A little chilly, yet the sun was shining and it was a nice day. I took a drive over to Hickory Run to do some exploring and trash collecting around Hickory Run Lake. This area can get pretty trashy and I wasn't sure what to expect at this time of year. I picked up some items around the parking area and then headed down to the lake.
I photographed this male Wood Duck as it flew by. Normally at that distance they do not scare off that easily. I wasn't even making any noise.
Right next to the dam I found one of my least favorite trash items. A diaper. This one was somewhat frozen to the ground. I bagged it up and continued on down trails that followed the run.
I could see trails on the other side of both the lake and the run and I was really trying to get over to them. I followed the trail down until it ran back into the access road and I couldn't find anyplace to cross. So I took another trail back towards the lake.
By the run I below the dam I only found one other piece of trash, Disney Princess Sunglasses. They went in my pack to be added to my sunglass collection.
The trail I took back brought me into a pines on the lakes edge where I found another disgusting trash find. Two more diapers, waterlogged and frozen. I was out of bags and the one at least I knew couldn't fit into a dog bag. I walked back to my car, found a larger bag and returned to pick them up.
When I came back out to the lake I could see ducks swimming again on the other side. I just thought it would be the Wood Ducks back again. Instead there was a male and two female Hooded Mergansers. They too flew off.
This was everything from my first round at the lake. I still wanted to get to the other side and see what's over there. I never had before. So I started working my way to the top of the lake and found a trail.
With a name like Lake Trail I was confident that this one would take me to the other side. Picked up the can at the base of the sign too.
The Lake Trail itself took me down to the run again and although the trail continued on there was no bridge or way to cross. I followed a side trail up the run and found this small foot bridge which allowed me to cross. I call it a foot bridge, but really it was just a board not attached to anything. If you go hiking in this area, this may not be there for you to cross.
The view looking down the lake towards the dam. What a beautiful scene. From here I walked down the lake and below the dam where I originally wanted to go. Eventually the trail ran out and I followed a small line of trash that led me to another path.
The new path I was on was strait and wide and off in the distance I noticed something dark in the trail. I thought it could be a stump, but it just didn't look right. It ended up being a Porcupine. Penny was with me and she didn't even notice until we got closer. Both Penny and I watched the Porcupine for a good fifteen minutes. It just kept foraging in the trail even after Penny started barking. When it finally started to move off the trail I tied Penny up and went in closer to try to get some better photos. By the time I got up to where it was it had walked pretty far off into the woods. It is always good to see any wildlife and Porcupines are pretty cool.
Penny really wanted to get a closer look. Luckily she has never ended up with quills in her snoot. Porcupines are a great reason to abide by the law and keep your dog on a leash in our state parks.
On the way back to the car I had a little difficulty locating the bridge I had crossed over. I ended up going to the run a little too far upstream. I don't mind being lost for a time in places that look like this.
This was all I collected along the Lakeside Trail. I was glad there weren't anymore diapers.
Before heading home I stopped at Sand Springs lake and made my way around. This lake gets a lot of traffic and with it a lot of trash. This time there wasn't all that much.
I went around the whole lake and this was it. This may be the least I have ever found at this location.
See my most updated posts on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA
No comments:
Post a Comment