Not nearly as cold as yesterday or the day before, so I decided to get out on a hike. With the snow coverage and the potential for snow while I was out I did not think I would find any trash. Just going out with that expectation always seems to lead me to some.
I had Penny along and our goal was to go to the top of the Appalachian near Little Gap. Even with the snow it is an easy hike and one I do often. On most trips I follow the AT or an access road out to a power line cut with a rock pile that is a popular spot and is almost always filled with litter. On this trip we just went to the top and took some side trails to overlook Carbon County.
The AT used to bend over to this side of the mountain, but has been moved to the south. There are many old campsites in this section and there are a lot of parties at these sites in the summer. These campsites are on state gamelands, now far from the AT, it is unlawful to have fires or alcoholic beverages on the gamelands. People don't read the laws or just don't care. Above is the first fireplace I came across. Buried in the snow were multiple cans, once removed I started looking around this old campsite.
This was everything found around the campsite. I checked a couple more, they didn't look like they had been used any time in the recent past though. The above also ended up being everything for the day. Not a single item along the trail up or back.
Who takes a spray bottle of pesticides with them on a hike or camping? When you enter the woods, you are walking into the home of a multitude of organisms, small and large. Most belong there and each has its own specific role. For the most part insects will leave you alone and a spray that you would apply to yourself would work much better than a product like this. Any trash is awful to find on a hike, this is worse than awful.
Several of the cans I found today had frozen contents that I had to remove before placing in my pack. This was from one of the cans. You might not be able to make out what was inside, but I can tell you there were at least two rodents and some native beetles in this one. As I stated above, native animals big or small have their own place in our woodland ecosystems and every species is important to maintain a healthy ecosystem. In this case rodents serve as food to animals higher up on the food chain and the beetles are often decomposers which eliminate carrion. I find way too many upright cans that act as traps as these did. Just one or two might not make a difference, but it is very common to find this. I will also add that the liquidy mixture of alcohol and decaying animal matter in one of the cans today was not a pleasant thing to get on me and was the only thing I could smell all the way home. It took a lot of scrubbing to get the odor off of my hands.
Not a full pack, yet close. For a day not expecting to find any trash it was a large haul.
This was the first trash item I found today when I pulled into the parking lot. I left it to the end of this post because it is not the most delightful image to start off with. It seems at least once a week I come across a new illegal dump. I have no where to take large items like this so for now it isn't something I can deal with. Someone also placed a futon frame in a rock pile across the street from this lot sometime last year. That is still there as well. If you ever see someone illegally dumping items, please take down their license plate number and call law enforcement.
No wildlife on the hike, except for the mouse and beetle popsicle in a can, but when I got home this American Goldfinch was visiting one of my feeders. At this time of year both male and female American Goldfinches are just about the same color. As time passes closer to spring the males will slowly reveal a more brighter and brighter yellow head, chest and back. I believe this individual is a male that has already started his color change. Females will keep their brown to light yellow color throughout the year. In many species of birds females often have much duller colors. It is thought that this helps camouflage them from predators, especially useful when vulnerable on a nest or with young.
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