Thunder Swamp Trail System, Poconos, PA

Today we went to Thunder Swamp Trail System, a little used State Park in the Poconos. The trails were moderately maintained, which means sometimes we had to crawl over a fallen tree or walk through some overgrowth, but that made it even more interesting. It also made it more likely that we would come across some wildlife. We had a brief glimpse of an otter, we saw a little snake, and we heard a very large woodpecker. Because of the volume, we assumed it was a Pileated Woodpecker, but we never did see it. Hard to miss with a bright red head, but most of the foliage is still on the trees. We saw the leaves beginning to change and had a beautiful view of the colors of Early Autumn.

(Click here to hear a Pileated Woodpecker. You won't believe it!)

Painters Swamp Lake where we glimpsed the otter.

Beautiful colors of Early Fall starting to show


A little snake trying to look like a stick

Bushkill Creek

Interesting reflections on Bushkill Creek


On the bridge over Bushkill Creek

Climbing on the bridge


Later that evening, we also went to Celtic Fest in Bethlehem, an Irish music festival held every year in late September. We listened to Irish music and saw some Irish dancers. It was a beautiful clear night. Unfortunately, no pictures to share since it was a little dark (and crowded!) for picture taking.