I had planned on going back to Lehigh Gap last week to check on the condition of the area around the rope swing. Due to car issues I wasn't able to make it, so a week late I headed back over. The last couple times I have been to Lehigh Gap the parking lot for boaters had been packed and I had to park in an overflow lot away from the river. This time no one was there and I got the best parking available and when I pulled in I noticed some trash around this lot which I couldn't see previous times. Before I even unloaded my boat I started picking up some things just outside of the lot and underneath the bridge. It started with finding recyclables, then I found the bag above. My guess is that it was thrown off of the bridge. There was a trash can only about thirty feet away and I can't imagine someone in the lot not using it, but who knows. The bag was full of house hold items and some recyclables. I don't pick through bags like this to remove the recyclables because you never know what else might be in them. I thew what I collected away, put the handful of recyclables, not pictured above into my car and headed down to the river.
The cool weather was a nice change. No one else was on this section of river and as it gets into fall it generally tends to stay this way. I shoved off and started my journey up river.
These Common Mergansers were traveling up river as well. They ended up being the only wildlife I was able to photograph on this trip. I did see a Great Blue Heron and had a Kingfisher pass me a couple times.
Picked up some bottles and other plastics before I made it to the rope swing, about the average for this trip. As soon as I paddled up to the swing I could see cans strewn about, so I had a feeling the fire pit was going to be filled again. I did get the the sock in the tree in the photo above. I thought about removing the flag. I am going to try to do this trip at least one more time before it gets too cold to be on the water. If the flag is still there I am going to remove it. The individuals who put it up don't seem to maintain it and I don't think they will be back to take it down. If it is left over the winter it will end up in the river. I believe removing it is the respectful thing to do. If anyone has any views on this I would be glad to hear them and you are welcome to comment below.
Of course the fire pit was full again. Not as bad as times earlier this year, still enough to be frustrating. I expected it though. I am struggling to come up with a solution for this. If I contact the land owner, which I am guessing is a local township or a railroad and have the swing dismantled, it will either be rebuilt or another party site will pop up somewhere else. The inner tube rental places in the area allow their guests to take alcoholic beverages on the river with them and this is a big part of the problem. These are unguided trips and there is no one to educate the river goers on the impact leaving trash like this behind has. That is not the only contributor to the problem at this specific area though either. This is also a party site for locals which access the area not only by boat, but also by foot from the railroad. If I could find some way of eliminating these party sites, it would have a large impact on the amount of garbage entering the river. It seems impossible though.
Clothing items pulled from the fire pit. To those who read this, please remember if you go on the river wear appropriate footwear that will not fall off. Especially if you are going in the water or walking on the bank. There are many sharp rusty objects, broken glass, cans and even syringes. It is never good to go barefoot.
I loaded the trash into my boat without a problem. I had some trouble stabilizing my kayak when I went to get in though. I fell and both my paddle and I ended up in the river. Somehow I managed to keep my feet dry, but that's about it. Used my hands to navigate the kayak out to my paddle. This is the first time in years I have fallen trying to get into a boat. I don't mind at all pointing out my mishaps, it can happen to anyone and is a reason you should always wear a personal floatation device on the river.
Beautiful calm water. After the swing clean-up I continued on up river until there was some current. Picked up some more cans and bottles along the bank and a large piece of plastic piping. When I reached the current I paddled across and worked my way down the bank on the Nature Center side of the river.
By this point it was getting late in the day and very quickly I found myself in the shadow of the mountain. I have to say because I was soaking wet I found it was a little chilly out of the sun.
The lower water this time allowed me access to one spot I wasn't able to stop at last time. Here I found Sponge Bob riding a seahorse and a whole lot of other trash further up the bank.
I have walked most of these sections in the past and this area is one that I missed. A lot of old items that are at least from the 90's. Round bottomed 2-liter bottles and a lot of styrofoam.
Even found a plastic chair. This looked like it was either placed there or thrown down from the D&L Trail.
I wasn't able to removed everything, I got what I could and piled it up near the boat. It ended up being a considerable amount in a relatively small area. I have found many places like this along the river, old wash ups that no one has bothered to deal with. Even in places that seem remote if you are traveling by foot can be packed full of trash.
This is not the best way to paddle and I would have rearranged things had I been in moving water. I couldn't see anything directly in front of me and I was just hoping not to hit a rock on the way back. The one thing in my favor here was I have paddled this enough to know where all the big rocks are just below the surface. Made it back without a problem.
The back hull was also nearly full of recyclables.
A decent haul for an afternoon. Recyclables were loaded into my car and everything else was thrown away. Like I said above I will try to make it back to this site one more time for a paddle before the years end. Now that it is getting cooler I don't think the rope swing area will be as much of a problem as it has been.
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