the sign walk (22/44)

Today Pam and I did the section of the D&L trail from Weissport to Marvin Gardens. That brings us up to 22 trailheads. This walk was just under four miles. Our next trip north will be the two Jim Thorpe sections of about 8 miles, and then there are three or four more sections that are up to 13 miles. Those will need to wait for fall.

Weissport is the town next to Lehighton. The trailhead is behind the Rt. 209 bridge.

This section of the canal was interesting because it had water lilies. I have never seen that before. They were yellow but not open. I'm not sure if they hadn't opened yet or they were dead. The trail took us thru town. It's a cute little town with lots of ghost signs, peach ice cream, and a park. There's also lots of "Trump 2020" signs. I guess these are his people. 

Oh, let's not forget the Little Free Library shaped like a caboose!

We walked thru town and across the bridge, as we reached Rt 209 the trail made a U and went under the bridge and ran along the river. A second trail continued into Lehighton. That is the half-mile Lehighton spur.

This trail was wide and paved at the start. The graffiti on the bridge supports indicates that the artists are having a difference of opinion. Right now BLM is winning. Tomorrow it might not. Now if they could do something with the Trump sign.

At some point the path narrowed and became gravel. It was shady for the most part. It was mostly green. No diversions to speak of. We finished quickly. You could hear the traffic on the turnpike the whole time.

Every afternoon I do PT exercises with my sister. She just carried a chair in the living room. Hint taken.

Miles/Steps:  

Weather:         79, mostly sunny.

Wildlife:          bunnies, lots of geese, one white goose, and a sord of mallards. BOTTOMS UP!

PPE Found:     1 mask

SLF killed:           only 2. I think they got the hint that they need to hide from us. The word is out!

Wednesday walk

This weeks Wednesday walk with Angel was the Bethlehem South volkssport walk. As is our tradition we began mid-afternoon in the heat of the day. I know, we're crazy. We drove down to the Comfort Suites to sign in.

Angel had to dig out her Volkssport books. She hasn't used them since 2018.  Now dusted off, maybe I can get her to do more Volkssport walks. A girl can dream.

I chased the shade on this walk, constantly changing sides of the street if there was ample shade. We walked up Brodhead to Lehigh and thru the center of campus. There Angel noticed a fawn. And then we discovered there was a whole family. Mama and her two fawns. We continued to Zoellner Arts Center. They have not changed their windows for the 20-21 season yet. Nor have they taken down the old displays.

Then it was down the Greenway where they are building a new playground behind Holy Infancy School. We walked as far as Pierce and then headed to the Steel, the NMIH, and NCC Fowler Campus.

Then it was down 2nd and pass the museum, the main gate and the original iron works. Then out Columbia past the Factory with it's funky sidewalk.

Then back to the hotel. 

We took the scenic route home past all the murals, made dinner and logged in to a human trafficking prevention webinar. We were still eating when it started.

Miles/Steps:    about 3

Weather:          about 91 and humid, sunny. Minimal shade.

Wildlife:           doe, 2 fawns

entered our fourth county (21/44)

So far we've completed the D&L in Northampton and Lehigh Counties. We've also begun Bucks county. That will take a while to finish. Today we began Carbon County. Only Luzerne left to go. We are getting this done! (see yellow highlight.)

Today we did two more trailheads, and the trail was fairly sunny.

We met at the Lehigh Gap Nature Centre, and then drove to Marvin Gardens. (Not the one in Monopoly.) I had called the nature center to make sure the trail was open. It had been closed to restring the electric towers.

This section is on the road and was okay for shade. We had reached the East Penn Trailhead and just began the three plus mile journey to the gap when I realized I didn't have my keys. They were in Pam's car. We had to walk back. Pam suggested calling an Uber from the gap. Would there be Uber's that far north? This might be a vialble option when we are in the Philly area. It would certainly be cheaper than running two cars.

Instead we got in the car and moved it to where we stopped and began again. Pam stopped to kill a spotted lantern fly and then looked up. It was their favorite food a "tree of heaven". And it was covered with them. Pam must have killed over thirty on one bush, and that many got away. We decided to try and ignore them because it would take hours to get 50 feet.

