Started near the old rail bridge pillar and tunnel. If you have never been to this access before, the old railroad tunnel is open to public access and gives a nice view of the river in this section. I will caution that on weekends in the spring, summer and fall this access is packed with people and parking is limited. As a result of the heavy use of this area some of the trails are washed out and can be dangerous. Sticking to the D&L Trail would be my suggestion if you do visit the area.
My first stop was not far from where I put in. The area around where Glen Onoco Run flows into the Delaware was a mess. It looked like a group had a party here and most of what I picked up was alcohol containers.
If you click the photos they will enlarge for a better view. At the top of the rocks on the left I noticed something blue and I paddled back to go get it. My dismount from my kayak here was not in the least bit graceful and I hope those watching from up river got a good laugh. I scrambled up the rock to find a small pile of cans and some cigar wrappers. Getting back into the kayak went much better.
Through this short flat water area I didn't find much trash, one washed up sandal and a large plastic bottle of Peach Schnapps. The later gave the interior of my kayak a peachy smell.
This rock strainer often has trash in it. Pulled one whitewater bucket, one midsize bucket and a full size bucket lid, along with some plastic bottles.
With the water level so low this was an interesting stretch to navigate. In areas like this it is best to get out above the fall line and scout your path ahead before going for it and paddling down. I found there was only one path for me to take through this area and in places the channel was only as wide as my kayak. This is the lowest I have ever seen the river in this section, we really need some rain.
The person who lost this should now know to properly secure your personal items before going on the river.
This is what much of the rest of the trip looked like for me when I made stops. Footwear, shoe inserts and plastic bottles made up the majority of the trash found.
One nice thing was that there was much less trash through this section than there was last year when I did the same run. Certain areas like this one a much more manageable now, but the clean-ups need to continue to keep it this way.
Didn't take a look at all of the footwear at the end of the trip, but I think I found two matching pairs of Sandals.
In addition to the whitewater buckets, I picked up two whitewater paddles. The first from Jim Thorpe River Adventures that had washed up underneath a rhododendron and the second from Pocono Whitewater that was right out in the open on a rocky bank. These companies could choose to enact policies to reduce their patrons impact on the river, simple changes that could make lasting effects. This could include strict rules that are enforced on proper footwear, making sure personal items of their patrons are secured in a fashion that there is no chance they will end up in the river and at the end of the day sending a sweep boat to remove lost paddles and buckets. This isn't all they could do, but these would be simple starts. I understand doing things like this might cut into profit margins, but I believe these companies should have a responsibility of doing everything they can to help the resource they profit off of. I would like to be clear that I am not singling out these organizations as the only ones trashing the river. There are many contributors to the river trash. I am pointing out these organizations because they do make money off of the river and I often find items that are traceable to them.
Not a much trash as the past couple paddles, it was a short paddle though and I would not have felt comfortable with much more in this section. At this spot I got out to check out a couple small islands. Found a strainer on one and picked through it.
The last pile of the day. I was exited about the half of a kayak paddle. I had a similar paddle break last year and I was hoping it would replace my broken half. It was the right side, but didn't fit. Found a wallet too, either someone or the river had already removed its contents though.
The tourist train passed as I was getting back into my kayak. I took out under the bridge the train is going over and had a bit of a portage to the car. This was another reason I was happy I didn't find that much trash.
I should have emptied and displayed the contents of the non-recyclable bag. I picked up a lot of footwear. I didn't because everything in the bag was soggy and I was a little tired from the haul up from the river. I only covered a small stretch of river and even though it is less than I collected on the same stretch last year, it is still a lot. We all need to do better as a society so our rivers and natural areas aren't littered with our waste.
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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