Lehigh Gorge State Park (8-Feb-2016)

Another hike along the river in the Lehigh Gorge State Park. My goal today was to scout a floodplain that isn't that far up the D&L Trail from the Glen Onoco access. This was my original intent on last weeks visit, but I found enough trash before I got there. The only stop I made on the way out the D&L was for the photo above. I can't wait to paddle this again this summer!

One of the first finds of the day and I did hope that there might be something valuable inside. Opened it up and nothing except some silt. I wasn't disappointed there was nothing in it, just disappointed it was thrown into the river.

More Winter Stoneflies. This may be a different species than the ones I have already posted. These were extremely small compared to most adult stoneflies.

Cans were the main trash items of the day and most had been in the river for a long time. Over time cans in the river fill with sediment and they either end up on the bottom of the river or deposited in a flood plain like these were. Since most were full of sediment it was a very time consuming process , cracking open the cans, dumping out the sediment, then rinsing the can out. A can that is completely full isn't easy at all to break open and there were many of those. 

While I was cleaning out some cans, Penny, who was tied to a tree, started sniffing and going crazy over something. I thought she was going to pull over the tree she was tied to. When I looked to see what she was after I saw a fake snake. That wasn't what she was after though, for some reason she wanted a very specific rock. 

A fake snake, a doll, a different dolls arm, a camera and a bunch of old cans, all found around the same area. 

The crayon looking item on the left is a type of water gun, they also work well as a bailer for a boat. The problem is this particular type is made cheaply and often breaks. I find a lot of them and this wasn't even the first this year. The grenade was something new. This is the first large firework one I have found.  

I never know what I am going to find along the river. This looked like an older motorcycle toy. I wonder how long it has been on the river bank?

A tiny pull tab Rolling Rock. I don't find many old tiny cans. 

Lots of tires. I haven't contacted the parks yet to see if they will dispose of them if I take them out. I have been meaning to and I need to get on that soon. Way too many tires have been left or ended up in our local State Parks. 

A bit surprised when I came out onto the D&L Trail. I thought I was going to be much further up than I was. I didn't mind though, I had a full bag of trash and Penny to walk back to the car, the shorter the better.

The cans themselves ended up filling an entire garbage bag. With most torn up I don't know how I am going to easily do a count of them on the next recycling day. Anyone need some new shades? Found a few and added them to a collection of river sunglasses I have accumulated in the last couple years. Penny looked like she needed another hike, so from the Gorge we headed over to Beltzville. It was meant to just be a walk, but as always it became a trash clean-up. That 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 here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

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