My first thought for the day was to do a Recycling Day, but the temperature was still too cold. I waited until the afternoon to set out on a trash collecting hike and I ended up at a site I cleaned early last year. That was before I started this blog. This is a site I have been going to for several years now and it is a good hike up the mountain, but there is always new trash at the top.
On the way up the mountain I did come across this Winter Stonefly. I have previously posted photos of Winter Stoneflies, but I am adding this one to show that you can find things in places you might not expect to. Stoneflies are normally found along stream or riverbanks, but they do have functional wings and sometimes can be found far from water.
The trail is on PA State Gamelands, it is unlawful to have a campfire on these lands. Too many disregard the laws. It is also unlawful to litter, well I guess a fire ring looks enough like a trashcan. It is very common to find trash in fire rings, I wonder if the people who leave it think the next person to start a fire there will just burn it.
No surprise, as soon as I made it to the top there was new trash. There was also old trash that I missed the last time I did this trek.
Luckily there were some larger portions of the top that were clear of snow. In other places the trash items peeked out of the snow enough to be found. I am sure there were a lot of items that were covered that I missed and I am going to try to make it back up in spring or summer.
I expected more trash at the best overlook on the mountain top. The other times I have been up here it has been trashed. There was garbage, just not as much as normal.
This is the view. It overlooks Tamaqua and it is a cool place when the trash is removed.
What were these and why were they there? The photo on the left is the remnants of some kind of structure on top of a earthen mound. (The mound looks to be the fill from a pit right next to it. There are two of these somewhat close to each other) It has the remnants of electrical cord tacked to the one post so I think at one time it had electricity. At first I though the object on the right was a washing machine or dryer. I have found those items in odd places before. Instead it looked to be a water tank with a sheet metal casing around it.
After completing a loop at the top I was back at the power line cut and looking down at the valley below. Most of the small valley below is State Gamelands and I have hiked and collected trash in much of it. It definitely made me think of warmer days, I don't spend much time down there in the winter.
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
Find this project on Facebook here: Taking Out the Trash!
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