On Golden Leaser Lake ...

“You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.”

           ~ James M. Barrie

             ~ 1860-1937

Talk about a golden hour! A gorgeous late August sunset colors Leaser Lake with golden hues in the shadow of the northern Blue Mountain Ridge, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania. Kayakers at right paddle into the silhouetted beauty of the lake in summer, my most favorite of seasons.

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.

 

Mad Orange Sunset ...

 “Meanwhile the sunsets are mad orange fools raging in the gloom....”

    ~ Jack Kerouac

        ~ 1922-1969

It’s a mad orange sunset as an early spring sundown in late March creates silhouetted beauty surrounding the rooftop observation area of Trexler Environmental Center.

The solar panels seen in the foreground provide a significant portion of the energy needs of the building.

Located in the Central Range of Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, the center is at one of the preserve’s highest elevations and one of the spots that offer spectacular views at the 1,100 acre preserve.

When the late General Harry Clay Trexler (1854-1933) established the preserve in the early 1900s, he did it to save the American bison, elk and white-tailed deer from extinction and assure the species’ survival. 

A conservationist along the lines of Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, General Trexler understood the importance of nature and preserving wildlife in its natural habitat.

A successful businessman who amassed a fortune in the timber and cement industries and founded the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company, General Trexler began purchasing small farms in the low hills of Lehigh County in 1906. By 1913, he had transported eight bison and 20 Virginia white-tailed deer to the preserve. The elk followed soon after.

When General Trexler died in 1933, he bequeathed the property to the residents of Lehigh County. Today, the Trexler Nature Preserve is open to the public for passive recreation and nature watching.

Summer's Sweet Au Revoir ...

“One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter.”

                     ~ Henry David Thoreau

                         ~ 1817-1862

Sunset sweeps across the Kittatinny Ridge on a warm and beautiful last full weekend of summer, my most favorite of seasons, on a September evening along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) at Lehigh Gap.

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 Delaware 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.