There was a lot of sun on this section. There were also about 10 little waterfalls. Except it's so dry only one had any running water.

As we got closer to the gap, we saw the towers. Man are they huge. And they run right along the trail. I can understand why they closed this section of the trail during construction. Though it looked like they still were working, and there were also crates of glass insulators. Maybe they'll close it again? Who knows.

We learned a couple things walking in the heat. First and foremost we need to have at least two masks. Our masks were wet and disgusting.

Secondly, always check that you have your car keys.

Miles/Steps:    6+

Weather:         86 at 8 am, high humidity, mostly sunny.

Bathrooms:      the one at the East Penn trailhead was gross, I-1.5; the one at the Gap was P-3.5
Wildlife:          Flying above hawks, circling vultures, a frog, a snake, black swallowtail butterflies, 2 bunnies

PPE Found:      5 masks. 

SLF:                Killed about 30. The number available to kill was uncountable. You needed to spray something.

she's back!

I've hosted international students for many years. I just went out to the fridge (above) and counted. There have been 15 over about 12 years. When I was at Lafayette I had the same student for 4 years and often we got close. At the community college, I only have them for maybe 8 months. It's a little harder to form permanent bonds.

B was my second student at Lafayette, she grew up in Zimbabwe and was educated in Singapore. She was already a world traveler and didn't really need a host family. But she stayed. At the time I still had the first student and most of the time they were fast friends from two different parts of the world. Shortly before graduation -- with two bachelor's, there was a falling out. It hurt my heart.

She wanted to be a doctor, but being an international student there was no financial aid. So she did it the old fashioned way. She worked for it. For about 5 years she taught biology in private schools and earning two master's degrees plus her EMT certification. Teach during the day. Ambulance runs at night. After her brother's death, she said to hell with it, I'm just going for it, and got accepted into a medical school in Poland. She graduated this year. And where did she land for her residency/internship? Wilkes Barre. An hour plus from Bethlehem.

Yesterday was the first time I've actually seen her in person in those 10 years. She chose Nine Tubs Park outside of Wilkes Barre. Her colleagues told her it was a great place. I had never been there.

We were to meet at 8. As I sat on a rock in an almost empty parking lot and waited all I could see was litter. The parking lot was a mess.

We took the yellow loop trail. It was a difficult trail and we were probably halfway around when the trail disappeared. We never saw the seven tubs or the tunnel. It was disappointing. We turned around. There was some litter on the way out. And at a few places a few trash bags full of litter. I did my best to explain why Pennsylvania is called Rocksylvania. The rocks were evident. She'd like to go to Boulder Field and Ricketts Glen. We'll need to take the teen. And her mom.

Her fellow residents are hikers so I bet I hear about a lot of cool places I haven't been before.

In Pennsylvania over the last couple of years, we've been having issues with out-of-towners taking over our parks. I thought it had slowed down, but apparently, it hasn't. Or maybe it's the pandemic. People just want to get outside.

We were about halfway back and lots of people started heading towards us. They were walking creekside carrying grills, charcoal, chairs, coolers, and tons of bags of stuff. One even had a water cooler bottle of water. In the forest! The closer we got to the parking lot the more people we saw. They were in the creek. They were in the trees. They were everywhere.

And not a soul had on a mask. 

By the time we returned to the lot it was overflowing. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Driving home there was a sign on the Turnpike that said "Beltsville State Park was closed due to overcrowding". Someone last night said that on Friday they were closed by 9 am.

Miles/Steps:    3 damn hard miles. B looked at her tracker on her watch and said "I burned way more calories than that!" We went to IHop for breakfast.

Weather:         Mid 80s, humid, overcast.

PPE Found:      2 masks. 

SLF:                 None!

you could cut the air with a knife

Today Pam and I walked in Lehigh Parkway. It rained a lot last night and was still drizzling this morning.  But it's warm so drizzle would feel good. We had a plan to come back over the iron bridge if it began to rain harder.

As we walked we could see the clouds, like fog, hanging over the creek. Not quite Brigadoon, but the tune is still stuck in my head.

