Autumn in the Pocono Mountains
In another life, I lived where open spaces wed themselves to an infinite landscape.
In another life, the city was a speck on the imagination of a wilderness so vast, it yearned to meet the horizon and keep stretching itself further into the collective consciousness.
In another life…
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Travel is the glue that binds us to alternate narratives of our own lives.
I grew up in a family that didn’t have the financial means to travel and so I traveled in my own mind to the parts of the world I would read about or come across in cinema.
Traveling as an adult has started to become a never-ending way to stretch my mind’s interpretations of places far past their previous limitations.
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My version of America outside the confines of cities has always been shaped by others’ interpretations. Growing up in New York City, the rest of America has always been a daunting concept. Beyond its plethora of symbolic meanings, America is the wide-open unknown that yawns across huge expanses of the United States. It’s the sprawling wilderness that stretches north into Canada. It’s the stunning array of countries that extend beyond the United State’s southernmost points.
And so, when I got the chance to explore a small part of the over 2000 square miles that the Pocono Mountains region covers, my mind was swimming in previous interpretations of that hallowed part of Pennsylvania.
Decades ago, the Pocono Mountains area was referred to as The Poconos and in the New York City area The Poconos was advertised as a honeymoon shangri-la of epic proportions. The commercials I grew up with referenced jacuzzis in the shape of champagne glasses and the mere mention of The Poconos in conversation would incur an amused eyebrow raise and chuckle.
Armed with these rather peculiar and comical interpretations of the area, I set out on a three day journey with the Pocono Mountain Visitor Bureau. My aim was to photograph the Pocono Mountain area and their aim was to open my eyes and change my previous perceptions about the area.
I didn’t come across giant champagne glass shaped jacuzzis at all during my exploration of the area. What I did come across were miles upon miles of untouched wilderness in the throes of autumn, a striking array of outdoor activities, and a large variety of small and medium size towns and cities that intrigued me enough to put them back on my bucket-list of American towns to visit.
One of the highlights of my journey was having the conductor of the LeHigh Gorge Scenic Railway allow me to take photos from the back of the train. Train travel and trains are some of my favorite things in this world.
Here is a location guide to the photos in this set:
1 - Autumn foliage and railroad tracks seen from the LeHigh Gorge Scenic Railway. The poles on the right are the original telegraph poles used for early communication in the mid 19th century.
2 - Spectacular autumn landscape and view at Calkins Creamery
3 - Autumn hiking trail and bicycle path at Woodloch Resort
4 - The site of “the first commercial locomotive on rails in the western hemisphere” in Honesdale
5 - Zip-lining through beautiful autumn trees at Pocono TreeVentures
6 - A view of the Delaware River at The Shawnee Inn
7 - Autumn lake landscape at Woodloch Resort
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View these photos larger and in a set here (click on each photo in the set to enlarge):
American Autumn - Pocono Mountains
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