For this trip I drove down river to Walnutport. There I can access the canal, paddle up, then take the river back down to my car. I did this same trip earlier this year and I wanted to see what accumulated in both the canal and river over the summer. The canal like the river was low, this was a little odd normally the canals depth is regulated by the locks that have been converted into dams and not the height of the river the canal draws its water from. I would see later in the trip that the river was so low that there was barely any water flowing into the canal at all. That changes things and was most likely the reason for the low water in the canal.
I did not find much in the canal. It was actually a lot less than I found in the spring. I am now interested to see what the lower portions of this section look like. I wonder if they will be the same or if all the trash has just accumulated further down?
Couldn't ask for a nicer day for paddling. Not too hot, not too cold, just right! Not much further up from this point the canals depth did become a slight issue. There was one area where I was only in a couple inches of water and really had to push through to make it. In that section I did see one can I couldn't get to.
Once through the shallow area, something further up the canal caught my eye. It was swimming across from the canal path to the wooded side of the canal. I picked up the pace and as I got closer it was exiting the water. A Raccoon! In my encounters with healthy Raccoons in the past, they normally don't stick around for photos. This one was very slow and spent a good amount of time watching me. It didn't seem to care that I was getting closer either.
It is best to keep your distance from any Raccoon, especially one that is acting in an odd manor. For the most part Raccoons are active in the evening into the night and not during the day. There are always exceptions though, so daytime activity doesn't necessarily mean that a Raccoon is rabid. I watched it until it moved up into the woods and went behind a tree. It continued watching me to, even from behind the tree.
Not long after seeing the Raccoon I made it to the lock and ran out of navigable canal. It was at this spot I could see there was just a trickle of water coming in from the river. At the end of the lock, there was a small portage to the river. In the spring when I did this same clean-up, there was a well defined path to the river near where I got out of the canal. Today it was overgrown and I had to find a different way down.
When I set out I did not have a specific trash goal set for myself, but I did have the goal of not getting my shoes wet. I was able to manage it yesterday, the river height though made this goal impossible.
The first stop on the river where I found a large amount of trash. This particular spot was much worse last year and since there really were no high water events I think most of this is stuff I missed on previous trips.
At this stop I just kept finding more and more. I picked through several debris piles and walked a dry channel on the side of the river. The large items found here included a tent, a canoe end, a insertable kayak hold (sticker still intact and looked new), garbage can and whitewater bucket. It really does aggravate me when I find the whitewater buckets, paddles and other items that are clearly from companies profiting off of using the river. They do not do enough to limit refuse their patrons add to the river, nor do they do enough to clean up these items lost on their trips. I have found whitewater buckets as far down as the Delaware River and whitewater paddles as far down as the islands just above Easton.
I said yesterday that I wouldn't like paddling on moving water with trash piled up in front of me to the point I couldn't see downriver. This was the only way it worked with the amount of trash and how I could attach the larger items to the boat. It became an interesting paddle after this and there were few small rapids after this that I had to navigate.
The second tent of the day. I find too many of them along the river. In the water wildlife can become entangled and trapped in them and removing them from debris piles or wrapped around trees isn't easy. Do people know these are not single use items and that zippers and poles can be repaired?
This section of bank had mostly newer washed up items along it. I floated the kayak as I walked it picking everything up.
Back on the water I heard an Osprey and looked up. Man did I get a show! The Osprey had a fish and was being pursued by a Bald Eagle. My camera was in my dry bag under the large bag of trash on the front of my kayak and I had to scramble to get it out. I was thinking they would be gone before I did, but to my amazement the chase continued and they flew in large circles over the river staying in my immediate area. I watched this for over five minutes.
Both birds had to be exhausted by the end. The Osprey came out to be the winner when the Eagle ended its pursuit. The Osprey headed up river and the Eagle down.
Not long after the aerial show, I paddled over to this thinking it was trash. Instead it was the remains of a small Common Snapping Turtle.
Identifying a Common Snapper is easy even with just a sun bleached shell remaining. The photo on the left is of the carapace which is the top portion of the shell. Common Snapping Turtles are the only species native to Pennsylvania that had a jagged edge on the back end of the Carapace. The right photo is half of the plastron, the bottom portion of the shell. Snapping and Musk Turtles have reduced plastrons. This means they cover much less surface area of the bottom of the turtle than the other species we have in the state. In this case if only the plastron piece was found you could still tell it is a snapper just by the size. Common Musk Turtles are tiny in comparison to snappers.
The last section of the river was not deep enough to paddle and I had to walk and float the kayak.
My final trash collecting stop was under the bridge in Walnutport. The sun was starting to go down and it was not a place I really wanted to be. I quickly grabbed everything I could see, piled it up, then packed it into the boat.
The launch was not far after the bridge. It is brand new as of this year and this was the first time I have used it and this parking area. This was also the first time I have seen it where it wasn't packed. I don't think I could have removed much more of the river than I did on this trip at least with the larger items I picked up. I disposed of the bag of non-recyclables in the trash can in the back and placed the larger items, canoe piece, garbage can and kayak hold next to a trash can further from the river. I never like leaving larger trash items too close to the river, there is just too much of a chance that someone might help the items find their way back into the water.
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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