Returned to Minisink Park in the Delaware Water Gap with Leigh Ann from 3 Moons Studio. On our last visit we focused on the trails and on a section of the Brodhead Creek that keeps getting trashed on the weekends. This time Leigh Ann and I set out to work on a debris pile by the Delaware. Before we were able to get to that though we ended up once again working on the area along the Brodhead.
It seems as though things haven't changed in the park since posted signs were put in place to prohibit people from picnicking along the Brodhead. The amount of trash has been reduced, but it looks as though others are now helping to keep the area clean. This time there were not large bags of trash, but small items like cups and plastic utensils were strewn about.
This was the largest item we found tucked away in the vegetation on the bank. There were no legs to it and I don't think its previous owners intended to use it again on their next visit. Even if they had the area is posted and this should not have been down there. We left this next to the trail head and started working our way down the Brodhead to where the large debris pile is.
I have been wanting to remove this half a canoe for a long time now. With Leigh Ann's help I was finally able to get this accomplished. I was able to pry it out of the pile without too much trouble and we slid it across the top and filled it up as we moved it out to a channel on the island we were on.
This pile is most likely from a large flood event that happened all the way back in 2004 when rains from hurricane Ivan rolled through. There is lots of trash embedded between the logs and boards. Most of the items we picked out were foam and plastics. It didn't take long to fill up the half of canoe.
Once filled we had to navigate the rest of the debris pile and slide it down the other side. I was so happy to have Leigh Ann's help for this. Most of the time I am working in these kind of areas alone and I am really limited as to the amount I can remove. With her this went very quickly, we removed a lot of trash and it was safer than working alone.
Before heading back up the Brodhead we sorted all of the trash. Recyclables in the clear bag and trash in the black. It was then loaded back in the canoe half and the hope was the the front end would float through the water sections of our trip back with us holding up the back end. For the most part that did work. We had to shuffle the trash and remove one of the bags along the way, but it worked.
Before making it to the Brodhead we had to do some dragging over a dry section of the channel. With two people it wasn't bad. Penny didn't help much, but barked encouragement along the way. From here it was a long trip up the Brodhead to the takeout. Took several breaks along the way and it felt great when we made it to the end.
All of this except for the grill came from the debris pile, there were two other bags from the beginning of our trip, but we weren't done filling those yet. Leigh Ann spotted a red plastic cup up the creek as we were taking the above trash out. When she went to get it she found a lot more trash. So after we disposed of the above, it was back to work on the creek up stream.
Same kinds of items as we have found previous weeks. I'm wondering if its the same group of people showing up every weekend and disregarding the signs. If not those that use this site all share a liking for the same types of drinks. We also found one diaper in the creek here as well. It was the only one of the day, that made things a little better than our previous visits to this site.
All of this was removed from the Brodhead. The bag on the far right was all recyclables, the rest was trash.
The highlight of the day, other than getting the canoe out, was seeing this juvenile Bald Eagle.
Because of their coloration, juvenile Bald Eagles can easily be confused with Golden Eagles. I made sure to check with some friends of mine interested in birds. This one is a Bald Eagle.
Thank you Leigh Ann for another awesome clean-up!
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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