Lehigh River (5-August-2015)

Today I got some help on the river and as a result a bit more trash than normal days. A friend of mine, Jeffery Greco, spent his day off plucking trash with me on the lower Lehigh. With one car, one borrowed canoe, two river find paddles and a hand full of trash bags I think we made a tiny bit of a difference. Starting in Sand Island (Bethlehem) we paddled up the canal to Canal Park (Allentown). Then made a short portage over to the river and went back down with the current. In total today we collected three bags of recyclables and over a bag of non-recyclables.    

I had not planned to clean the canal on the way up, but it was needed. So piece by piece we picked and paddled.

By no means is the canal devoid of trash after we went through. We did have a full bag of recyclables and a little under a half bag of non. There is still a lot of trash on and at the bottom of the canal. I will return and work on more of it! We dropped off the non-recyclables before hitting the river.

I can never stress enough how beautiful the river can be. It is views like this that I think everyone should get to see for themselves sometime in their life. The rivers are a shared resource, we all should use them and all of us should also learn to respect them.

This is the opposite of respect. Every single day, I see the beauty of our natural landscapes and everyday, I find more and more that does not belong in them. This section of river below Allentown is the worst section of the Lehigh I have come across this year. Years ago I worked as a guide on this section. It never looked like this then. I have to say that I was appalled by the shear amount we found today and I wish we could have taken everything we found. When I return to the canal I will be returning to the river as well. More needs to be done.

This was Mr. Greco's first experience in finding a creepy river doll. As they come this one was pretty intact.  

Wood Duck female with on of her young to the left of her in the photo.

Just too much of the shoreline looks like this. The areas photographed we did clean, but there is so much more remaining.

The shell of an Eastern Box Turtle. As of 2008 the Eastern Box Turtle has been listed as a protected species in PA. If you find a live one in the wild leave it be, the law states they are illegal to collect or kill. If you find a shell such as this one you should also leave it be, the law includes parts as well. 

More and more trash. Most of the plastics are gone from this section, but by this point we were running out of space in the boat.

River Chicken!

I personally do not like the idea of paddling with a needle in my boat, especially with other in the boat. I took this photo, but left the needle. Where this was I am positive police will not come and remove this needle. So, if you are paddling below Allentown on the Lehigh, you know for sure there are needles. Be careful, watch your step and please wear proper footwear.

Snowman Santa found on an island. Because after Christmas it may be someone's tradition to throw their tree in the river.

If you step back and don't focus on the littler things, the river is just magnificent.

Or if you do focus on the smaller things, you might find something cool along with the trash. This is a Common Snapping Turtle. You don't often come across snapping turtles basking, but this one was out today enjoying the sun.

Every once and awhile you look at the bank and you don't see trash, but you do see something staring back at you. These moments are the reason we should do more to respect and keep our rivers clean. This Red Fox, the Snapping Turtle above and many other creatures small and large call this river home. As guests in their home, on our shared river, I leave you saying we need to do more.