Lehigh River (30-Oct-2015)

One full bag today. When I took this end photo I had already discarded some non-recyclables at the trash can near the trailhead. I have some prep work to do for a display for Owl-O-Ween at Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center tomorrow, so I didn't want to stay out too long today. Again the event is open to the public and runs from 10am to 1pm with a live animal presentation at 1. I will be helping with some of the Northampton County Junior Conservation Schools displays. 

Staying somewhat close to home I ended up taking Penny down the D&L Trail just below Lehighton. We have cleaned this area up multiple times this year, but I did want to see how much has accumulated since our last visit.

More trailside items than I expected. Most of the time the trail here is relatively clean and it is mostly riverside items that I take out. Today it ended up being about half and half and I did find a small dumpsite off of the trail that I need to revisit at a later date.

With the rain we have had this week I should have known the river was going to be high, but I didn't even think of that before setting out. Normally this is where I would head down to the riverbank. A bit too much water today.

Not too much further down the trail I was able to find an access down to the bank. The water was apparently much deeper recently and trash was once again deposited here. With the river being so high, most of the trails I would normally take were underwater and it was a rough go picking through some of the thick brush. 

The second message in a bottle I have found this year. First one on the Lehigh. Here is what it had to say:

12/24/2012

Hi, this is Michael and Dana. We live in Lansford PA and always wanted to put a message in a bottle and throw it in the river and see where it went to. So who ever finds this we would appreciate if you will write us back and tell us where you found it, your name and all that kind of stuff. We threw the bottle in the river, the Lehigh River in Lehighton pa.

We are boyfriend and girlfriend Dana is 21 years old. Mike is 24.

Dana is a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan. Mike is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Dana also is a student at Temple University and Mike drives truck.

We are writing this Christmas Eve 2012. 

So we hope you have a merry xmas.

But thats all now when whoever finds this write us both back at.

It also included the mailing addresses for both. In this case I will write back to them. Their message did not make it very far down river in the last couple years.

Penny and I both ended up wet, I know I tried avoiding it, she jumped right in. Because of this though I was able to get some items that I would have just left if I were able to remain dry. I will say it was a cold and unpleasant walk back.

Penny barking at all those who litter, she is sick of having to go with me to clean up their trash or maybe she just wanted a treat. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Lehigh River (29-Oct-2015)

This Saturday I will be helping out with an Owl-O-Ween at Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center/State Park. For my part I am tasked with bringing some items. Yes, trash. The event is open to the public and runs from 10am to 1pm. At one there will also be a live animal demonstration. So, today I went out looking for the only item I need, but did't have. One lovely riverbank tire. 

Everywhere I clean up there are tires. It was kind of hard to decide where to get it from. I only have use for one and currently nowhere to go with any more than that. I decided to go with one from the bank of the Lehigh within the Lehigh Gorge State Park. Taking a tire out of one park for a presentation in another seemed like the best way of doing it. The tire above was perfect. It is large and for the most part the inner portion was empty, there was some water and leafs, but they were easily taken care of. 

It wasn't that far from the riverbank to my car, but there was a steep embankment up to the trail. 

I then spent some time cleaning up on the D&L trail and the road. I did not stay out that long, yet did pick up half a back of recyclables and some other junk.

The trees are just about finished with their fall colors. This is the view across the Nesquehoning Bridge on the D&L.

One large tire of of the banks of the Lehigh and I left it just a tiny bit cleaner today. I would really like to work on getting all of the tires out of at least this portion. Any suggestions on where to go with them would be helpful.

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Appalachian Trail (26-Oct-2015)

Came back to the location I did on the 17th. I originally planned to do a road clean-up, but ended up here instead. Collected another bag and because I had Penny with me again I still was unable to get to some of the trash that is up there due to the difficulty of getting to it. So I will be going back to this site again sometime soon. 

The trail out for the most part was clean. I found three cans that looked as though I had just missed them on the last trip. Then I found this...