Pam asked if I wanted to start or finish with a hill. Start. I always thought both sides were equal in their hilly-ness, but they aren't. She used to be a runner, so she'd know. We walked counter-clockwise to the way I go. Past the springhouse, the solar walk, the iron bridge, turning at Robin Hood parking lot, and returning on the other side of the creek and back over the bridge. It was less hilly. It goes to show you really do learn something new every day.

Most people were not wearing masks including the parks department people that were mowing the lawns. Pam found an old eyeglass chain that she'd adapted for her mask. She uses small safety pins at either end and attaches it to the elastic. When there is nobody around, she just tugs it down and it hangs around her neck. When we see people, she grabs the elastic and pulls it up. Genius. A whole lot better than stuffing it in your pocket or hanging it on your finger. Less cross-contamination.

Miles/Steps:    5k

Weather:         Low 80s, 83% humidity, overcast.

Wildlife:          Heard and saw some birds but pretty much everyone was hiding from the heat. They were smart.

PPE Found:      None. 

SLF:                 None!

the spotted lantern fly stomp (D&L 19/44)

Today Pam and I walked two sections of the D&L Trail. We began at the Lock 22/23 wand walked to the fork of the Delaware in downtown Easton.

This trail is a straight shot. Near the start it was a single file trail made by bikes, later it widened. There were several spill ways, and numerous bridges to the road. There were some cute river houses.  Like this one with door that look like they belong on a winery or a cloister.

The canal was either empty with knee high weeds or had some water and algae. Sometimes it was smelly. That was probably because they were repair the locks. Since the canal was drained we got a great look at 19th century  technology.

It took about 2.5 hours to walk the almost 6 miles. Why? We kept stopping to kill spotted lantern flies. We stopped at the park to eat apples and also had to navigate some geese. Quick tip: Barking works best to get them to move their feathered asses.

The first three miles it was pretty shady. But by 10:30 it really started to get sunny. I was glad to get back to the car.

Miles/Steps:    almost 6 (about 8 for the day)

Weather:         90 feels like 99, not humid, sunny.

PPE Found:      None. 

SLF:                 60+

Wildlife:          large turtle, bunny, lots of geese, yellow and black swallowtails, heard woodpeckers and bull frogs.

Bathrooms:     OPEN at the start point, port o potties at the end. Didn't check the park. I think bathrooms are making a comeback!

mall walking a high risk activity

We are the beginning of a heat wave. It's in the high 80s at 7 am. It's crazy. I don't want to leave my fan. I dream of not only buying an air conditioner but leaving it run 24/7.  But that's for people with jobs and regular pay checks. 

My go-to in the summer are the movies, museums, and if all else fails, the mall. Because of the pandemic movies aren't open. Some museums aren't either. That left the mall. So that leave me with two choices. Walk outside in the heat and risk heat stroke or go to the mall and risk C19. A crap shoot if you ask me.

I walked outside yesterday, mid-afternoon on the Hellertown Rail Trail. Sure it was shady, but it was also hot. And crowed. And I was the only one with a mask on. I had to leave it on the entire walk. Yes, I was a fool. I only walked a mile and felt like I walked three.

I didn't want to repeat that mistake today. I chose the mall because it was air conditioned. I could be cool while I walked. Or so I thought. However, it doesn't open till 11.To me the days half over at 11. Pat and I did her walk at 6:15. So I left at 10:15 and stopped at the fabric store to buy elastic to fix masks. They keep it at the cutting table its that hot of a commodity.

The mall was open but half the stores were closed. And half of those were gone. I thought I was at Palmer Park there for a minute. The small stores that were open had lines of people waiting to get in. The department stores did not.

I did a loop of the first and second floor including the department stores and then came home. It was not cool in the mall. It was more comfortable than my house but by the time I finished I worked up a sweat. And JCPenny was hot. To be honest, I didn't do a full lop of their first floor.

Miles/Steps:    2 miles (includes Pat walk)

Weather:         92 feels like 99, 44% humidity, sunny.

PPE Found:      None. 

SLF:                 None!

a walk in the litter-hood

I have been lazy lately. Unless I have plans and someone to walk with I just excuse my way out of doing it. Right now it's I have tons of work to do.

Pat and I hit the sidewalk at about 6:30. But we only go maybe 5 blocks. About 500 steps.

