Cold And Snow: A Year End Walk At The Rails To Trails

The warm spell I wrote about in my last post ended on Christmas Day here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Cold returned. Temperature plunged into the single digits this week. I had planned to drive to the PPL Wetland this morning to see how much ice developed on the Susquehanna River. A light but steady snowfall slickened the roads and changed my plans.

I decided to stay in town and hike out our local Rails to Trails.  A light powdery snow was falling as I began my hike with about a two inch accumulation already on the ground. 

The temperature had actually warmed up to 11 degrees. It had been near zero the past few days. It was still cold enough to make the snow “squeak” as I walked on it. 

And cold enough to make these two bears shiver. 

I was the only one on the trail on my five mile hike although there were two other sets of footprints in the newly fallen snow. 

Other than the beautiful scenery created by the fresh snow there was not much else to photograph. Although  the remains of the summer plants like this milkweed pod,

or this blackberry bramble were pretty covered in snow.

The only wildlife I encountered were the many black-capped chickadees that fluttered through the snow covered trees. 

I walked under the snow covered trees, enjoying my favorite, the pitch pines. 

The snow continued to fall as I made my way to the picnic area near the now frozen Dreck Creek Reservoir.

It was about a 2 1/2 mile hike out to the reservoir but it sure felt longer in the snow and cold. I decided to walk back.

It was a lot harder walking in the now deeper snow, and the cold temperatures made for a difficult walk. I was tired when I reached the one mile marker and was exhausted when I made it back to my car. 

It was a struggle walking in the cold and snow but the scenery was pretty and much better than sitting inside watching television. Still I much prefer the greens of summer, and am looking forward to the lengthening days and approach of Spring. Here is a link to some more photographs from my hike. Rails to Trails Hike. December 30 2017

“The snow doesn’t give a soft white damn whom it touches.” 
― E.E. Cummings