Firetower Road (1-Mar-2017)

It had been some time since I last hiked Firetower Road in Schuylkill County. This area is open to the public and has many trails to hike. However, it does have a major problem with ATV use. Every access is posted, but still there are many who go riding through. ATVs can have a harsh impact on an area, especially when riders take their vehicles through pools and streams, which happens a lot at this site. I set out to cover some places I have already been through and to find some new trails I have never traversed. I didn't know what to expect as far as trash. I always find something here, just never know how much there will be. 

Right away I started finding the normal trailside beer cans. Really, if you can carry a full beer can in, you can carry an empty beer can out.

Then there was this. I saw it last year. It showed up when several other piles of carpet did along the main road in this area. Everything along the road has been cleaned up, but this remains. When I first started this project I cleaned up another dump like this a little further down the trail. The gates need to be secured before I will clean up any more large dumps like this here. Very simple fixes could be done to prevent this from happening in this area. 

This is the spot I cleaned up in 2015. Someone had dumped a huge pile of rubber insulators into this pool. It took me over a week to get everything out, but I was able to do it and now it still looks good. 

Throughout the hike it was raining off and on. This trail going down the side of the mountain was partially a stream. 

This is a water supply reservoir. You can see that ATV have even been running through it. 

I found a new trail from the reservoir that led down to an old quarry. There I found someones campsite with a lot of junk around. I started cleaning up the area and piling up my finds. 

The quarry. I had been here before, but never at this specific location. Generally I come in on trails that take me down the left side of it. I was really hoping there would be waterfowl on the water, but there was nothing that I could see. 

All of the recyclables found around the campsite. 

With the rain Penny wasn't pleased. I grabbed her leash and the bags and it was time to head out. 

Before leaving I did affix one of the plastic chairs from the campsite to my pack. It made things a little awkward hiking out, but I got at least one of the two chairs removed. 

Back at the parking lot I did a final sweep around the edges for recyclables. 

This was everything. A pretty good haul for a hike in the rain. 

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