Every time I do a clean up in Lehigh Gap I look up on the east face of the gap and wish I was hiking it. Today was such a beautiful day I decided to do just that. I have done clean-ups here in the past and I think the last one was before I started this blog. It is not an easy hike up or down, but the view is worth it. I spent a lot of time at the top cleaning up and I did another time lapse set-up. I had a full bag by the time I started back down and the bag was filled to capacity by the time I got to the bottom. I took a different trail down.
The first find of the day. Could only see one bottle from the trail. It always seems that if you find one item there is another close by waiting to be picked up along with it.
I have found many home made smoking devices over the years, so it wasn't shocking to find this one. This trail especially isn't the best place to be smoking anything. If you are going to do drugs, do them at home and don't litter.
The Lehigh River really is one of my true loves. I spent a good amount of time today looking down on it and remembering the times I have paddled this section. More needs to be done to keep it clean and I will do my fair share in the coming years.
If you celebrate birthdays and special events with helium filled balloons please don't let them fly off into the sky when you are done with them. They all end up somewhere they do not belong and can do harm to wildlife.
Our American society does not seem to respect our flag as much as we once did. This one was raised on a cut down Birch Tree and left to tatter in the wind surrounded by beer cans and other trash. I took it down, it is folded and sitting in front of me now. It is actually a nicely made flag, even labeled as made in the United States, it will be mended and it will fly again, but someplace it will be taken care of. The flag and all of the trash I clean up is just a lack of respect. Personally, I would like to see more respect given in our country.
More items on the way up.
This might not look that bad, but the trail does get harder going up.
The photo one the left is downriver looking towards Slatington. The photo on the right is upriver overlooking Palmerton.
This was at a fork in the trail, almost seemed like an advertisement. I found a line of these cans from the parking lot on up to the top. Again, this really isn't the best place to drink or do drugs. Keep it at home or at a bar. Less litter and much more safe.
Penny sat as patiently as she could while I was collecting garbage from the top and waiting for the series of photographs to complete. There was a bit of whining, but I think she received enough treats to make the wait worth her while.
When the photos for the time lapse were done we did some more searching before heading down. Found many more water bottles and other plastic items discarded over the top. Most of these items were not easy to get to at all.
This is what the way down looks like. Not a place to make a misstep.
Everything from the bag. Almost all of it is recyclable. I also had the flag in my pack and the camp pan. None of these items should have been up there and I truly hope sometime soon our society starts giving more respect to nature and ourselves. We have to live on this planet, if we keep filling our natural areas, waterways and oceans with plastics and other items it is not going to be a nice place to live.
To everyone I met on the trail today I hope you had a safe trip! The time lapse will be in the next post. Having some technical difficulties with a program.
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 at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash Thanks to everyone who reads, shares and cares!
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