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