After passing by the rope swing in Lehigh Gap the day before and seeing it was a complete mess again I headed back out on the water to take care of it. I set out from the launch at Lehigh Gap and paddled across and up river. Due to the dam release at Francis E. Walter the river was running high and brown. This made it a little harder to get up to the rope swing site.
Before getting there I saw this and knew I would have company at the swing. Normally if there are a lot of people there I avoid stopping, but since that site was the main reason I was there I wasn't going to pass it by.
This is now the third time I have cleaned up this fire pit and surrounding area. I don't think it is going to be the last either. I wish I had a solution to this problem.
Everyone at the rope swing was nice to me and many thanked me for cleaning up. I asked that everyone take their refuse with them and dispose of it properly. All that talked to me agreed and it was nice to see that some groups were putting their empties back in their coolers and not in the river or on the bank. I want people to get out and enjoy the river, but everyone needs to do it responsibly. This particular spot is definitely overused and there are many sites along the river like this.
When I finished at the rope swing I kept paddling up river and kept cleaning up the bank. Then crossed to head back and work on the opposite bank.
When I picked up this sandal I noticed a tiny little Water Scorpion on it. A Water Scorpion is a true bug and is an aquatic predator. I placed it back in the water and threw the sandal in my bag. Cleaning up the rope swing was very stressful to me being surrounded by so many people and just watching this Water Scorpion for a few minutes really brought my stress level down.
On the way back I made a couple stops. This debris pile was one of them. Picked a fair amount of trash out of it.
At another stop I found mostly older items that had been on the bank since the last high water event. All of the items were in a line about four or five feet higher than the current water level.
At this point nearly my entire hull, front and back, was full of recyclables. I also couldn't fit much more on the deck. I decided to call it a day and didn't make anymore stops.
This was the haul. So many recyclables. I disposed of the non-recyclables at the garbage cans along the D&L trail, all near the boat launch were full. The recyclables were taken with me and will be properly disposed of. There is so much trash in our rivers, we need more solutions.
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 project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA
No comments:
Post a Comment