Appalachian Trail: Lehigh Gap (22-Sept-2016)

Hit the trail in Lehigh Gap and started up the mountain. It has been about a year since my last hike up at this location and I thought there might be an accumulation of trash. Last year there was a lot. There are multiple trails to the top and I started on one that begins right at the parking lot. I found that in some sections it was really overgrown and I only picked up a couple pieces of trash on this portion. 

Last year there was litter strewn about these rocks and on this trip I found nothing. This was still on a portion of the overgrown trail and I didn't know what to expect ahead. This is also where the views of the Lehigh River and Valley start getting good. 

What little trash I did find on the way up, weren't the easiest items to get, like this Gatorade bottle someone threw back into Green Briar. 

When I connected with another one of the trails there still wasn't much trash to be found and it was starting to get hot.

The views on this hike really are some of the best around. Looking down river on the Lehigh. I have paddled all of the sections of the river that can be seen in these photos. The view to me brings back many memories of my trash collecting river trips. 

Looking up river towards Carbon County. At this point I started to find a few more items, mostly  water bottles and cans. 

I checked out a few of the areas around the top that in the past were a mess. Found some stuff, but it wasn't bad at all. 

It got a bit too hot out on the rocks and I started heading down. Took a different trail back to the lot and along it I found the most trash of the day.

Compared to other hikes this one didn't yield much trash at all. I am sure others, like hiking clubs have worked to keep this area clean. I will be going back to hit other trails that I missed on this trip and to go further up the mountain to see the conditions. 
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

Lehigh River: Walnutport (21-Sept-2016)

Out for a short paddle down the Lehigh River and up the Lehigh Canal. Started and ended this trip at a park in Walnutport. I worked on this section a few times earlier this year and wanted to see what it is like now. Without much rain the river is still running low and I thought this section might be somewhat difficult. 

On my last trips I stuck to the left side of the river. This time I paddled right across and worked my way down river right. Luckily the water was a little deeper on the right side of the river.

The trash collecting started off slow. Only a few bottles to start and the tv above was my first and only larger item of the day. The screen was broken and I only took the plastic shell. I did not feel comfortable paddling with the large shards of glass from the screen nor the rusty metal piece that was left behind when I took the shell. With the broken glass there is too much of a chance my bags will be cut and I do not want to loose any of the trash I remove from the river while paddling. 

I found it! Just under the surface of the water is a blue truck cap. Last year it was up river just below Lehigh Gap. This year I hadn't seen it and had wondered where it had gone. I don't know what to do with larger items like this. I am sure if I left it by a dumpster or a trash can at a riverside park, the park probably wouldn't be that happy in having to dispose of it. Until I can come up for someplace for it to go, it has to stay in the river. I honestly don't even know if I could remove it by myself either. 

A few of the smaller plastic items picked up from the right bank. I don't often find six pack rings. I made sure to break all of the rings before putting it in the trash bag. I don't know what the tubing was for. Only about a foot section was visible and when I pulled on it, it just kept coming. 

I got out for a couple jugs and other plastic items and when I sat back in my kayak I noticed this on the river bottom. Anyone need a slightly used umbrella? 

Stopped at the top of an island I have worked on before. On previous trips I picked through debris piles on the lower end of the island that were just packed full of trash. This time I explored the upper and mid sections of the island. 

Starting off I found a lot of beer and other cans. The way some of them were placed it was clear that these were not wash down, but that someone had a party here. There was also a diaper, this too did not look like it had washed down the river. I keep finding more and more diapers in places that people really should not be taking babies to.

In the mid section of the island it was mostly older items. I did my best to pick through, however I know I didn't get everything. 

The first pile from the island. The diaper was the only thing in the black bag that came from the island. 

Went back to the middle of the island and worked on it some more after loading up the other trash and moving my boat to a more secure location. On the left is what I think is an old plastic rim from the front of a child's tricycle. On the right a piece of a bucket in a tree. 

I couldn't take a bag with me into the interior of the island, too many thorns and other things that could possibly tear it. Instead I improvised and used the broken bucket to collect and haul things out. 

The second pile from this island. By this point it was getting late in the day and although I didn't go far I knew I needed to get back and I still had the canal to paddle. I sorted the recyclables out and loaded everything into the boat. 

There was a take out right across the channel so I walked the kayak across and hauled everything up to the canal side. 

When I got up to the canal I was very happy I didn't go any further. Work is currently being done on the lock here and the canal below it is drained. It would have taken me forever to drag my kayak back the canal path had I kept going down the river. 

Above the lock the canal was at normal levels and I had no problem paddling up it. Along the sides I did pick up a good amount of trash. This section of canal was really a mess. I think it looked worse this time than my last couple paddles through. Many plastic bags and recyclable items. 

