Walking On Frosted Leaser Lake ...

“Despite all I have seen and experienced, I still get the same simple thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow.”

             ~ Edmund Hillary

                    ~1919-2008

        ~ New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist who, on May 29, 1953 with Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest.

In the shadow of the northern Blue Mountain Ridge, a frosted, frozen and snow covered Leaser Lake glistens with winter’s artistry as a man walks his dogs across the frozen water on a sunny February afternoon in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania in this selective color shot.

I really enjoyed being able to actually walk on the lake and take photos!

Leaser Lake’s namesake is Frederick Leaser, an American patriot who in September 1777 with his farm team hauled The Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown where it was concealed in Zion Reformed Church for protection during the Revolutionary War. His homestead is located one mile north of the lake.

Leaser Lake was built by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for water-oriented recreation and opened for public use in 1971. Lehigh County leases this area from the state and operates and maintains the park. The land north of the lake was purchased by the county in the early 1970s. It is entirely wooded and is used for nature study and as an addition to the State Game Lands No. 217.

Frozen In Harmony ...

“Music comes from an icicle as it melts, to live again as spring water.”

                    ~ Henry Williamson

                         ~ 1895-1977

            ~ English army officer, naturalist,

                  farmer & ruralist writer

Cascading waters above the Bushkill Creek are frozen in harmony with later winter beauty on a sunlit, early March afternoon at Jacobsburg State Park, which spans between Wind Gap and Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

Jacobsburg offers environmental education programs from the preschool environmental awareness programs to high school level environmental problem solving programs, historical programs, teacher workshops and public interpretive programs. Once the site where the famous Henry Rifle was made, the Jacobsburg National Historic District lies almost entirely within the park. Henry’s Woods offers very scenic hikes and the rest of the center grounds have multi-use trails.

The park surrounds the Bushkill Creek.

The original land for the center was purchased by the Department of Forests and Waters from the City of Easton in 1959. In 1969, additional land was purchased using funds from Project 70. This brought the total land area of the center to its present size of 1,168 acres.

The Icing Over The Creek ...

“Music comes from an icicle as it melts, to live again as spring water.”

       ~ Henry Williamson

         ~ 1895-1977

       ~ English army officer, naturalist,

        farmer & ruralist writer

Icicles seemingly sing with artistic beauty in the sunshine of a winter afternoon, after forming on a fallen tree trunk over the Jordan Creek, in this high contrast monochrome shot I captured on a January day at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.