Lehigh River: Final Post of the Year! (28-Dec-2016)

I had to do one last river clean-up before the year ended and as a result of snow this one also ended up being my last clean-up of 2016. Earlier in the year I had worked on this access at Treichler's Bridge and I knew there were some older items further up river that I hadn't yet able to make it to. My goal was to hike up river and work on that section. I started though by heading down by the launch.   

On my way to the river from the lot, I flushed a small flock of White-throated Sparrows. This one was kind enough to stick around for some photos. White-throated Sparrows are a very common find at this time of year. I only saw one other species on this trip and it was a Downy Woodpecker that was too far off for photos. 

Just down stream of the launch I found this. A bank of small items and some very large styrofoam blocks. The blocks were lined with a thick paper backing and the backings on the bottom two were waterlogged. I couldn't leave them in the river and I have no idea what the fisherman that was just up river thought when he saw me dragging them out. I did talk to him a little later and explained what I was doing. All but one of the blocks I was able to get up to the trash cans intact. The fourth one broke and I had to carry the backing up in my burlap sack.

The first round was complete, but I was nowhere near my goal of even reaching the sections I wanted to above the bridge and dam up river. Threw away the non-recyclables, loaded the recyclables in my car and it was off for round two. 

At this point I could have hit the D&L Trail and went strait for my goal, but I had to see just what was on the small stretch of walkable bank below and above the bridge. This paid off. The trash can lid in this photo I have seen on several other clean-ups. It had been hung up in an area I couldn't reach from the bank and it bothered me every time I saw it. Now it was mine for the picking! I scooped it up and continued on up the bank for more items. 

Before I picked it up, I had hoped the antifreeze container in this photo was empty. It was not. I then did the shake test and it was not water. I have nowhere to go with the stuff, but I can't leave it on the bank. It too went with me. 

Back to the trash can for the second deposit. Again recyclables went to the car, non-recyclables in the trash. The antifreeze and can lid were left as they are. This isn't the best thing for me to do leaving it there, inside the trash can would have been worse. My hope is that the township or county worker that finds it will properly dispose of it. It is at least in a better place than the riverside. 

For round three it was on to the D&L and up to the dam and beyond. Since my last visit two new informational stations have been installed, one on a railroad telephone booth and the other for the broken dam. After reading a little bit, I headed on down to the dam.

The dam I have found can be really trashy or have nothing at all on it. That leads me to believe there are others that sometimes clean it. On this trip it was really trashy. I did my best to scan all of the cracks and even dug with my boots for items in the large crack Penny has her head in, in the above photo. I really hoped she wasn't sniffing out a living creature when I put my foot in there.

As I searched and pulled up trash, Penny watched the D&L Trail for joggers and bikers. Both of which she loves to bark at and really wants to chase when they pass by. 

Further up river I got almost to where I wanted to be and found pile after pile. Coupled with what I took off the dam I had both my sack and pack full and had no other bags with me. I wasn't going to reach my goal for the day.

Headed back to the D&L I found this pile which had a ripped garbage bag. I put what I could in the ripped bag and hoped for the best on the hike out. 

This is what I had for the hike back. On the D&L I arranged thing a little better, but I still wasn't sure if the ripped bag would hold up. 

Luckily it did. After doing a sort, throwing the trash and loading the last of the recyclables in the car the last clean-up of the year was complete! I still have one more sort to do until I know the final total of recyclables for the year. This year has felt like a long one, next year I think is going to feel longer. There is so much more work to be done and it adds on everyday. Happy New Year to all of my readers! There will be much more to come!
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

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