Road Trip USA: Delaware Nature Walks - Chesapeake & Delaware Canal + Iron Hill Park
Monday, November 19, 2018 at 9:47AM 
I am spending winter with my daughter and her family in the USA state of Delaware. Their house is only about a mile from the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. I like to ride mt bicycle on bike paths, so I made an effort to get out and explore the area using my Google Maps. As it turned out, there is a very nice path alongside the canal . . . and a nice road through an Autumn forest to get there.
Old flood control structures near the canal.
The path begins at a parking area next to a stream as it enters the canal.
A very nice paved bike path runs alongside the canal.
It was a clear and crisp autumn day. The Autumn colors were almost gone in some places.
A big winter storm came through Delaware a few days earlier and blew most of the colored leaves off the trees.
There is a bike path, and above it, an access/service road.
Ah! Autumn. I have seen the Fall from across the USA: from the High Sierra of California, through Utah and Colorado, to Texans and now into the Northeast.
A beautiful Autumn day.
I miss these kinds of woods after so many years living in the tropics.
Such clear air and perfect light . . . these kinds of scenes can be very difficult to photograph.
My first gimps of the Summit Bridge over the canal.
I took the opportunity of the railings on this old pier to take a few self portraits. Cold to the bone.
Such a photogenic scene.
I had fun composing various shots and angles.
The sun came out from behind the high clouds at exactly the right moment.
Standing water allowed a nice reflection.
It is a strange experience standing under such a huge man-made structure while out in a natural setting. Like some other, and very large, creature has been here and built the thing.
The bridge supports seemed too small . . . .
I will come back tomorrow with my bike and explore further up the path.
Surreal bridge rising above such a beautiful Autumn forest.
Directly under the bridge . . . I could hear the amplified noises of the cars and trucks speeding overhead. I turned around at this point and walked back into the sun.
Such a marvelous spot.
The underbrush was very dense in some places.
Plants employ different strategies for survival. These little green mosses are taking advantage of the lack of tree shade for a quick growth spurt before the frigid winter arrives.
I cannot imagine these lush plants lasting the winter . . . but they are thriving now.
Cut and bucked . . . but left behind.
The 'magic hour' arrived . . . lovely honey colored light makes everything beautiful.
A few boats made their way back along the canal to their moorings.
The canal was built in 1839 as a short-cut between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays to shorten the time for ships and barges between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. However, it is also used by pleasure craft and small fishing boats as well.
The last of the red berries . . .
The Autumn forest . . . .
Nearing my camper the sky and trees stood out more sharply from each other.
An Autumn hillside in late afternoon.
Yummie color!
That sky!
Autumn leaves . . . under water.
I love these winter green mosses.
Autumn trees and sky.
Such a fine Autumn day.
The old truck and camper have served me well.Dr. Jeff Harper
Bonus Photo:
Your intrepid travelling photographer contemplating the absolute meaninglessness of existence.
Dr. Jeff Harper
Iron Hill Park in Winter on Christmas Day 2018
I had never been to Delaware before this winter . . . .
The Delaware woods are unlike any forest I have ever seen.
My daughter's family felt that after so much food and drink over the holidays, we needed a nice long walk.
Iron Hill Park is not an especially large state park, but it is fabuluusly beautiul.
The forest varies from widely spaced trees, to rather thick stands.
And here an there a dense, impenetrable thicket of trees.
The terrain is not flat . . . dips and hills describe the landscape. Nice for walking.
Many trails crisscross the airy woods.
Such a strange and beautifully spiritual place.
A favorite summer swimming hole visible only in the winter.
40(f), clear and calm. Such a pretty place.
These are the places photographers die for!!!
Only a few very large trees to be seen.
We spent a fine couple of hours just wandering in the quiet beauty.
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