Saturday, October 10, 2015

A Great Hiking Day!

What a perfect day to hike in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Park!  It started out very chilly, about 40 degrees but sunny.  It got to around 61, but still felt a bit cool when you weren't in the sunshine!  We were just so thankful for a warmer day and to see the sun! 

It was a very relaxing morning of making a cooked breakfast, packing our lunches, and just being able to sit before leaving at 10:30 for some hiking trails.

We stopped at a Turkey Hill about 2 miles from the CG for some drinks and then Ken and I spotted a 6 pack of Country Maid filled doughnuts from Lancaster County.  We hadn't tried them for a long time, so we bought a pack to share. The cashier asked if we had ever tried them, because she thought they looked good.  So we opened the pack and gave her one.  I think we made her day!!!!

We shared them with Chuck and Melissa and Ken and I were extremely disappointed - they had very little cream and weren't very soft!  Maybe we aren't remembering correctly,  but both of us thought the cream used to "just squirt out" and they melted in your mouth.  These were not like that at all.  I guess all things change with time!!!!!

We drove to the Pocono Environmental Education Center to check out the pond that is across the street from their building.  Ken remembered from the last time we were here that the trees around the pond had been beautiful and so colorful. So, he wanted to check it out again.  It wasn't disappointing - the reflection in the pond was incredible and the leaves much more colorful than the last time.


So many gorgeous colors....

.....and reflections!


Made from 2 liter plastic bottles and on the roof of
the Environmental Center!

We really need to reconsider our use of plastic!!!!


From there we drove to Dingmans Falls to take the beautiful boardwalk path to 2 incredible waterfalls.  The 1st waterfalls is Silver Thread and I found the thin, long falls amazing.  It is so different then most falls we have seen. 


We were a bit disappointed.  The Visitors Center was closed
for the season!


This is the boardwalk at the beginning of the trail!

So tranquil and serene!

This is Silver Thread Falls.  I think it is
magnificent!

This mushrooms almost looked like they were carved out of wood!


Then you continue on the boardwalk to Dingmans Falls, which is large and so powerful.  First you view it from the base



Well, we sort of saw it!!!!!!

The Happy Hikers!

So peaceful looking!

This is looking up at Dingmans Falls!


 and then climb lots of stairs to the top of the falls.  More breathtaking moments!
This is part way up the climb!

We got back in the car and drove further north to Raymondskill Falls.  We ate our packed lunches in the car (it was only 1:00, not our usual 2 or 3) and then began the hike to this falls.  This is the highest falls in PA and again, very powerful and beautiful.  We viewed it from the top


One of the nicest looking bathrooms at a State Park!

We are beginning our hike to Raymondskill Falls!


Looking down from the top of the falls!




 and then took the trail to the bottom, which proved to be a steep hike on the way back.  I took time to build another cairn.  Both hikes today were rather short, but the scenery was wonderful.


It is a beautiful falls with lots and lots
of fast moving water!

Time to contemplate the wonders of nature
and God's creation!

Do I really look like her mother?????



Time to be an architect and leave my
"mark"!


At Ken's request, we stopped one more time at the pond near the Environmental Center, I guess to see if the leaves had gotten more colorful since this morning!  Who knows?????


Does it look more colorful than earlier today??????

I think the reflection was better!

We went to a local Weis Grocery Store and returned to the CG around 4:30.  We actually got back early for a change.   The 4 of us sat outside chatting and enjoying the warm sunshine, before heading inside to get dinner.  Ken and Chuck grilled and I made salads and fresh red beets.  I took some of the cooked beets to Chuck, since neither Ken nor Melissa will eat them.  Melissa says that is the only way Chuck will ever get to eat beets, if someone else cooks them!

 We went over to their RV to play games around 7:30.  


2 comments:

  1. So, did some one ask if you were her mother?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wondered that, too. And about the doughnuts...I, too, was extremely disappointed the last time I bought some. Like you said, they were tough and hardly any cream! Maybe we should call the company!! Remember how Kreider's store used to package 2 of them in a little plastic bag at the check out. Now they were good!!!

    ReplyDelete