At 8 am on the dot I went out and weed whacked the yard. By 9 it was too hot and sunny out. I'd love to go out at 6 am but the neighbors might complain! Tomorrow I'll mow. The sun has nicely dried everything, so cleaning up tomorrow will be a cinch. Plus I need to trim down the peony bushes. And when it's cooler tame the forsythia and the rose of Sharon. The problem with yard work is it really doesn't show up on the FitBit.

I worked for awhile and then headed out for a short walk. I was going around a big block. Up to Delaware, over to Clewell, back Sioux, and down Bishopthorrpe. I wanted to see two things. First was the little free library near Delaware and the other was my friends child's house. They did a remodel on the outside.

I headed down Bishopthorpe and once I crossed Itaska there was so much trash in the street, on the sidewalk, spilling out of the bins, it was a pig sty. How can one live like that. If you rent, lease, own, live in the yard in a tent, have some respect and clean up the mess. It costs no money. Just put in in a trash bag/can. Frankly, I wouldn't be able to look out the window. And I sure as hell wouldn't let my kids play out there. Guess it time to clean up the hood again.

I passed the Democratic Club and started watching for the LFL. It was GONE. One reason why I wanted to go past on foot was that it wasn't a birdhouse on a stake model. Someone repurposed a cupboard and put it out there. It was beautiful. Pam put the bird house model up in her front yard and I wanted to show it to her. The books were in plastic bins on the porch. My guess is someone took the cupboard and left the books. Assholes.

The house remodel was nice. But you really can't do a whole lot with a tiny Fountain Hill row house.

I carried my mask. I only put it on once. But the person passing me went out into the middle of the street. Six feet well maintained.

Miles/Steps:    2 miles (both small walks)

Weather:         88, 42% humidity, sunny.

PPE Found:      4 masks and 3 single gloves; 1 mask on my walk with Pat this morning.

SLF:                 None!

another section in the books (17/44)

We're almost halfway in our quest to walk the whole D&L. I don't know how many miles we've gone, but we've done our seventeenth section of the trail. This section had a lot of distractions.

The Slatington Trailhead is huge. Three different trails use that lot. There is a large bathroom, and even a hot dog truck. We took the D&L south toward Cove Rd. It was pretty busy today with bikers. Most not wearing a mask.

The first thing we saw was this old RR bridge. We found eight pillars all together, including three in the river.

Further down the trail the ghost bikes have multiplied. I think there is now four.

There was a phone booth like the one on the IRT. The sign next to it said it was restored in 2016. Vandals have ripped off the door (and ruined the cement) and the paint is peeling off.

We also found this wrecked car in the woods. There was also an old tractor. How did they get there?

An unexpected treat was finding a Little Free "Trail" Library on the trail. Had I known I would have brought a book. I did carry a book of short stories about two miles.

It was cooler today in the shade. The humidity, however, is starting to build.

Miles/Steps:    5.5 miles

Weather:         about 80, lower humidity, overcast sometimes. Sunny other times.

Restrooms:      OPEN and clean. I-4.5. There was a sign up that said use bathrooms at your own risk.

PPE Found:      1 mask; 1 mask on my walk with Pat this morning.

SLF:                 None

My swag from the 30/30 February challenge came on Wednesday. The socks maybe ugly but they fit!

a visit to "my creek"

I haven't posted in about a week. I've just been lazy. Thank goodness for Pat's walks and exercise. At least I'm getting 30 minutes a day.

For a few weeks now the teen has been telling me about her secret creek. Now this creek is really, really, a secret. I looked on a map. I blew it up as large as I could and put it on satellite view. I did not find it. How the teen found it I have no idea.

She has been wanting to take me there. We've been doing a weekly adventure so today was the day. I packed my Moroccan Bulgar Salad for a late lunch picnic.

We left Angel's and walked to the Wilson bike path and down the hill. Then followed the path to the athletic fields, turned and crossed a little bridge. Under the bridge was the creek. We crossed the lawn and entered the woods. You could hear the water running.

We stopped at a clearing. It was a 18 inch drop to the creek. The other place to enter the creek was a tricky climb. I packed my water shoes to go into the creek. I ended up staying on shore. Too bad, I was looking forward to going in.

