Introduction to Nescopeck State Park

 When we moved into our rental cottage in the Poconos, we contacted our friend Sue Bickford-Martin to schedule a hike in the area.  We know Sue from our pre-RV days when we were active with the Appalachian Mountain Club and frequently visited AMC's Mohican Outdoor Center in Blairstown, New Jersey.  Sue is an experienced hiker and hike leader, and, since she moved to the Poconos in August, she has posted tantalizing photos of her exploration of trails in the area.

One thing and another delayed our hike.  First we were busy getting settled in the cottage.  Then poor weather intervened.  Finally, this week, we had the right combination of available time and good weather.

Hunting season has started, so we wore our orange.  With Covid extant, we also wore our masks until we had left others behind.  

It turns out that Sue is good friends with Connie Farley who, with her husband Jim McEver, have become treasured friends of ours.  We share much with Jim and Connie -- David and Jim each spent years in Oregon, and Connie was a member of AMC and hiked at the Mohican Outdoor Center just as we did.  But Sue and Connie enjoyed numerous outings with the AMC before we met Connie and Jim.  As it happened, we hosted Jim and Connie at our cottage where they parked their RV overnight in our driveway the night before this hike.  When we discovered that Sue was friends of each of us, Jim and Connie drove ahead of us to Nescopeck State Park to say hello and catch up with Sue before we started our hike.  They bade Sue and us goodbye as they headed on down the road, and we turned to our hike.

Here, Kathy and Sue model their fashions at the start of our hike, on the trail to Lake Frances:

We circled Lake Frances, which is still beautiful despite the nearly complete absence of leaves on the trees:

We reached the far end of the lake and walked across the earthen dike, wondering what this old sign once announced:

Across the dike, we paused to look at the trail map, preparing to leave the Lake Trail and checking where we were to turn onto the Nescopeck Trail:

The lake surface was smooth, with little breeze rippling it, the sky was robin's egg blue:

Leaving Lake Frances, we crossed down gradient, past a small pond, to one that was a little larger, and was graced with one rust-leaved tree:

The absence of ground cover, and of leaves on bushes and trees, made what was left all the more prominent, including these fungi on a grey-barked tree:

We continued along the Nescopeck Trail to Nescopeck Creek itself, which is a dramatic, clear-watered trout stream.  The boulders along and under the surface of the creek made for dramatic views all along the trail as we hiked:

Sue suggested we stop for lunch along Nescopeck Creek, and we eagerly agreed.  We found a spot where two large, flat boulders jutted out into the stream, letting us eat in a social-but-socially-distant way.  As we were doing continuously on our hike, we continued to catch up on each other's -- and mutual friends' -- doings during the 9 years that have ensued since we started our full-time RV adventure and parted ways with our AMC friends:

After lunch, we circled further along the Nescopeck Trail, back to the unnamed pond we had previously seen, and hiked the Woodland Way Trail around the other side of the pond until we reached a birders' blind.  Simply but well constructed, it offered a framed view of this beautiful little pond:

This had not been planned as an overly ambitious hike, and our 3.5 miles or so of hiking evaporated before we knew it.  We took a little time at the trailhead parking to debrief with Sue and talk over some ideas for some more winter outdoor activities.  It will be our pleasure to introduce her to something we find closer to our little home.

Until then, Sue, thank you for an outing that was wonderful in every way!