The Poconos

 This is the Lehigh River as it passes through the westernmost reaches of the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania.  The Poconos are one of those illusive mountain ranges that rise up gradually, taking you by surprise if you approach them from the wrong angle.  You can really only tell that they are a unique "range" of hills if you approach from the south and east--which most folks do.

 In fact, I think the so-called "mountains" are really little more than a vaguely defined highland area within easy driving distance of New York City--and so it's billed as a weekend getaway destination: "The Poconos."  In some ways, the Poconos appear to be a poor man's Vermont.  SUVs with New Jersey plates go screaming past at 70 MPH on rural mountain roads.  The resorts are decent, if a little faded, and frequented by all manner of recent immigrant.

 And yet, it's a pretty area.  I spent a long, pleasant day exploring Hickory Run State Park, which I had mostly to myself on a Saturday in early March.

 This is Hickory Run Lake--which is ambitiously named, since it's nothing more than a pond.  I liked the pond because it was more than a mile from the paved road and completely inaccessible except by snowmobile or foot.  It's one of many small lakes in the region.  There were several others within the state park, one with a swimming beach. 

  Unless I'm mistaken, I logged about ten miles on foot.  In that time, I encountered not another hiker, though a gang of snowmobilers did come zooming up behind me at one point.  This is the spot where the snowmobile trail (which is an unpaved road in summer) passes under busy I-476.

The highlight of Hickory Run State Park is its boulder field, pictured here, which is a "national natural landmark."  It didn't occur to me when I decided to make the long trek out to the boulder field that the oddity would be hidden beneath a blanket of snow.  But it was a good trek and so nice to be back in the woods again--real woods, the kind a person could get lost in.