I think lunch went over well but I forgot the forks.  Oops.

The teen climbed into the creek. The water was so clean you could see the bottom. The shores, on the other hand, were littered. There was even a shovel. I asked where the body was buried. Why would you take a shovel to a creek if you weren't going to bury something. There was also a broken chair, some broken CDs, and other trash.

It's an interesting spot. You felt isolated but you could hear the trucks on the nearby highway. The birds did their best to out-sing the traffic.

Angel took her journal. I'm not sure if she wrote. She probably did. On sure we were getting eaten alive so we coxed the teen out of the water. She walked back on the hot macadam and thru the forest and over the lawn barefoot.

Angel had brewed iced tea. We were playing with the cats and drinking tea and heard the ice cream truck. We ran out, grabbing our wallets, like a couple of little kids on a hot day.

Miles/Steps:    7000 according to Angel's tracker

Weather:         Low 90's, breezy, not super humid.
PPE Found:      1 mask

SLF:                 2 red nymphs on the bike path. I missed both.
Wildlife:           Bunny, 2 red birds. Probably cardinals.

graveyard saunter

Easton Cemetery is a huge public cemetery which opened in 1849. It is one of the grand Victorian cemeteries designed for the living to spend time with the dead. At that time it was not unusual for the living to have Sunday picnics with their deceased family members. It is an outdoor sculpture garden, filled with Victorian gravestones carved as angels, tree trunks, obelisks, and many more.

Sounds like the perfect place for a walk, right? As with all graveyards of the time period, this one was filled with beautiful old stones and some killer typography. Many were covered with moss and lichen. The modern stones were a bit jarring. They looked out of place. There are a lot of trees, but many of them are dying. Old age has taken its toll. 150 years out of a tree is pretty good. If they aren't replaced, the whole ecosystem will change.

I went with Angel and the teen. They have been there on other occasions, and we headed the direction of "I haven't been this way before". We had the history book with us but really didn't look at it. We wandered and looked at stones and had this appropriate conversation about death and where you want your ideal final resting place to be.

It was hilly. I should have guessed that it would be since it's on top of a giant hill (that I still want to walk up). By the time we finished, I was drenched in sweat. It was so humid.

One day I'll come back when it's cooler. I'll bring my history book and take a walking tour. In the meantime, it was off to Porter's Pub for a beer. With all the rain, and the tables having to be outside, there was not an issue with social distancing.

Miles/Steps:    I didn't have my Fitbit so I don't know. Angel said 2,000 steps, which doesn't sound right. We walked for an hour.

Weather:          The storms knocked the temp down to about 75, really high humidity, overcast.
PPE Found:      None 

SLF:                 None

Extra:                As we were leaving there was a drummer, drumming. Sounded like a snare drum. Must have been getting ready for band camp.

monocacy way

Since Pam is working again, and the D&L trailheads are getting further away, we have started doing one walk a week on the D&L. The other will be close to home to get to work in time. 

Today Lisa joined us. Lisa gets more distracted than I do, because she's a photographer. Pam made her leave her camera/phone in the car. It must have been torture.

We began at the Illick's Mill parking lot, and headed straight down the nature trail. At the railroad tracks we turned right, crossed them, and entered the woods. We pretty much immediately came upon a meadow with hand-built shelters.

Further down the trail we found that someone ... a hobbit perhaps ... attached a handle to the tree. It makes it easier to get inside I guess. But it was high. Were was the hobbits ladder? Then we found another really interesting mushroom that looked like a flower growing out of the tree. Maybe it's a fairy house?

Then we found some TP on a tree. It was creek side and the large area was free of weeds. I'm fairly sure that at some point it was an encampment for homeless people. But there was no fire circle, which was odd. 

By this point we had reached Burnside Plantation and used the path on the lower side of the property.  It was shortly after Burnside when we began to discover a lot spotted lantern fly nymphs.

At Union Blvd we reached the trailhead before the city. (Yes, it is next to an entrance ramp for the highway. No, it is not the first time I've seen this.) Turn right and you walk into the historic district/Johnston Park and ultimately to Sand Island. Turn around, and you go back to where you started. It's an out and back but you can make it a little more interesting. For example when we reached Burnside we went up into the plantation and walked thru it before rejoining the trail.

