I had to drop Penny off at the vet for another procedure. The patch up done last week did not take and she had to have a portion of her paw removed. I took the time I had in the morning to go for a short hike at Tuscarora State Park to get my mind off of things. Like every hike this one too ended up turning into a trash clean-up.
I worked my way down from the parking area to the lake. Not many items along the path, but the ones I did find looked as though they had been there for awhile. This really is one of the best times of year to do these clean-ups. The summer vegetation has died down and the fallen leafs have settled and compacted a bit, so there really is the best visibility for finding trash items.
Same old thing on the lake shore and a mixture of new and old items here. Way too many people come to our state parks to drink. This past summer I have found an exorbitant amount of bottles and cans. To those that do this, follow the rules, don't drink in our parks, if you go to them to enjoy nature you really need nothing else.
This was the first trash can drop off. As always I know the glass is recyclable, I just don't like carrying a lot of it around in my pack.
When I got to the boat house where I had to leave the shoreline and head back up to the trail I found this. Who does this? The slot was packed full. There are even garbage cans a short distance away.
From the lake I took the road from the boat launch access to the main office. Heading down some side trails from the office I found this surprise. I think this is the first year I have seen Sulfur Butterflies in December. There were two of them on this hike, fluttering around the sunny fields on the hillside below the park office.
I did see several species of birds along the walk, but most do not stick around long enough to snap a shot. On the left is a Mockingbird and when I came upon it, it was feeding on the red berries that surround it in the photo. On the right is a Dark-Eyed Junco, also called a Slate Colored Junco, both names are acceptable for this species. Juncos are almost always seen in groups and are very common in this area.
This was the majority of the trash for this hike, there was the other small pile I left in a trash can along the hike. To me after doing several clean-ups of the same area this year it was a lot. Hopefully now that it is finally starting to get colder there will be less people in the park and no more trash. I thought with having to pick up Penny this would be my last hike of the day. I was wrong and another post will be up soon.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment