Autumn Falls ...

“But memory is an autumn leaf that murmurs a while in the wind and then is heard no more.”

                       ~ Kahlil Gibran

                           ~ 1883-1931

A single autumn leaf rests in the cascading waters of Resh Falls, which flows like silk in harmony with autumn along the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain. I shot this long exposure capture on a beautiful October afternoon at Lehigh Gap along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail).

The Lehigh Gap in Slatington, Pennsylvania, is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the D&L Trail.

Resh Falls is one of the Five Falls at East Penn along a unique area of the D&L Trail.

Railroading has a rich history in the development of lower Carbon County as three railroads went through the Lehigh Gap.

East Penn Township had two of them on its side of the river as the Lehigh Valley Railroad ran along what is now the D&L Trail. The Lehigh and New England Railroad ran parallel about 75 feet higher on the mountain on what is now the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s Bobolink Trail.

The engineering needed to build these railroads would be a wonder today, but when you consider that they were done a century ago it becomes more impressive. They built pools along the railroad to collect runoff similar to what we now have as detention basins.

These pools still collect water and they discharge the collected water at five waterfalls that can be observed year round when hiking or biking the D&L Trail.

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

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.

Where The Peaceful Waters Flow ...

“Peace came as suddenly today as came the storm a day ago.

My soul was drenched in wind and rain, frozen in fear that fell like snow.

Then all was still.

Had someone prayed?

I do not know.”

                      ~ “After The Storm”

                          ~ Ruth Bell Graham

                                  ~ 1920-2007

The peace is palpable as cascading waters flow like silk down the Kittatinny Ridge on a beautiful spring afternoon. I shot this long exposure capture in late May at Lehigh Gap along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail).

In the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, The Lehigh Gap in Slatington, Pennsylvania, is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the D&L Trail.

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.