A Northampton County Park (26-Oct-2016)

For our last clean-up of the day, I took Leigh Ann to a park not far from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area that she had never been to before. The park is part of the Northampton County Parks System, I am not giving the name or location because it is not well known and in many cases the more people that know about a place the worse it gets as far as trash goes. 

Before starting down the access road we cleaned up a small ditch by the roadside. This we just piled next to the car to be sorted with the other trash at the end of the hike.

There are two ponds at this park, only one has trails that go all the way around it. This is the smaller of the two and what a nice view. We then took the trails around the larger of the ponds. 

Most of what were were picking up was the normal trailside trash, bottles and cans, and some bait containers. 

Then we got to this. Someone had made a considerably large fort and had abandoned it. There were three main piles of garbage. One in the back of the photo where the actual fort was, one on top of the fire ring in the middle and one in the very front of the photo that was partially covered by leafs. The fort was collapsed and everything looked like it had been there for some time. We pulled some very odd items out of the piles and luckily found a large trash bag too. 

We couldn't make sense of the items that were around. It could have possibly been a kids fort and they just randomly took things from home or it could have been a homeless persons collection of things. In any case it didn't look like anyone would be back for them and they don't belong in this park.

"Cowabunga Dude" Leigh Ann posing with one of the oddities found in the collapsed fort. 

The collection of items really didn't make any sense what so ever. There weren't any alcohol containers or the normal food stuff wrappers that would normally be found around a camp. I just don't know what to think.

We bagged up just about everything except for bedding that was piled on the fire ring and left in the fort. It was really a lot of trash. Had we had more time we would have gone back and bagged up and taken out the rest. With this and everything we already collected we had everything we could carry at the time. From this photo the clay dog and stack of paper were left behind. The paper will biodegrade and the clay really has no impact on the surrounding environment. 

This is what we had to leave. The next time I am in the area I will return to remove this stuff. Hopefully someone else will before I get to it, but I doubt that is likely. 

This was everything from this stop. We were left with a slight issue though. With all of the recyclables from the other stops we didn't have enough room for all of it in the car. We had to leave a bag of recyclables near the pull off and we took the trash from this site to another nearby Northampton County Park that does have a dumpster. After the trash was disposed of we went back and collected the recyclables. For the day we collected a lot of trash. Thanks Leigh Ann for suggesting the first two sites of the day and for coming along! It is always fun working with you! 
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

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (26-Oct-2016)

After completing a clean-up at Minisink Park, Leigh Ann Stratakos and I drove up to a couple of the pull-offs for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation area off of route 611. The first stop was a quick one and we only picked up a handful of trash, so it is not pictured in this post. Above is from our second stop which offers amazing views of the gap. 

All of the trash at this location was along the edge of the parking lot, road and trail going up to a small observation structure. There was a lot. I think part of the reason for all of this trash is that there are no garbage receptacles at this stop. Most of the time the reason there are not receptacles at areas like this is because they fill up quickly, have to be maintained by the park and often people dump items that shouldn't be left near them. So simple solutions like adding trash cans can come with more problems and this is why many parks ask you to take your trash out with you.

This was everything we collected from around the observation area. There were multiple diapers and it looks as though some people use the observation area as a changing table and discard their child's waste into the brush on the side. From this point we loaded the trash into the car and continued cleaning up along the parking area. 

This was everything we collected along the lot. This area is part of our National Park System and shouldn't be filled with litter like this. I will never be able to comprehend why individuals can't respect our parks, federal, state or local. These areas belong to all of use and we should all make an effort to maintain them not only for our future generations, but for the wildlife that inhabits these areas. After loading everything into the car, Leigh Ann and I were off to make one more stop before calling it a day. 
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

Minisink Park (26-Oct-2016)

Traveled up to the Delaware Water Gap again to do another clean-up with Leigh Ann Stratakos of 3 Moons Studio. She had suggested we make stops at Minisink Park and a couple places in the National Recreation Area. We started at Minisink and hopefully this is the last clean-up that has to be done there this year. The posted signs along the Brodhead Creek have been maintained, but from what we found they aren't completely stopping people from going down to the water. 

Along the path to the water we found our first sign that there would be a lot of trash. This Yuengling box had cans in it an they weren't just Yuengling. Generally this means there was a party and we would be finding more cans scattered around the area. 

What we found along the creek side was much like our other clean-ups of this same spot. Bottles and cans had been thrown just a couple feet into the brush and we found another whole garbage bag of picnicking stuffs. This bag may have been there for awhile and it may just have been hidden from sight.

No matter the time of year, minus the garbage this site has such magnificent views. This is looking up the Brodhead. Just to the right of this photo there was a road cone on a small island. The water was too cold to go in with shoes so I ran back to the car for boots and an additional garbage bag for all of the stuff Leigh Ann and I had piled up on the bank. 

On the way back from the car I made this find. This was the first syringe either of us have seen in the park. It was located below the bridge so it may have been tossed down from the road. Always be aware of where you are walking, syringes can be found almost anywhere these days and from what I have seen are showing up in more and more places. 

This was everything we removed from along the Brodhead. The bag is full of non-recyclables and was disposed of in proper receptacles in the park. The recyclables were loaded into the car. We were then off to walk a portion of the trails around the park. 

