Written by Scott Everett, Stewardship & Trail Manager

With nice weather predicted for the weekend, I decided a perfect Father’s Day gift would be spending some time doing two of my favorite outdoor activities – kayaking and biking.

My son and I ventured up to Mauch Chunk Lake, near Jim Thorpe in Carbon County. For years, this has been my favorite camping spot and is quickly turning into one of my favorite places to kayak. With the opening of bass season, there were a lot of people on the water. My son and I spent a few enjoyable hours on the lake.

Scott enjoys kayaking the region's lakes, as much as he enjoys riding the region's trails.

My family has now learned when we travel within the Corridor, I will more than likely be stopping to check things out on the trail and trailheads. Saturday was no different.

After kayaking, we went over to Lehigh Gorge State Park. Passing through downtown Jim Thorpe, things were bustling on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. At LGSP, all of the parking lots were full.

Heading southward, the Weissport Trailhead was also busy with trail users and fishermen. Please reference my other blog posting on the progress being made on Weissport flood damage repairs.

The Lehigh Gap Nature Center was also busy with people checking out the trails and rafters floating down the Lehigh River.

We then stopped at the Slatington Trailhead to have lunch at the Slatington Lions Club stand. People were parked everywhere due to the trailhead being closed for construction. The stand workers have been doing an informal survey asking their patrons where they are from. While a lot of the trail users are local residents, many are from other parts of the Lehigh Valley that have heard about this section of trail now being open.

Finally, we stopped at the Cove Road Trailhead under the Treichler’s Bridge. The parking lot was completely full. Little did I realize, this is a very popular place for kids to float on the river. I always like to see the different ways the trail and the adjacent river are being used.

A trio of riders enjoy a new section of trail in North Whitehall Township.

On Sunday, I got up early, planning on doing a solo ride from Laury’s to Slatington. These plans were quickly abandoned due to two conversations with people I encountered along the trail. First, I ran into one of our Trail Tenders and Trail Patrolers, Dean the Bikeman just south of the bridge. We spent awhile getting caught up on everything we are both doing on the trail. Dean has been the coordinator of the excellent work being done to improve the Cementon Trailhead and has also been working on the clearing of the Lock 25 area in Walnutport.

After we moved on, I continued northward where I ran into one of the trail’s adjacent landowners. I am always interested in getting their feedback when a new segment of trail opens. He has not had any issues so far. That is always good to hear.

It was a great Father’s Day weekend hanging out in the Corridor.

Written By Silas Chamberlin

Somebody received a Flip camcorder for Christmas, so (for better or worse) expect more videos from here on out!

Last week, Scott and I were out on the trail to monitor construction and lay out mile markers between Slatington and Cementon.  My shaky hands and low-quality video editing don’t do justice to this section, which reminds me of the Lehigh Gorge in many ways.  People are going to love this trail.  Construction will continue through winter, so we ask that you use caution or avoid this section until it is complete.  Here’s a sneak peak of what you’ll see.

(Music by amazing Berks County band Frog Holler.)

Written By Rayne Schnabel and Silas Chamberlin

On October 7, sixteen of the Moravian Hall Square “Happy Hikers” got their tails on the trail, during a morning walk on the newest section of the D&L Trail in Carbon County.  This 1.4-mile section links Lehigh Gorge State Park with downtown historic Jim Thorpe, where there were plenty of restaurants and shops to enjoy after the trip.

The Happy Hikers and their mascot, Mya, pose at the Nesquehoning Trestle.

On the morning of the walk, the steep slopes of the Lehigh Gorge were bursting with deep oranges and reds and framed the swiftly-running waters of the river.  The weather was crisp but just right for walking.  Along for the journey was honorary Happy Hiker, Mya, a collie who always enjoys the outdoors but was especially happy to tag along for this nice walk, and  Rayne Schnabel, the D&L’s Director of Advancement & Administration, who was glad to spend some time on the tail with her mother, her puppy, and this fun group of trail walkers.

The Nesquehoning Trestle offers views of Lehigh Gorge and, in the distance, Historic Jim Thorpe.

A highlight of this section was the Nesquehoning Trestle pedestrian bridge, which crosses the river just south of Glen Onoko.  As the hikers crossed the trestle, everyone was mesmerized by the breathtaking view of the gorge and the river below.  Gloria Roberts, a member of the group, said she was thrilled to be on the recently completed trail section.  She and the other Happy Hikers looked forward to lunch and shopping in Jim Thorpe after their walk.

The Happy Hikers ended their walk in Historic Jim Thorpe.

“The trail transitioned very nicely from the Glen Onoko park into Jim Thorpe.  The walk was very scenic, level, and a suitable distance with restroom facilities.  Fall foliage was at its peak, and we ended in town for a rewarding lunch at Molly McGuire’s Pub,” says Amy Baskar, who is in charge of planning Moravian Hall Square’s fitness activities. “We had a beautiful day and will return when the rhododendron are in bloom!”

This is the perfect time to make like the Happy Hikers and “get your trail on the trail!”

Rhoma Mostel recently visited New Hope and made a short video of her time on the D&L Trail.

As you read this, a GIS specialist from the National Park Service’s Cultural Resources Geographic Information System Facility is walking the towpath of the Lehigh Canal-GPS receiver in hand-gathering spatial data on all extant historical canal infrastructure.

In 1982, a company named Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) launched ArcInfo, a personal computer software product primarily used to manage land use and demographic data. The program had a visual representation component of polygons, lines, and points that was linked to a database management tool. Many consider ArcInfo to be the first commercial Geographic Information System (GIS), defined by the National Science Foundation, as “a computer-based system for capture, storage, retrieval, analysis and display of spatial (locationally defined) data.”

Since that first GIS over 25 years ago, the technology and its applications have drastically evolved so that few industries-from planning and government to marketing and public health-can now function without it. The improved accuracy of hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers has also made the acquisition of customized field data much easier. Users can gather the coordinates of any real-world feature and express it in relation to other geographic layers and sets of data.

Recently, the use of GIS has even extended into historical studies. Preservationists use GIS to create maps of historic districts and protected buildings. Archaeologists express their sites in GIS. Urban historians use it to express demographic change, the city building process, and immigration. A new book on the environmental history of Manhattan (Mannahatta by Eric Sanderson) even uses GIS to make predications about the pre-European ecology of the island.

Beginning in 1989, the National Park Service also incorporated GIS into their documentation and conservation projects, especially through the work of the Cultural Resource Geographic Information System Facility (CRGIS). The CRGIS promotes the use of GIS in historic preservation and, to that end, participates in and manages a number of projects each year. The projects range from landscape and cemetery inventories to battlefield and building documentation. The systems created by CRGIS have a number of applications from simple site management to historical interpretation of change over time.

This summer, the D&L was fortunate to secure a contract with CRGIS to conduct a GIS inventory of historic Lehigh Canal infrastructure. Specialists will work in the field for a total of two weeks, collecting GPS coordinates for historic remnants. Back in the office, they’ll use the field data to create map layers that can be combined with other layers (historic districts, congressional districts, municipalities, park land, etc.) that will help the D&L manage the remaining canal resources and plan for their protection. A final phase of the contract will include GIS training for D&L staff and the provision of GIS-capable hardware so that we can take full advantage of the completed database and mapping. The use of GIS will also streamline some of our other planning, mapping, and trail development activities.

One specialist braved the week’s rain to get several days of GPS inventory recorded.  Expect to see others in the field later this summer and probably through the fall.  Check back for updates about what they find!