golv: lehigh gorge state park

 Today's walk was near Camp Mosey Wood at Lehigh Gorge State Park. Still not the top of the D&L Trail. I think next summer we should rent bikes and go from the top to the bottom of the D&L. All 167 miles. It will probably take most of the summer.

 Walking from the parking area to the trailhead, we passed a tunnel excavated by 19th century workmen for the Buck Mountain Coal Company.

 When we reached the trail head three school bus loads of people were being dropped off for Whitewater rafting adventures. It was packed with people. (There was a white-water release from Francis E. Walter Dam this weekend)

 Once there, we walked south to Luke's Falls and past the round stone base of a RR water tower.

Then we retraced our steps and walked back thru the trailhead north to Buttermilk Falls  along the smooth cinder trail that was a former railroad bed. 

Buck Mountain Coal Company built the gravity railroad in 1840 in what is now the 4500-acre Lehigh Gorge State Park. In 1829 James J. Audubon stopped here for six weeks to paint the native birds.  

Driving out I saw signs for the Audobon Trail. According to the DCNR's website "In 1829, John James Audubon visited the Upper Lehigh River to study and paint the area’s birds and wildlife. This 53-mile loop follows parts of that historic route beginning at either Jim Thorpe or White Haven. The tour passes through other quaint towns and stops at natural attractions and historic landmarks. An old grist mill, a one-room schoolhouse, remnants of a nineteenth century tannery and the beautiful Lehigh River are a few of the stops along this tour. Hickory Run State Park is one feature along the tour. The park holds a large boulder field of red sandstone and conglomerates, a National Natural Landmark. Lehigh Gorge State Park is also featured. Here the ruggedness and scenic beauty of the Lehigh River is displayed in steep forested hillsides, fast-moving water and tributary waterfalls."

Road trip anyone? 

Miles/Steps:  about 3.5
Bathrooms:   none used 
Wildlife:        none. really. I didn't even see a bird.
Weather:       Sunny, low-80s. humid 

$ found:        none