may days #11 - drop and roll on the d&l

Today Pam and I planned to walk the D&L from Allentown toward Bethlehem. We needed to finish that one section before we moved further north or further south.  I was getting ready to leave and the text beeped. It was Pam. "It's pouring out. Tomorrow?" "Is it pouring in Bethlehem?". We decided to cancel and go tomorrow. A few minutes later the text beeps again. It's Pam again. "Oh my. It looks nice out now. How about there?" "I really want to get out." I told her it was clear here and I'd see her in 20 minutes.

This section of the D&L is flat and there is water on both sides of you. Near the begining of this section is the boat house. And up on the hill a comfort station and pavilion. We were approaching the boat house and I stepped in a gully and started to fall. I did not hit my poor knee, thank goodness. I dropped a rolled. Everything fell out of my pockets and my hat came off. I'm just so graceful. I pulled myself up and we were off.

There are railroad tracks next to the canal and the river. It's kind of noisy for what should be a quiet place. And I think someone might have cut the trees. The visibility was amazing. And I don't think that it was just because the trees aren't fully leafed. We could see old stone foundations way back on the hills. And to make things really interesting a low flying jet flew over our heads ... twice.

We had a whole range of weather while walking. It was hot and cold and windy and still and there was even hail.

There is abundant wildlife in this section of the trail. We even saw evidence of beavers, which I've never seen on the Lehigh before. There must be fish, though we didn't see any people fishing. I take that back, there was one on the bridge when we turned around.

According to the trail map, we've only done 12 miles of the 167 ... twice, since we do out and back. That seems low since we do about 5 miles each time. Plus we did the Northampton section that runs along the canal, but is no longer the D&L. Wednesday we planned to start on Sand Island and head toward Freemansburg. But the trail map says that section will be closed for the PPL to "trim" (aka mutilate) the trees. So we'll go Freemansburg to Bethlehem Township.

But if we are ever going to finish this, from here on in we are taking two cars and leaving one at one trailhead, and one at another.

Miles/Steps:              5

Weather:                   Low-50s, cloudy, drizzle, wind, hail

Wildlife:                    Three families of geese, mallard, three red-winged blackbirds, at least 30 turtles, and beaver damage.
PPE found:                None 

Extra:                        At one point Pam asked, "what is this?" I said it looks like an electric box, but there were no wires, nor were there lights. We figured out that it was a camera of some kind. Are they watching the people on the trail? It's pretty low if they are. I think they are recording wildlife.