Hickory Run State Park (8-Mar-2017)

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. 

A thin layer of ice still covered the majority of the lake. The top where the run flows in however was clear. When I walked out to the dam Wood Ducks took off from the other side.

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. 

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Hickory Run State Park (6-Apr-2016)

It has been several days since I have been out last. Sunday I took the day off and the past two days I have been helping a sick family member. Even if I was able to, I probably wouldn't have gone out on Monday anyway. The rain doesn't bother me, but mix in cold and it just isn't for me. I want to get back to working on the Lehigh Gorge, but I have to walk in pretty far now to get to new areas and I am waiting for the warm weather to come back. I ended up going to Hickory Run State Park for this clean-up and started with hiking the Shades of Death Trail. 

It didn't take long to find my first items of the day. They were along the road at the first trail head I got to.

Cans were the first thing I found along the trail itself. Trash in general was pretty constant along the entirety of the trail. Not the first time I have cleaned this trail and I can't say it is even disappointing anymore. I just expect there to be trash now.

Can you see what I spotted? Let's go in for a closer look...

It's Snow Fleas! In this case the snow fleas are Collembola, also called Springtails. I did see patches of snow along the trail, but all of the Springtails that I could see were on water. This was just the first batch that I ran into along this hike. I have found Springtails on puddles and on small streams before and I do not know if they are drawn to the water or just get trapped when trying to cross it. They do not seem to break the water tension even in massive groups like this and when I looked at them closely there was a lot of movement going on, so at least the majority of them are still alive. I see them often in the colder months and I am fascinated by them every time.

Some of the items I found along the run were most certainly wash down from the beach at Sand Spring Lake. It would be nice if there was a way to stop the trash from leaving that lake, but all the solutions I can think of come with their own problems. 

Along the Shades of Death Trail there are several dams on Sand Spring Run. The dams create small lakes and above is the largest of the three. 

Found this lure on the side of the lake in the photo above it. I think it fell down from a tree branch above over the winter. It was really easy to get and I can't believe someone would have left it where it was. 

There are several small waterfalls along this trail. Every one showed signs of too much human impact. Eroded trails, cut trees and of course trash. There is an idea that getting people out to enjoy nature will in turn get them to appreciate and protect it. From what I see on a daily basis, it just doesn't work that way. The more people that venture into the woods, the more problems you find there. If people entered these places with respect, I would love for them to be there, but respect is truly lacking and it is very evident. 

This small pile was from around the waterfall above. I found several more items in the immediate area after taking this photo.

These waterfalls are beautiful, but so are the other surroundings. Around this waterfall too, there were cut trees and places where the trail was eroded. This is a problem for many popular sites throughout this part of the state. 

When retrieving this gatorade bottle I received another Springtail surprise. This time there were many, many more than the first group I came across.  

This was everything collected off of the Shades of Death Trail. The trail isn't that long and for the distance I hiked, this was a lot of trash. 

I wanted to get away from the trash for awhile and just do a hike on a trail that not many people would venture down. So I headed out towards the Boulder Field and something that flew across the road caught my attention. It was an Osprey and it was headed over Hickory Run Lake. I didn't want to stop at the lake, I didn't want to pick up more trash on this trip, but I did want photos. I parked and took the trail to the dam to get the view of the lake that is above. I did get photos, they weren't that great and of course I cleaned up trash from the lake back to my car. 

Like I said, not great, it is an Osprey though. It did not stick around while I was near the dam and had visibility over the lake. I did hear it again when I was back at my car. 

More trash, just from the dam to my car at Hickory Run Lake. I had already cleaned this area over the winter, some were items I missed, some were new. 

After that stop I finally found a place that looked good and got out on a trail that I didn't think people frequented. It was a great stop. Only two cans on the whole hike and I discovered this Porcupine up a pine tree. Normally when I come across Porcupines they are on the ground and only climb when approached. This individual was high up when I spotted him and unless it saw me from a distance it was up the tree for a different reason. 

Driving out I had to stop for these two Wild Turkeys. They were not frightened at all by my car and only started to run when I got out to photograph them. I have said before, you most likely won't see many of the critters I come across when you visit your local state park. I am extremely lucky in what I find and some things like porcupines are not a normal occurrence. 

Not sure where I am headed tomorrow. Dependent on temperature and if I am feeling up to it, I may be back to working on the gorge. 

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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Hickory Run State Park (29-Dec-2015)

Woke up to a coating of ice this morning. I wasn't sure how taking out the trash would go, but I went out anyway. There was a lot of fog in the area, this caused me to stay off the roads and I decided to go back to Hickory Run State Park. There are a lot of areas with heavy traffic in the park in the summer months and I was sure I would find trash.

I took the dirt road out to Boulder Field, it being one of the main attractions of the park and not a place I have been to that recently. The first stop along the road was Hickory Run Lake and just out of my car I was finding trash. The pull-off for the lake is lined with rhododendron and people must love to throw trash into rhododendron, I find a lot of it tucked behind the canopy of these plants and most of the time it isn't easy to retrieve.

This is Hickory Run Lake. It is not the largest lake in the park and I think it is mostly just utilized for fishing.

This was everything from the first stop. A normal woodland mixture of cans, plastics, glass and a touch of styrofoam. The gold leaf ornament was something different. 

The next stop was boulder field. Even on a gloomy, icy day there were still a lot of visitors. Most while I was there did not venture far from the parking area and left me with the field of rock to myself. For the amount of people that come to this site I was very surprised by the lack of trash. There were three items in the parking area and I only found a pair of gloves out on the rocks. I even went all the way around the field. 

I posted about this earlier this year. The park was looking for the individuals that did this. The good news is they did catch two people, one of which left their library card behind. The problem I have is that even though those who did this were caught, nothing has been done to restore the area to the way it was. In my opinion a fine isn't good enough unless it pays for the complete restoration as well.

This is how the gloves were found. Just a little bit of ice on each of them. 

I am happy to say this was all I found around boulder field. I think there are others that work to keep this area up. I just can't imagine with all the traffic so little trash.

For my next stop I wanted to do some trails and I thought it would be a good idea to park at the lower lot below Sand Spring Lake. It was a good idea, but only for cleaning up trash and not for getting out on a hike. I spent over an hour picking up piece after piece on the edge of the parking area. Some new, some old and I can't imagine that not a single person from the park takes the time to clean this area. Even found one pull tab can.

When I thought that I did a decent job around the lot I did want to get out on a trail. Why not one with nature? I took the nature trail which was a small loop. Only one trash item and there wasn't much else that was all that interesting. It was a nice break at the end of the day that was for the most part trash free.

Another view down the Nature Trail and the single trash item on it. That was it for the day. By the end I was soaking wet, cold and nearly 4pm the sun would be down soon. Tomorrow will not be a big trash day. I will be hiking again at Big Pocono State Park. I may finish the remainder of the trails there, but if I do not collect a lot of trash or see anything extraordinary there may not be a post.  

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