On the way back we decided that there was so many dead ones that someone had sprayed something. But there was plenty of live ones. Pam aggressively fought them. Sometimes slamming her hand into a tree. Black ones are slow. The little red ones are quick. Not as quick as adults, and they can't jump quite as far.

When we reached the railroad tracks we took the nature path along the creek. Many of the areas that in the past eroded away were not an issue. People just made a new path, further inland. It's narrow. When we returned to the lot, we crossed the street and went into the park and made the loop around the park.

Miles/Steps:    3.6 on my phone app. I forgot my FItBit.

Bathrooms:      I didn't check if they were open

Wildlife:           chipmunk, bunny, pileated woodpecker, mockingbird, robins, squirrels
Weather:          88, 78% humidity, overcast to sunny. 
PPE Found:      None 

SLF:                 We killed both black and red nymphs. At least a dozen. There were corpses galore on one section of the trail.

headed north on the d&l 16/44

Today we did the Slatington to Lehigh Gap section of the D&L. We started an hour early because of the heat, and because Pam has returned to work. We skipped the Cove Rd. to Slatington section until next Tuesday. Then we'll need to skip the next section. The Lehigh Gap nature center posted that PPL is changing transformers in the area and that section of the trail is closed. They even told you how to reroute the AT!

This section of the trail is pretty unexciting. But there were a lot of people, mostly on bikes, zipping past us. We did the two miles out and then back.

After returning to the trailhead, we crossed the bridge and took the road down to canal park in Walnutport.  The road was much shadier than the canal path. This is the path that actually runs next to the canal. The D&L trail is actually on a railroad bed and old tracks can be seen.

I thought it was important that Pam see the restored lock and lock tender's house. She's seen her fair share of ones in ruins.

I did two other little walks today. One with my sister, and the other with Lydia and the dog.

Miles/Steps:    6. Including walking with Pat this morning, and the dog in the afternoon.

Bathrooms:      I didn't check if they were open

Wildlife:            none
Weather:           89, 48% humidity, sunny.
PPE Found:     2 masks near the trailhead

SLF:                 NONE!

no falls into the falls

Angel, the teen and I planned to hike today. I gave her three places in Jersey no further than Washington. She replied back how about Slateford Creek upper and lower falls. Where the hell is that?

It turns out it's in the water gap, about three feet onto government property. Honestly there's the sign that says welcome and the road to turn on. We drove to the first lot, walked a bit, and asked some people where the falls were. We were at the totally wrong place.

Angel thought where she was talking about was close and we could walk. Now looking at the graph on the teens Fitbit we started in the left and walked down and did the fish hook. When we realized it was much further away, we turned around and went back. Now blow up the chart. I'll wait. Look how close we were. 

We re-parked (black dot), and there was a hill that went straight down. Angel went and investigated and found a slightly better trail. We went about half way and left the child continue. This was the lower falls. She came back. While she was away, Angel went exploring and found another path. She followed it. 

When the teen came back I said she went that way, and we went out after her. When we met up with her, she said there was nothing. Later we found out once again, that we didn't go far enough.

I decided to walk down the road and see if there was a third trail. There wasn't. Calling these trails is really an oxymoron. They are deer runs. Rocky, root-y, and muddy. The plant life enriching you from both sides. I would venture to guess that if we drove the 10 miles to the visitors center, the trails wouldn't even be on the map. (I checked online. I saw nothing. It's a locals secret, I guess.)

As I was walking back up the hill the teen was waiting for me. They explored the vertical drop and it's easy to get down it. She'll help. Against my better judgement I said yes and lived to tell the tale. I did not go as far as the falls. The teen was under the blasting water. Going up was a lot easier than going down.

I earned ice cream. But there was no time to stop.

Miles/Steps:    Clueless. Every tracker was different. Mine included walking with Pat this am.

Bathrooms:      None

Wildlife:           two pileated woodpeckers flew right past us.
Weather:         88, 38% humidity, sunny. But that was "Bethlehem". I forgot to change the weather to local.
PPE Found:     2 masks on my walk with Pat this morning 

SLF:                NONE!