With the warm weather I really wanted to get out on Tuesday. I was just not feeling up to it. I couldn't miss out on two days in a row though. I was still not feeling great, a fever and stomach pains remained, but I was set on taking out some trash. I went further down river than I did on Monday and made the Treichler's Bridge access my destination. This was a site I worked on a few times last year and there were some areas I wanted to get back to.
The high waters only deposited a couple new items around the boat launch over the winter. It is still frustrating after cleaning this area thoroughly few months ago, that's the way it is though.
There are few places I would rather be on a nice day than standing on the edge of a river. The water, the wildlife, the sounds, just together make these places perfect. Trash ruins the whole pretty picture, but we can do something about it if we all try a little harder.
This old Chevy was wedged in the river bank. Just imagine what this item has been through since its creation. It probably has an interesting story that no one will ever know.
Plastic that the tree grew around. I removed what I could and at least visually made it better.
I finished around the bridge and launch fairly quickly and to a short path up to the D&L Trail. The plan for the rest of the day was to walk down the trail past an old dam and see if there was anything new in a section that was pretty trashy last year.
This is looking down river at the old dam. I am not sure what the specific purpose was of this particular dam or how long ago it was breached. In most places along the D&L there are historic markers next to the remnants of structures like this. I guess this one just wasn't that important.
After walking just a short distance along the bank in this section I had found a lot of trash. These weren't things that were newly deposited either. Most of it had been there for a long time. I thought I had gone through this specific area over the summer, but I must have stuck closer to the D&L at this spot.
Every so often I would put my stuff down and collect until I had a pile this size or a little larger. I liked the British flag boots. Not something I would wear, but they looked well made.
It did not take long to fill the first garbage bag. I set it along a path that heads back to the D&L opened a new bag and started working further up the bank.
Picking up a large chunk of styrofoam I discovered this Redback Salamander. I know it does not have a red back, but I assure you it is a Redback Salamander. This individual is a lead phase Redback. It will be this color throughout its life and will never have a red back. Before moving on I made sure it found its way underneath the leaf litter and did not leave it exposed after removing its shelter.
This would have been the coolest find of the day had the back of this bottle not been missing. From a quick online search this dairy was located in Allentown and as I kind of expected, is no longer in business.
I have to smile looking at this photo now. It was not the shortest distance back, I had Penny along, the bags weren't the lightest, it was over 80 degrees and I had a fever. The nice thing is this is not what I will remember from this day. The river and maybe a few of the stand out trash items will stick in my mind, but this miserable walk back that will disappear.
Didn't expect to take out two full bags and a pack full with the way I was feeling. I was very happy with what I was able to take out.
I wasn't the only one completely worn out after this clean-up. Like I said, it was over 80 degrees and Penny is still wearing her winter coat. I did take her back down to the river after the sort for a cool down, but she didn't want anything to do with the water.
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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