Decided to go to Hickory Run, it was on my list of places I wanted to return to this year and I thought today would be as good as any to go. It was better. With it being Christmas Eve there was barely anyone in the park and I did not pass anyone on the trails all day. I started at the parks office and headed down the Sand Spring trail.
There were some plastic bottles, a couple cans and this bag of fruit, but for the most part this trail had very little trash. Such a nice change for once. I took the trail until it ended and then went up the Pine Hill Trail. The Pine Hill Trail had basically no trash at all along its sides, except for some old rusted metal items, those stayed behind.
Two Redback Salamanders were under a piece of bark I looked under. They are extremely common, but it is rare to find them at this time of year, especially at the surface.
I hiked a long stretch of trail for not much trash at all. This was it. I had to do more for the day.
I then drove to Sand Spring Lake and the day use area of the park. This location sees a lot of traffic over the summer and I was pretty sure I would find some trash. I was right and I started finding items almost immediately.
All of these cans and bottles were tucked into the Rhododendron in the background. Most looked like they had been there for some time.
On the inflow side of the lake I found more than one bottle like this. I wonder how much trash has already been engulfed in moss and will never leave the lakeside.
Caught another fish!
There is so much plastic everywhere! The smaller the pieces the harder they are to find and get out of environments where it does not belong. I tried to remove as much of these pieces as possible. I do want to go back with a kayak, a lot of the shoreline was not accessible and in this case I could do a much better job on the water.
Had to do a water rescue. I found this capsized boat and its captain swimming not far away. Was able to get them both out of the water safely.
I think the captain was appreciative that someone finally came to his rescue. Both of these items will go in my ever growing collection of different trash finds.
Not far down the shore I found the first mate of the boat and a splash ball. Never heard of a splash ball before.
Second balloon of the day, this one was pulled out of the lake.
The view from the spillway. I still can't believe how warm it was out there today.
Three adult Red-Spotted Newts. As I have said in previous posts this is a common species in Eastern PA.
I hope that someone wasn't adding this to the lake. It is trash like this that boggles my mind. Who put it there? What were they trying to do with it? Was it someone from the DCNR or just a visitor to the park? So many questions.
My final look at the lake before leaving. I have a lot of memories from this place and today added to them. It was a great day and I took out some trash.
This is that haul from just around Sand Spring Lake. I am not sure if I will be going out tomorrow or not. If I do I might not have enough time to post and may be taking a couple days off. If I do I will be starting up soon again, there is much more trash to take out. I wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season!
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 here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash
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