I have no faith in people anymore. The last time I was at this location I posted about four men playing horse shoes on the AT. I said I was happy to see them and their families out enjoying nature. I was. This ruined that. This is one of their tents that they left behind. I checked my photos and it is even in the background of one of the shots of the men. When I talked to them I asked if they could make sure they take everything out with them that they brought in. They assured me they would. Next time I go up I am going to check to see what is in the tent. If I had to bet I would say it is full of their trash. This is not the first tent I have seen just upright abandoned on this section of trail. I am not happy.

More of the same. These items were new since my last visit. The jug contained multiple dead snails that had been trapped in it.

Penny once again did awesome on the rocks. As always she got bored while I was cleaning up and cried whenever we stopped for more than a couple minutes.

More cans. I didn't have my tongs on me this time and I did find some new spots where trash has been shoved down into crevices. Adding additional items to my to do list.

All from what seems to be a popular trash gap in the rocks. Right after I bagged this up I did have some good news. A man came up the other side of the ledge and was there too, to clean up. It was nice to have some help. He even tossed me the cans he was finding to go to recycling. I did not get his name and he did not want a photo on the blog, but thank you to this individual and to all the others who choose to do the right thing and help keep natural areas the way they belong. 

The leafs are really getting to the end now. Soon close to all of the deciduous trees will be bare. 

I haven't said it in awhile, but if you have any place that you would like to see the trash taken out of in Eastern PA let me know. You can contact me via e-mail at: jrb2765@gmail.com

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Tuscarora State Park (24-Oct-2015)

Haven't been out much in the past several days. Since the last clean-up on the Schuylkill I have had major pain in my lower abdomen. I think it was because I spent half my time that day bent over picking things up and I never took my pfd off. On the walk I did for the last post I was in tremendous pain and now I am starting to feel much better. I decided to keep it light today and went to Tuscarora. Not much trash, but I did find some cans that have been there for awhile. 

Almost all the leafs have turned and a good number have already fallen. Absolutely beautiful colors today.

This site had the most cans in a single spot.

One lure sitting on the shoreline. Looks brand new and even the hooks are in good condition.

Plastic bottles have definitely been the number one littered item this year.

This can from the Yuengling Brewery was produced in 1982. It probably has been sitting on the side of the lake since that year.  

More fall colors. 

This tire is on my list for next year. 

Wash up against the dam. 

The view up the lake from the dam. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Nesquehoning (22-Oct-2015)

It doesn't matter how many times I clean up this same road there is always more trash. This time because a lot of the leafs on the lower plants have fallen I did find more older items than I have previously, but still there was a lot of new stuff. This is a never ending problem and these items are not biodegradable. Why don't we as a society care?

Schuylkill River (20-Oct-2015)

The temperatures warmed up letting me get back out on the Schuylkill today. My goal was to finish up the section I had previously been working on. With the five and a half bags I removed today, I did just that. 

What a difference, yesterday there was ice in some of the items I picked up, today it felt like late spring.

Happy this was the last section. This whole bank has seemed endless and at this point I was glad to near an end at least with recyclables. 

The removal of plastic bottles and aluminum cans is just the first step at this site. I really hope that next year I can work out a way to remove everything else.

What an awesome surprise this late in the year. This Spring Peeper was hopping through the garbage. This species is normally not associated with rivers and is generally found near vernal pools and other wetland areas.

I know there is still garbage left behind, but it really is a lot better. 

For this section it was difficult to get back in the branches with a bag so I crawled in and threw the bottles out. For the section you can see in the background I was able to access that by walking around. 

This duck blind was at the end of the point and marked the completion of this site at least for this year. 

Some of the views are nice, but I won't mind not seeing this place for several months. 

I thought this was the coolest find of the day and it still somewhat worked.

Is the item on the left a Sylvester bottle stopper? The item on the right is a blueray copy of The Dirty Dozen. Still in the plastic wrap, it was never opened and I would be interested in the story of how this item came to be in the river.

At this point I asked myself, "So how am I supposed to get back in the boat?". On the way back I dipped my hands in the water and it was freezing. I am so, so happy I am not going back out on the Schuylkill this year.

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash