Another Hike In Nescopeck State Park. And Found Some Mushrooms, Not In The Woods But At The Mushroom Fair.

The winds of change were blowing through Northeastern Pennsylvania today, bringing in much cooler, fresh Canadian air. After a cloudy start the skies cleared and I decided to hike in the Nescopeck State Park and check out the Mushroom Fair sponsored by the Wyoming Valley Mushroom Club. 

I decided to hike the wood Frog Way trail hoping this swampy area may have allowed for some mushrooms to pop up in the moist soil.  

The trail starts under a mixed forest of old oaks, yellow birch, ash and hickory trees and wanders through a swampy and wetland area.

In the Spring the area is swollen with waters from the melting snow and the chorus of the spring peepers is deafening. Not today. The wetlands were almost completely dry.  And the only mushrooms I found were a few puff balls and this one old one growing on the side of a tree. 

Once again the wood were much more silent than in the Spring and Summer. The song birds and water fowl have left our area and the I only heard the caws of a few crows and the shrill cry of a red tailed hawk. The sun shinning through the still green and thick leaf cover made for a wonderful hike. Like walking in a fairy tale. 

I headed off the trail and up a path that would lead to the hills surrounding the park. The woods now were thick and ancient pine and hemlock but still no animals birds or mushrooms.

I walked back to my car and drove to the park information center were the Mushroom Fair was taking place. Despite the near drought conditions in our area, he president of the Wyoming Valley Mushroom club had collected a number of species of wild mushroom and had them on display. Met a lot of wonderful folks who shared my passion for nature and mushrooms and learned a lot of new information about wild mushrooms. 

I took a quick hike around Lake Francis which is beautiful in all four seasons of the year. It was a great day to be outdoors and I also enjoyed the Mushroom Fair. We are so blessed to live here in Northeastern Pennsylvania where there is always something to do outdoors in all four seasons. Here is a link to some more photographs I took on my hike today. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-5/nggallery/blog-photos/nescopeck-state-park-september-20-2015

“The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it…” -Ralph Waldo Emerson”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson