And Autumn Comes ...

“Summer ends, and autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night.”

                        ~ Hal Borland

                         ~ 1900-1978

     ~American author, journalist and naturalist

The looming sunset of a late October day reflects the poetic beauty of autumn in the Bushkill Creek in Henry’s Woods 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 Red House Along The Autumn Canal ...

“The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.”

                             ~ Henry Beston

                                   ~ 1888-1968

The historic Harry Rickert House reflects in the Lehigh Canal on a beautiful autumn afternoon in early November along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail), Weissport, Pennsylvania, where the trail is positioned between the Lehigh River and Lehigh Canal.

Weissport flourished as a Lehigh Canal town until 1942. Diverse goods, coal and people moved along the waterway. Boatyards and a mercantile center in the Harry Rickert House anchored business activity here.

The house itself was built just after the canal was dug and built in 1828. Jacob K. Rickert came to Weissport in the 1850s, and through his son Hiram and grandson Harry, the Rickert’s business continued to operate until the 1950s. Today the stately building is owned by Rod and Jennifer Mann. The house is their home plus a guest house known as “The Canal Side Guest House.”

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

And A River Runs Through It ...

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”

                  ~ Norman Maclean

                       ~ 1902-1990

       ~ American author and scholar noted for his semi-autobiographical novella “A River Runs Through It and Other Stories” (1976) that was adapted into a motion picture in 1992;  and the book “Young Men and Fire” (1992).

The historic town of Phillipsburg, New Jersey reflects in the Delaware River as sunset looms on a beautiful late summer day in early September.

To the left, the historic Northampton Street Bridge, commonly called the Free Bridge, can be seen from my vantage point across the river at Delaware Canal State Park, Easton, Pennsylvania near the Forks of the Delaware Trailhead of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail). The iconic Jimmy’s Doggie Stand Stand can be seen to the right of the bridge.

The Free Bridge that spans the two states was completed in 1896 and survived massive

flooding from Hurricane Diane in 1955. It underwent a thorough restoration in 1990 and is one of my very favorite places to photograph.

Phillipsburg was established March 8, 1861 and was named for William Phillips, an early settler of the area.

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.