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PECKS POND MEETS AUTUMN LEAVES

Yes, Pecks Pond. What ever happened to apostrophes? But it's too fine a day to agonize about that; besides, I was looking for fall colors, not grammar. So I took a walk around this pond -- a lake, really -- on Rte. 402 in Pike County, part of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. That's Pike, as in the general, not the fish.  

Rule #1 about fall foliage: It's often most colorful around lakes. In part that's because of the nice contrast between the blue of the lake and the leaves' warm gold, orange, and red hues. But there's another reason, too, which brings us to...

Rule #2 about fall foliage: Rainy years are better than dry years. And God knows, this was a rainy year in the Northeast.

There were three kayakers on the water, but I encountered no other walkers on the road around the lake except for my wife and Best Friend Benny, who came with me.

Why we saw no other walkers is a mystery, given that this is a three-day weekend in the Northeast because of the Columbus Day observance. A three-day weekend, moreover, with spectacular weather. 

There's an inn at Pecks Pond, a rather brilliantly named inn, in fact.  I know this area as well as anyone but I've never stayed at the inn. I am rather infatuated with the shark in its backyard, although the odds that this shark came out of these waters are not overwhelming.

The shark is, if nothing else, a reminder to keep your eyes open in this neck of the woods. For example, the Pocono Mountains region has a colder climate than New York City, so it's intriguing to stumble upon the last of the season's wild asters and some bumble bees making hay while they still can.

But in the end, foliage is the name of the game this time of the year. This part of the Pocono Mountains is full of oaks, so you see a lot of gold and orange. The real punctuation, though, the prize, the wow factor, comes from the maples. You may consider that Rule #3 about fall colors.

The Pocono Mountains foliage is not quite at peak yet; that will begin some time this week or next weekend, so if you're in the New York or Philadelphia metropolitan areas, you can still make it. For the record, know that it's easier to get to Pike County and the northern Pocono Mountains from New York City than from Philadelphia; figure two hours vs. three hours. Counter-intuitive, I know, but once upon a time, humans built roads, and around here, they built more of them going east-west than north-south.

Here's a regularly updated foliage map for the region. Rule #4: The peak colors are going to be way, way above average this year.

Photos by Ed Wetschler.