Lehigh Gorge State Park (25-Apr-2016)

Back to removing tires from the Lehigh Gorge on this trip. Worked on a lower section at the Glen Onoco access that I had put off until I discussed details about it with the park office. I had scouted the area in the past couple weeks and I thought it would be reasonable today to remove around ten tires. So that was the goal, ten tires, I ended up surpassing that gaol a bit.

The first two tires removed. As you can see there is some impact on the area with the removal. I do my best to save as many of the plants growing inside the tires as possible and I fill in the groves left behind with the sediment taken out of the tires. The benefits do outweigh the impact. As I have said before the areas that I am working in are floodplains. They are constantly changing and after a short amount of time you wouldn't even be able to tell that tires were ever there at all. The tires do not belong in these areas, they can change the route the water will take in a high water event, they confine the root systems of the plants they contain and think about the space they take up where plants cannot grow. Removing tires is not only cleaning up the bank, it is restoring things to as it should be.

This American Toad may not agree with my last statement. The second tire I pulled out was his home. I do not feel bad removing it from him. The conditions out were fine for him to hope around and find a more natural place to stay. One fun fact about American Toads, you can easily distinguish a male from female by holding them in a certain way. Males will chirp, females will stay silent. This method of sexing also works for other frog and toad species, but not all.  

A Northern Red Salamander was a surprising find in the spot I was at. The site is not optimal for a Red. I found this one when I started moving debris off of the top of a tire. It was in the debris. In this case the top of the tire was the best place for this salamander. I put the debris back, then put the salamander down and let it crawl back into it on its own. Reds move around throughout the year so I will be able to go back and get the tire at a later date. For now leaving the conditions as they were for the salamander is the most important thing. By the size of this individual, I think it may have been a gravid female. Northern Reds are not a common species to find along the river, they are more regularly found in streams and upland moist wooded areas. 

As I was walking along I was also picking up smaller items like cans. One can I picked up was full of sediment so I broke it open and to my surprise with the sediment this larval Cicada came out as well. It was an odd place for one to be. This one most likely was getting ready to emerge and started making its way to the surface, unluckily finding its way into a can. Well, that's the most plausible thing I can come up with. Did you know larval Cicadas feed by tapping into roots for the plants xylem?

I wish all of the tires were as simple as this one. 

When walking through these areas I don't tend to think of how high the water actually gets until I see items like this. This pair of sunglasses was about four feet up in the saplings. 

Found a couple paddle blades. This one isn't exactly a cheap paddle, you do have to do a lot to break one like this.

 One last before and after. These were the last two tires I took out.

This was the second pile I made and at this point it was time to take them all back to the other pile near the trail out. Penny was fairly well behaved on this trip. As I was pulling tires she was tied up watching my pack and camera. Every once in awhile I would take her to the river to cool off and she wasn't up for swimming at all today. 

At this point I was kind of wishing that I had stuck to my ten tire goal. Ended up with eighteen, a full pack and an old rusted lawn chair.

So close to the end, but just looking at this incline that I had to take everything up made me decide to take a break.

Penny was sick of sitting around and she wanted to get going. Although rusty the lawn chair still did its job. For the photo the camera was dangling from a tree branch by its strap and was set on a timer.

When everything was up to the road I was exhausted and happy. This is the most tires I have removed in a single day so far this year in the gorge. I don't think I am going to try to top this trip and from now on I think I am going to try to stick to my goals and not exceed them. 

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

Like this blog? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA