Lehigh Canal Park (13-Dec-2015)

With temperatures so high for this time of year I couldn't go back to the road today. I know in previous posts I said I was done with on the water clean-ups for the year, but today was just too tempting. I will point out that it is not safe to kayak at this time of year. The air temperature is deceiving, it feels warm enough to get out there, but if you fall in you can be in trouble. The water temps are low and there is a very good risk of hypothermia. I would not suggest going out at this time of year unless you are an experienced kayaker, even then you should take someone with you. Now that I have given a warning about cold water lets get to the trash!

Started off going to the edge of the old sealed lock. I knew there were items here from previous walking clean-ups. The one piece of trash that has bothered me for awhile I still couldn't get to. It is on the left along the canal wall at the edge of this now dam. There was just no way today I could get to it safely. If it were summer it would have been an easy get out and grab. The rest of the items in this photo were no problem. 

When I did previous clean ups here from the path I thought I did a good job of cleaning up the trash on the bank. Man was I wrong. This clean-up had to be done by kayak. I am glad I got it in today. 

A twenty year old gonzo in a boat! What a find! He even looks like he too is collecting trash. This sure is one item I will be holding on to. 

Another one! Just how many of these are still around? 

Styrofoam, bottles, more styrofoam, a lighter, more styrofoam, a bag and repeat. That was basically the entire trip as far as the trash went. 

Here I had to get out and walk away from the kayak and the trash for a minute. I picked up a floating bag half filled with a mixture of water and a substance that I would rather not mention. I did not know what was in it when I emptied it. I will tell you it was gross, no where close to the worst thing this year, but bad. 

This section of canal is not very large and I have never paddled it before. I didn't realize at the end it opened up into a wide shallow area. The canal does continue on after this, but it has been damed off at this point and I can't remember, but I think above this it really isn't navigable until Weisport.

Before I headed back down the canal I stopped in an area where it looked like a lot of items were washed up. The spot actually looked like an old dirt road that ran right down to the canal. Picked up a few items here.

In addition to the trash above I found this shell in the small break out of the kayak. The shell is from a young Common Musk Turtle. Common Musk Turtles are also called Stinkpots and as both of these names suggest when disturbed the turtles musk, producing a foul smelling odor. Musk Turtles spend most of their time in the water and it is not often that you will see one out basking. I did take this shell and it will end up going to East Stroudsburg University and may become part of the schools Herpetological collection. I would like to point out that it is illegal to take or possess even a shell of a native turtle in Pennsylvania without a valid PA fishing license. Even if you have a license if you find a shell of a protected species it would still be unlawful to take. Musk Turtles for now are considered abundant in the state and I do currently possess a valid license.

My view on the paddle back. I wish every bag of trash could be so perfectly balanced when I am collecting on the water. With this one I was even able to lean for items and it just stayed in place, it was a nice bit of luck.

Coming up to this plastic bag I told myself that this would be the last piece of trash I would pick up. It never works out that way. After the bag I did get one more plastic bottle and several more styrofoam items. Then I also did a walk of the edge of the parking lot which produced five or six more items. 

A full bag of non-recyclables, much of which was styrofoam and what ended up being close to a full bag of recyclables. I had the back portion of my kayak completely full and much of the front of the kayak as well. The last stretch was a little uncomfortable with sharing my leg space with the trash and several spiders which had made there way into my boat. I think it was an awesome amount of trash for a December canal clean-up.

The unique items today included not only Gonzo, but a pufferfish that squirts, a child size plastic pitch for head and seven lures of varying condition. This may have been the most lures I have found in one day, I am not positive on that though, I picked up a good number on the Schuylkill River this year. 

There are four trash cans that I could see at this site. I chose to put the non-recyclables in the one furthest from the canal. I have seen many park trash cans thrown into both the canal and the river. I really don't want that to happen to one full of trash I took out of it. It is very sad that this has to even be a consideration. 

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