The trails really didn't have all that much trash along them. The sides of the soccer fields on the way to the trails had more. 

Penny always seems to be howling mad at all of the trash we find in Minisink Park. After we disposed of the trash and loaded up the recyclables we were off to the next location in the National Recreation Area. 

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

Beltzville State Park: Part 2 (24-Oct-2016)

After dropping off the trash from the clean-up at the top end of the lake I started working on a large cove just below the beach area. Unlike the other portions of the lake I have cleaned up recently this area looked like it has seen a lot of activity. Foot prints and oddly tire tracks were etched into the mud. 

Not sure who would drive through this, but someone did. Right away I started finding trash. Everything I picked up here was full of mud and I did my best to remove as much of it as possible before putting it in my bag. 

I believe this is the first time I have found a plastic cowboy hat. Possibly for a Woody doll? Some poor dog lost its toy too.

Found multiple pairs of eyewear as I searched around. This is one thing I have collected since the start of this project and all of these pairs were added to the collection. 

Not just sun glasses, multiple pairs of goggles too! 

I found several cans like this. Someone had dug them up and just left them there. After thinking about it for awhile I just figured it was someone with a metal detector. If it was its just sad that they couldn't bother to throw out the trash items they dug up. 

Out on the mud I heard something coming from the pine trees behind me. I knew exactly what it was from the sound and dropped everything except for my camera and went to see if I could get a shot. It was a Red Squirrel and it was kind enough to be out on a bare branch eating when I came up to it. I watched it for some time. I found it interesting that it was chewing not on a pine cone, but the tip of a branch filled with pine needles. 

Not all of the sunglasses were collected on this trip. All were collected from this lake, but some were in my pack from the previous trip and I forgot to take them out for the photo then. Everything else was from the cove. The non-recyclables went into a trash can by the parking lot and the rest was loaded into my car. I didn't think this was bad for the second clean-up of the day.

I was left shaking my head when I saw that the park had new dumpsters. Almost every single one was open and I see this creating a problem in the future. Light plastics like bags will just blow out and wildlife will get in, often taking trash with them when they leave. Why anyone would contract dumpsters for a DCNR park that cannot be secured for wildlife is beyond me. These may be cheaper than the ones that were in place, but the others from what I saw better fit a park setting. 

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

Beltzville State Park: Part 1 (24-Oct-2016)

Back to Beltzville again while the water is still low. For this trash collecting trip I started at the top of the lake where the channel for Bauer Creek flows in. An old road which once ran through the valley before the dam was put in place acts as a trail down to the lake now. The above photo was taken where the road ends. This is a place I have come to many times before for clean-ups. A small cove to the left of where this photo was taken seems to accumulate a lot of trash. I figured I would find more than most places around the lake in the now dry cove and be able to access some spots on the shoreline that aren't easy to get to when the water is at regular levels. 

Working my way to the cove I started scouring the lake bed. Glass bottles and aluminum cans made up the majority of the trash that littered the bottom. 

Portions of the old road have long since weathered and washed away. Some sections though still sit on the bottom as I found out walking to the waters edge. As I was washing out a can this crayfish popped up onto a portion of the remaining asphalt in front of me. As I was photographing it another popped up.

This is the cove, approaching I wasn't sure what to expect or how much trash was going to be at the bottom. 

Penny was tied up at the top edge of the cove as I picked through the mud, leaf litter and branches. Removed a decent pile of trash from this area, some items like pull tab cans have been in the lake for a good amount of time. Packed everything up after I was confident I found most everything there and headed up the channel to continue my search.

Most times I have visited this area I don't run into anyone at all. On this occasion I passed a woman reading and then not too far up the channel I came across something really unexpected. There was a man sitting on a tree stump, on the waters edge, playing a banjo. I found it odd. It looked as though he was playing away, yet I couldn't hear anything and I wasn't that far away. I decided to turn around because he also had a small Pug, it wasn't on a leash and had started walking in my direction. With Penny along turning around and heading down the shore in the other direction was the best thing to do. 

Instead of walking back the lake bed I cut up a trail and to get back over to the old road. In doing this I found not one, but two diapers discarded on the trailside.

I already had accumulated a decent amount of trash so I left a bag on the old road before continuing on. The area above doesn't have any maintained trails, so this is the first time I have been able to walk this spot. 

By the water I started seeing Bryozoans on branches of downed trees. Bryozoans like this are not a single organism, but a colony of organisms. When I first started finding these in local lakes I thought they might be egg masses of some kind. They do resemble some amphibian egg masses, but the textured look on the outside is a giveaway that they are not. 

This spot showed me I had to be careful on where I was letting Penny walk on the lake bed. This looks to be an old dump sight that was flooded when the dam was put in place. Most of the items here were broken glass, but I did find a couple old jars. I did not pick up all of the broken glass, I did remove some of the larger items. 

The far edge of this bed was as far as I could walk. From that point on down the bank it was a shear drop from the tree line down to the water. 

This was all that was collected. I loaded everything into my car and I took the non-recyclables down to another park access that had dumpsters. I then did another clean-up in a different section of the park. That post will be up sometime soon.

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