Right after the first thunderstorm rolled through I loaded up my kayak and headed over to Mauch Chunk Lake. The rain offered a nice break from the heat and I was happy to get out on the water for a clean-up in the nice cool air. I worked on the lower end of the lake, starting at the first boat launch you come to if driving from Jim Thorpe.
The first item I picked up. Nothing wrong with it and it was in good shape. Where it was, someone probably set it down and just forgot about it.
Unlike my last trip on the upper portion of the lake there were not many cans. This tucked away on the lakeshore was the first of only a couple I found on this trip. This can was something different. It had a properly labeled fish on the side of it. I like this idea. It would have been better if it was a fish native to PA, but at least it had some accurate depiction of wildlife on it. If more companies did something similar, maybe the people drinking would take the time to learn about the wildlife on the can and not litter. Ha, I know none of that would ever happen.
First of three lures found on this trip. The Nalgene bottle offered me a place to store them.
From a commonly trashed fishing spot. Some of the other places that normally have a lot of trash didn't. I think there are others cleaning up the area. If there are and you are reading this, Thank You, the lake needs as much help as it can get.
This young Green Heron wasn't bothered by me at all paddling by. It was on the hunt and I watched it until it took a stab at something in the water. It was unsuccessful, still interesting to watch.
At the one corner of the dam there are debris piles where it seems most of the small floating items come to rest. I picked through it the best I could. Drink caps were the number one item found here.
This was the coolest item found the whole trip. In all of my trash collecting adventures I think this was the first Seahorse I have come across.
A look up the lake before I started cleaning the dam. It looked like it might have been raining at the upper portion.
It is unwise to dock against a dam like this. Especially with wind and choppy water. If you end up falling for some reason you will be falling on rocks and that's never good. I only did this a couple times and spent a good amount of time walking and picking through the rocks on the dam.
This was just some of the stuff collected off of the dam.
Before I was finished the rain was coming down again. I didn't mind it one bit.
This was the haul for the day. Non-recyclables went to a trash can and the rest was packed into my car. For the next few clean-ups I should be back on the river!
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
Like this project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA
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