For a couple weeks now I have been thinking of the easiest way to remove tires from one of the floodplains in the Lehigh Gorge State Park. Today I decided there was no easy way, but carrying them out would be the quickest. Floating them out by kayak or canoe would certainly reduce the amount of carrying, but with limited space only a few tires could be removed per trip and really it would take forever to get the whole thing done. I set out on this trip with no real goals as far as numbers of tires, I really just wanted to see how bad it was going to be carrying them out. It is close to a half mile hike to where I am piling them up. For now I am not taking them up to the road to be removed, I am just getting them closer to that point.
The channels that were flowing with water over the weekend were bone dry. This made traversing portions of the area much easier. I didn't start walking up this channel to start. I kept going along the river to another channel that had tires close to where it entered the river. The closer the tires are to the end of the channels the greater the likelihood that the next high water event will force them into the river.
This was the first tire I moved and it ended up being the largest of the day. Upright it was around three feet high. I couldn't carry it, I didn't even try. I was just lucky it rolled smoothly.
Looking down the river towards Jim Thorpe. I think I have added photos of this view before, but I love it and I may even put a similar one in the next post.
More eyewear. The smaller items are already getting much harder to find in this area. That means I am doing my job. The main channels along this floodplain are pretty well cleaned out of small items. There are still a couple places along the riverside I need to focus on.
The second tire taken out of the floodplain. This originally had the log at the top of the photo wedged on top of it. Once the log was moved it was easily pulled out and it even had a metal pan in it.
At first this one looked like it might be a hard move, it just slid out though.
For this one there seemed to be more sediment than could fit in a tire. Still wasn't difficult to get out.
One of two piles. I ended up taking ten tires total out of the flood plain. The two piles were taken up to the canal path.
Got the pile that was furthest up the channel to the canal path first. This portion of the path is not the easiest to traverse with tires. I then moved them down the path to where I could go and retrieve the other pile. I then ended up with the ten tires on the canal path and what felt like and extremely long hike out.
The way I got the tires out was a couple at a time. Walking them down the path, dropping them off and going back for more. It took some time to do, but it felt great when I got them to the end. I also picked up one more tire that was in the canal on the way back.
I added the tires from today to the pile I started the last time I was here. This pile now has fifteen tires ready to go up to the road. There is also one tire at the top of the canal path. I am going to keep continuing to add to the pile and take everything out on Monday. This way there is no chance the tires will be sitting by the road over the weekend.
In addition to the tires I took out a pack of smalls. Like I said they are getting harder and harder to find in this floodplain and I will be happy when I go there and don't see any. I think that will be happening soon and should stay that way at least until the next flood. Will be continuing to work on the tires in the days to come.
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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