The Last Of Fall Colors Courtesy Of The Red Oaks: A Hike On The Rails To Trails
It was a chilly, but beautiful, November day here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Cloudless , deep blue skies provided us with plenty of sunshine. I decided to hike close to home and drove out to our local and often forgotten, Rails To Trails.
I usually start my hikes at the entrance on the Stockton Road but began my hike at the Broad Street entrance this morning. I was greeted by the friendly bears that have recently been placed here. I was hoping they may have attracted some of their wild kinsfolk, but no such luck today.
I walked on the well maintained tree which meandered down to the Stockton road entrance under a canopy of a mixture of pine, oak, maple and birch trees. Almost all of the leaves have fallen off of the trees except the red oaks, always the last to bud and lose their leaves.
These beautiful trees often have a few red leaves remaining even as the new buds appear in springtime.
The woods were quiet now, the song birds are long gone and I only saw a few of our winter residents, some chickadees, blue jays, juncos and this tufted titmouse.
I was surprised how few folks take advantage of the beautiful trail, I only saw a few runners, a couple of bikers and a few folks walking their dogs during my three hour hike.
I walked out to the picnic area near the Dreck Creek Reservoir and sat for a bit and enjoyed the scenery. There is a lot of history out here and you can read some more about of it in my prior posts in my blog archive.
I walked out past the three mile marker, where the trail bends back in a westward direction and runs along “pine barrens” created by Native Americans but I was tired and decided to head back today. I saw a lot of teaberries out here and enjoyed a few on my walk back.
In addition to the color provided by the oaks, I did find one last maple tree with some colorful leaves still clinging to its branches.
And the blackberry and blueberry bushes still had many red leaves.
Only some of the briars still had green leaves.
There was a strong northwesterly wind blowing, and it was a lot colder heading back but it was still an enjoyable walk under the clear blue skies contrasted by the brilliant red leaves of the oaks.
There was not much wildlife, the few birds and one chipmunk, no insects and no flowers but it was still a pleasant walks and I was thankful for the last burst of color provide by the oaks. But this color won’t last much longer and we will soon experience the long, cold dark winter that always comes to Northeastern Pennsylvania. And when it ends we have another Spring! I am already excited. Here is a link to some more photographs from my hike today. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/photographs-page-2/nggallery/photographs-page-two-blog/Rails-to-trails-November-5-2016
“There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves.”
― Joe L. Wheeler
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