Found some older stuff too. On the left a round bottomed 2-liter bottle and on the right a pull tab can.

Next to the one public dock there were lots of bait containers. There is no reason for this at all, trash cans are not far away from this location. 

Back at the park I hauled my kayak out of the canal then drug it to the parking lot. The hull was also full of recyclables. 

The was everything, a tv shell, a full bag on non-recyclables and a bunch of bottles and cans. Non-recyclables went in a dumpster and the rest was loaded into and onto my car. A lot of trash for a short trip.
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

Lehigh Gorge: Glen Onoko Falls (20-Sept-2016)

The last time I hiked Glen Onoko Falls it was too cold to go in the run after trash. I had been planning to go back to the falls later in the year, but after thinking about the last trip, I decided it best to do the clean-up now when it is still warm out. Starting up the trail I wasn't sure what to expect. It had been around a year since my last clean-up here, yet I am sure there are others that work on keeping this trail clean. 

Very quickly I found out that there was going to be a lot of trash. This was the first small wash I came across on the trail. Only saw a couple items from the trail and came back with a few more.  

Almost all of the trash along this trail is thrown into areas that aren't easy to get to. For this one I had to climb off the trail, down another wash and under the downed pine in the top of this photo. Once at the bottle near the Rhododendron I found more trash to the left and the right. 

Some fungus on the trailside. On the left is a type of puffball fungus. On the right is a shelf fungus. That is about as good as I can do with identification of fungus and I don't have any friends really interested in Mycology. 

Glen Onoco Run has its problems. Mostly overuse, which has caused major trail washouts along portion of the run. There are still places, like that above, that still look stunning. The problem sections could be restored, I don't think that is likely to happen anytime soon though. 

Much of the trash on the upper portion of the trail I found wedged in cracks and crevices between the rocks. In these spots I removed everything I saw except for broken glass items. I didn't have tongs with me so for some of the stuff way back in these holes I had to use sticks to fish the items out. The one above had old and new trash. The pull tab I missed on previous trips.

This was curled up on the trail. It is a Elm Sawfly Larvae, Cimbex americana. I moved it off of the path so it wouldn't be crushed by other hikers. 

I passed several caution and dangerous trail signs before I got to this. Who takes a baby up a trail like this? There really are sections that are not easy to traverse and that's without a baby. In addition to this diaper, I found another one even further up the trail and picked up on the way out around the parking area. 

I went to remove the trash in the photo on the left and ended up finding everything on the right. All of this was thrown off the trail and into the Rhododendrons on the side. Not easy to spot until you are under the Rhododendrons. 

There was too much trash thrown into the gaps between the rocks. 

Picked up five dog full dog bags along the trail. These are a very common trailside item. Why would you pick up your dogs waste just to throw it to the trailside in a plastic bag? It completely defeats the purpose of picking it up at all. 

In this small hole I went in to reach for the bottle and realized what I thought was a rock covered in Lichen was actually a broken up styrofoam container. It looked like it had been there for a good amount of time, so this may have been something else I missed on a previous trip. 

Not even to the main falls and I had a full sack. I left it on the trailside along with glass bottles I had in my pack to be picked up on the return trip down. 

Here the trail on the right is one of the worst sections of the entire trip. Around a 30 foot section is washed out down to bare rock. 

At the first large falls I tied Penny up for this photo. She did not seem to be impressed by the falls and looked much happier when we hit the trail again. The second larger falls can be seen in the background of this photo. 

This area is still under the average rainfall for the year. The rains the day before didn't seem to add much to the falls on this trip. Just a trickle was flowing over the larger falls. 

A new addition put in by the Game Commission gave me a good laugh. The sign has been there for years, the posted signs and the chain restricting access to the top of the falls were new. In the past the sign did not prevent individuals from getting too close to the edge and it seems the new signs and chain aren't having the desired effect either. All of the people I saw up there just went under the chain and out to the top of the falls anyway. Enforcement is the only way to stop people from doing this and I am sure the signs a up just so the Game Commission doesn't get sued the next time someone falls to their death. 

Even from behind the chain there is a nice view. 

From the top it was right back down. Made a stop for the first sack and put the glass bottles back in my pack. This was a big haul for the falls and I didn't even hit a lot of the side trails. Some trash I had to leave were it was, it was too risky to try to get. 

The next time you are out hiking and see a bottle on the trailside, you have a decision. Just leave it, with the thought you did not put it there so it is not your responsibility or pick it up and make a difference for the better. Many people hike the trails in the Lehigh Gorge and many choose to leave the trash where it sits. We all can do better and if you see someone littering say something! Every piece left behind is a detriment to our environment and to our futures health. Be part of the solution and help fight this problem. The above is way too much trash to be found on just one trail. It saddens me that so many people disrespect the natural world, but I know we can make a change for the better, more just need to step up.

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