.  I soon passed the reservoir and, decided  to hike out a pole line that cross the trail a short distance past the two mile marker. 

I knew this pole line will intersect with the railroad tracks near the Penrose Reservoir but I had never hiked it before. I walked south, down a steep hill and came to the Dreck Creek.  

This creek now flows from the reservoir but existed long before it was built. I often think that it may have been one of the path the Native Americans followed when traveling from the Lehigh to Susquehanna rivers. 

I proceeded up the pole line and heard quite a few rufous towhees scampering in the low lying brush. They like to stay hidden so this was the best photograph I could get. 

I hiked up to the top of one of the highpoint on the Spring Mountain, and enjoyed the view of the hills of Carbon county that unfolded in front of me. 

I sat on a rock and took in the solitude that I enjoy so much out in places like this. The only sounds was the wind and the many birds singing their Spring songs.  In the distance I could see the Broad Mountain. I zoomed in with my camera on the tower lines  that cross it and which i have hiked many times.

I saw some ponds  in the distance at the bottom of the mountain in the distance and even though I was already out three miles, and having had less than four hours of sleep. I decided to hike down to see what I could see.  

It was easy going down but I knew it wouldn’t be fun walking back up. I walked into a nice wetland, with ponds and puddles but didn’t hear or see much wildlife. i hoped to see and hear some frogs or turtles jumping into the waters. But nothing. I may have been the cool temperatures. 

I did see some native flowers including violets, buttercups and this pretty pink flower the fringed polygala growing in the wetlands. 

I  was hoping to see a bear but no luck. I did see this deer watching me as I walked back up the hill. 

It was a long, and tiring walk back and i didn’t see much more wildlife on the way. I did see, finally, after a week, some breaks in the cloud and some blue sky. It didn’t last long.  But i did see some more wildflowers including blueberry or ‘huckleberries’ and these wild strawberries. Won’t be long until we’ll be enjoying their fruit. 

On my way back I ran into a few more people who decided to enjoy the trails despite the weather. I am sure. like me they will be glad they did. Here is a link to some more photographs from my hike today. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/stockton-rails-to-trails-may-7-2016

“I just love all this,’ Walt says. ‘The sights, the smells, making the effort and pushing yourself and getting something that’s really hard to get. I’ll fly on a plane and people will look out the window at thirty thousand feet and say, ‘Isn’t this view good enough for you?’ And I say no, it’s not good enough. I didn’t earn it. In the mountains, I earn it.” ― Mark Obmascik