Before and after

It's a chilly, gray afternoon here in the Poconos, and the majority of the leaves have fallen off the trees up here.  So, over a hot cup of coffee, I started looking at some of the pictures I took over the summer, and the ones of Bushkill Falls caught my eye.

Some of you may recall that I've visited the falls a few times this summer.  The first during a fairly dry period, and the last after a substantial rainfall.  So, I thought I would share some before and after shots.  :)

The Main Falls, while impressive before the rains...

...were even more so after the rains. 

This is one of the falls near Bridal Veil... 

...what a difference a little rain makes.

Another of the smaller falls before the rains... a little more than a trickle.

... it widens and becomes quite a bit more after the rains.

 A stream running through moss covered boulders....

...now it pours over the boulders it once flowed around.

What I was calling the reflection pool... 

Wasn't doing much reflecting after the rains.  Also, notice the small water fall under the bridge, see the difference?  :)

The foam you see, and the brownish tint of the water is caused by tannic acids dissolved into the water as it flows over the roots of the trees.

I hope to make a trip up in November, weather permitting, to see how things have changed...  naturally.  ;)

Monarch Madness

So,  it's another Saturday morning and I'm doing chores around the house.  In passing the patio door, out of the corner of my eye, I notice something fluttering past the window, but when I turn, nothing is there.  I just figured it was a bird.

This happened a few more times when my brain kicked in and noted that the flutter was unusual for a bird.  So I went to the door and looked out.  To my surprise there were a bunch of Monarch's flying around the yard.  I mean there were at least 6 of them.

Last year, there was just the one that I followed around the yard until it got sick of me and left, now here was this small group of them and I could pick and choose which ones I wanted pictures of.  That is until 4 left and only 2 hung around the yard.  I guess the 4 were camera shy.  <shrug>

I'll have to remember that around September, they begin their migration south, and keep an eye open.  I wonder how many will show up next year?

Sorry about the fence, every time I tried to get in closer, they would take off...

I'll have to plant more flowers that bloom in early fall for next year, naturally.  ;)

Bushkill Falls, PA

Since moving up here, I've been wanting to go, but for whatever reasons, never made it until now.

Things just seemed to fall into place one weekend, so I gave my daughter a call and she and her family came along.

There was a hard rain a few days prior, which was a good thing.  It had been pretty hot up this way and things were very dry, so the rain could only help with the way the falls would look.

It's about an hour's drive away from home and we got there by early afternoon.  It was hot and muggy out, but bearable.  We paid for our admission, which was $11.00 for adults and $8 for children. We got out gear together and began our hike.  After looking over the map, and taking into consideration that we had a 5 year old with us, AND that this was our first time in, we decided to take the yellow trail.  It's marked as the second easiest.  As we headed out you almost immediately heard the first of the falls.

You are actually going down into a gorge or small canyon to view the falls, but on the way down, it's set up so you see the falls at different angles and from different vantage points along the way.  The first 2 trails (green, yellow) are made up of stairs and deck walkways, the blue and red trails are too, but only for part of the way, the rest of the way you're on rocky terrain, climbing & desending hills.  A good walking stick would come in handy to help with balance.  All of the trails seem to overlap at the beginning of the hike.  There are signs on the red & blue trails, when you get to a point, warning you of when you're heading for a the more adventurous part of the hike.

There are two falls, the Main Falls and the Bridal Veil/Brides Maid Falls.  The green & yellow trail will allow you to see different parts of the Main Falls.

I laugh when I think about it.  Going down was very easy, but the climb out was the workout.  Now I know why everyone heading out looked like they were about to pass out on the benches when we were heading in.   When we climbed out, I made a B-line for one of those benches!

Here are some shots that caught my eye:

On the way in to see the falls, the walls of the canyon offered up some interesting photos

A mossy tree stump...

This tree was so tall, the only way I could photograph it was by leaning into it and pointing the camera straight up.

I really liked the walls of the canyon, the textures with the moss and the lichen made for some nice pictures.

There are plenty of trees, but not too many show off their root systems like this.

A view of one of the deck walkways...

A part of one of the stream leading up to the falls...

I loved the way the bridge was reflected in the pool here...

 One of the minor falls...

The stream leading to the Main Falls...

Here we go....

Directly over the falls looking down...

You can see one of the bridges at the bottom...

Close up of the top....

...middle...

...and lower parts of the falls.

Side view...

And directly in front of the falls.

It was a wonderful day, and this trail took about 1 hour to do.

You can find out more about the falls here.

Stay tuned for part II.  We went back...naturally.  :)

Lazy Circles

Up early again this morning and with a hot cup of coffee and my trusty camera at my side, I headed out to the deck to see what the morning would bring my way.

Today I had my grandson Devon with me who was busy playing with his spider toys.  I was scanning the woods behind the house when he asked me "what kind of bird is that up in the sky?"  So I look up and there is a Turkey Buzzard.  I told him what it was and began taking some shots.  

Devon asked if they were the same birds that we saw yesterday morning near the mountain and I told him yes.

This one was also riding the thermals and making lazy circles in the sky.  I think he may have flapped those big wings once in the 5 minutes he was in sight.

Eventually, he was high enough and soared away...