Lehigh Gorge State Park (18-Mar-2016)

This was the third and last trip of the week to the Lehigh Gorge State Park. I knew from the start that there was no way I was going to remove as many tires as either of the past two days. Most of the bank I walked today was new and the day mostly ended up being a scouting day to see where tires are and figure out the best way to get them up to the trail. I also worked on collecting small items as usual. 

I did bring a knife along with me to remove this tire, but it didn't work out as I thought it would. After ripping the other tire apart yesterday I thought with a knife this one would go easy. It did not. As you can see in the photo on the right I was only able to cut the side of the tire and the knife didn't want to go through the metal in the inner rim or the bottom of it. Going to try a pair of wire cutters and a hacksaw blade next time.

The tiny tire on the left was the easiest tire removal of the day. On the right another women's plastic shoe. I have found several of these, including one yesterday. They do not look comfortable to wear and I am wondering if they were once used as river shoes.

I laughed when I saw this tire on the left. The combination of river rock and sediment is a much different obstacle to deal with than just the sandy sediment that the tires pull easily out of. I couldn't pull this one out with just my hands. The tire piece on the right was easy to pluck from around the tree it was caught up on. The problem with it was at the end of the day I put it in one of my bags to make it easier to get up to the trail. I forgot about it and lugged it all the way out in the bag.

This is a very common trash item in the gorge. Out of all of the rafting companies that operate in the gorge, from what I have found, Pocono Whitewater looses the most paddles. This week I found three of theirs. All other paddles and paddle parts this week were unlabeled and most likely not from any of the rafting companies. All of the companies that operate on the Lehigh should do much more to help clean up the river in which they profit off of. 

Third road cone this week. I liked how the sediment came out of it and fit perfectly back in place where the cone was.

With a rail tie next to it you can tell just how big this metal object is. I think it might be a large wok. I did not remove this item, I will when the water warms up later in the year. Didn't have boots and didn't want to get wet. 

This ended up being a sad find. I cleaned off the license and looked up the person when I got home. I found his obituary and the photo did match the license. I also found other credit cards in the area. If you ever go on a whitewater trip, make sure to take a dry bag that floats. You don't want to loose your wallet or cards in the river. 

After the first two tires, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to take out any. Then I found this one. It had very little sediment in it and was really easy to remove. 

Here someone made themselves some sort of structure. When I come back with better tools for that first tire I will also be removing the plastic netting. There was also graffiti at this site.

Why people choose to ruin areas like this is beyond my comprehension. It is perfect without any trash, man made structures or paint.

This was next to the shoddy structure. Not sure what the purpose of it was there if anything. It gave me an idea though and I took it back to the tire buried in the rocky soil. 

Used one piece of trash to remove another. The shovel made this simple.

Everything I took off the river bank on this trip. I had found three other tires, but only these two were movable today. I deposited the tires and road cone in one of my tire piles and started for the parking lot. 

The garbage bags don't look full, but they were as far as weight. I couldn't put anything else in them without the risk of the bags ripping. I did not want to repeat the same thing as yesterday so I was okay with not filling them. 

All the smalls for the day plus some larger items. See the green piece in the upper right? I took out a larger piece of that canoe yesterday. If anyone likes puzzles, I would happily give you the pieces and you can search for the rest and put the canoe back together. Don't think anyone is going to take me up on that. Not sure if I will be going out tomorrow and if I do I'm not sure where. Taking a break from the gorge for the weekend and if there isn't too much snow from the upcoming storm I will be back again next week. 
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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