Gouldsboro & Tobyhanna State Parks (28-Feb-2016)

Wait a minute, this doesn't go with the title. It doesn't, but was half way to the destinations. I had Penny along and this stop offered her a rest stop. We just walked around the parking lot, but that didn't stop me from making the most of the stop and collecting trash. 

I took care of the bags and bottles on the left. The boxes and other items that someone left in the parking lot I was not going to deal with. They were large and I have no idea whats in them and don't want to know. The Game Commission will hopefully get rid of them soon.

I think this was a lot for a rest stop for Penny. It didn't take long to find all of this either.

Only my second visit to Gouldsboro State Park. Today the plan was to see what the conditions were like this far north and clean-up the areas that I found were the worst last year. It was about the same as last year as well. 

Your average lakeside trash. Portions of the lakeside were ice free and allowed me to pick up some things that were most likely inaccessible just a couple weeks ago. 

The lake isn't that large, but I would like to paddle it sometime. There are a lot of little islands and lots of places trash could be hidden and I am sure it is out there. 

Something different. I doubt someone was serving soup or punch on the lake. My best guess is that this was being used by a fisherman as a tool to keep the ice clear in his fishing holes.

This was all I could find for a trash can and I wasn't going to leave any of the non-recyclables I collected here. They could too easily find there way back to the lake. Not sure what was going on with the contractor bag on the side. 

This is just as much, if not more than I collected in the same area last year. Isn't that disappointing. How do we make others change? 

This was my third visit to Tobyhanna State Park. Like Gouldsboro, I have never paddled this lake. I hope to get back here too to do an on the water clean-up. Today I stuck to the trails. 

Walking a portion of trail around the lakeside I found the common things. 

Although the lake had a layer of ice over top, the stream flowing in was free and clear. 

These items were all from an area I thoroughly cleaned last year. I think it is a popular fishing site. I will never understand those who think it is enjoyable to stand or sit next to trash while fishing. 

These signs are great. Be careful, there may be unexploded munitions in the area. Isn't that what everyone wants to read when they go hiking? Other times I have been here there were groups out searching with metal detectors, I'm guessing this is what they were looking for. 

Penny had the next find of the day and it wasn't trash, luckily it wasn't old munitions either. She had to be tied to a tree while I snapped some photos.

If you visit Tobyhanna State Park it is possible, but not likely that you will stumble across a Porcupine. Most of the time I only see them because I have Penny along, she points them out and drags me towards them. This particular porcupine was young and nowhere near an adult size. Porcupines are great at climbing trees and they do so not just for safety, but also for food. On a previous occasion I discovered an adult porcupine near the top of a tree feasting away on small branches. 

Not long after the porcupine encounter, this Bald Eagle flew overhead. In recent years Bald Eagles really have become a common site. They truly are a success story. I know when I was young they were extremely rare to see. 

I still can't get over finding so many of these. This one was even in what looked to be a high traffic area near the campground. No one in the past 20 years or so saw this and decided to pick it up. That amazes me.

By the end at Tobyhanna, this is what I picked up. 

Like the gamelands at the start of the post, Fern Ridge Nature Preserved offered a break for Penny on the way home. Here we actually walked around for awhile. Never hiked this area before and I was curious to see what it was like. In a way I was disappointed, in another I thought it was a cool place. 

The area starts out with a field which on the far side is lined with Phragmites and Japanese Knotweed, both non-native plants. Just beyond them I found piles of dirt loaded with junk like the pieces above. Some of the stuff was buried with only pieces or half of the items sticking out of the earthen piles. This kind of made me laugh. Someone had a great idea with making this a nature preserve and went as far as making and putting up a nice sign, but never tried to remove this stuff or the non-native plants. Beyond the junk there are no real defined trails. Penny and I wandered through the woods for a time and it was starting to get late in the day. So we did not stay long.

This was all I found that I could actually take out. It was a long day. I am beyond exhausted. I might not be going out tomorrow, but we will see. 

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

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