This trip was the preliminary run for a two day canoe trip and trash clean-up for the Northampton County Junior Conservation School. Andrew Gaerthe and I set out to paddle the twenty-one mile stretch between Martins Creek and Reigelsville on the Delaware river. The purpose of this trip was to determine the best route down the river, checking channels and identifying any hazards that the NCJCS participants may run into in the coming week. Our secondary objective was to pick up trash is some of the spots the NCJCSers would not be able to stop at.
At the very start of the trip I found this Common Map Turtle basking on a rock. In this stretch of the Delaware Common Map Turtles are the most abundant turtle species. Just so everyone is aware, although abundant these turtles do not make good pets. They have a specialized diet and there is a good chance that if you take one from the river it will not eat and will die in your care. Please leave these magnificent creatures where they belong, in the river.
Looking back on the Martins Creek Power Facility. This facility generates power by the burning of coal, gas and oil. After this last look I turned my attention down river for the long paddle ahead.
It was 16 years ago that I had first set my eyes on this piece of trash on the river bank. Andrew got to see it 15 years ago. We were both students at NCJCS when we first saw it and it has changed over the years. Back then the car was parallel to the bank and was nearly fully intact. Over the years it has moved down the bank and looks as though both the river and people have worked on ripping it apart.
On the right side of this photo is one of my favorite stops on this trek down the river. Large rocks stick out of the water offering a nice place to dock a kayak and take a break. The rocks, like the car above have been worn by the river and time. This was also our first stop to get out and pick up some trash. With strong currents around the small rock islands, this is not a place we can stop with a group.
Nearing Easton we made another stop just after the rocks on the left side of this photo.
This is what we found. After cleaning up this rocky area we were back into our boats with our next stop being Phillipsburg.
Before our stop we took a channel on the Pennsylvania side around Hangman's Island just to see what it was like. There I found the rocking horse above. At the end of the channel we found that it has not changed over the years and was still not navigable with a group. We also had an unexpected encounter with a man who walked out into the channel from the island. He walked nearly half way out and started pointing down at the shoot. Not sure of his intentions we approached with caution. I went first and kept as far away from him as possible through the shoot which was only a few feet. Andrew followed without incident. He cheered when we made it and I gave him a thumbs up. He was just directing us through the shoot I guess. I try to avoid situations like this around Easton. I have seen people in the same area shooting up on the riverbank and you never know what people are going to do. Both Andrew and I were relieved when we were back on the main river and paddled over to Phillipsburg.
When we landed Andrew walked up to Jimmie's Hot Dogs and grabbed us lunch while I worked on cleaning up the bank. This is a heavy use area with a public access boat launch and it was loaded with trash. Some of course was wash down, but a lot was stuff that people had just left on the shore. There are trash cans at the top of the launch and there is no reason this area should be as bad as it was.
Between the retention wall for the boat ramp and the river I found this. It was bagged up, but couldn't be carried thirty feet to be thrown away?
I combined the two bags and added the non-recyclables we had already collected and took them up to the garbage can.
As we ate our hot dogs the skies clouded up, then let loose. The passengers on my boat didn't seem to mind. The penguin even looked like it was having a good time in the rain.
We set out again down the river and it poured and poured.
Made a quick stop to pick up a full garbage bag that Leigh Ann Stratakos and I had seen on a previous trip through this section. At the time both of our kayaks were full so we had to leave it behind. This time I was able to get it and was able to use the bag to pack in more non-recyclables.
Made a quick stop at Wi-Hit-Tuk park to dispose of the non-recyclables. This was the last place along the river I knew had a dumpster or garbage cans, so after this there was just collecting recyclables. In the rain and with a full bag of trash it wasn't easy climbing the steep muddy path off of the river.
The rain did finally end as we approached Reigelsville. By this point we were exhausted and were not picking up anymore trash. We did make note of areas like this that would be stops on the NCJCS clean-up.
So close to the end we passed through the last rocky section. Here the water is deceiving. It looks to be still, yet there is a good current.
We accomplished our goal and had determined the best route down the river for NCJCS. We also had taken out two large bags of non-recyclables and the recyclable trash above. To end this post here are a couple wildlife photos taken on this trip.
These two fawns were on the New Jersey side of the river. Both looked healthy and the one on the left was eating as I passed. The one on the right never took its eyes off of me.
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