Mauch Chunk Lake (2-Nov-2016)

The original plan for the day was to continue the clean-up I started at Pine Run Reservoir this past Saturday. The weather was perfect for a paddle though and there probably won't be many more days like this, I had to go hit the water. I loaded up the kayak and headed over to Mauch Chunk Lake. 

Warm air and no wind, it was a perfect day to be out on the lake. The lake looks empty in this shot, there were a couple other kayakers and a few fishermen in larger boats though. 

Like just about everywhere else the water levels in the lake were down and portions of the lake bed were exposed. I paddled across the lake to search the newly exposed rocky bank. On the left was the first find of the day, a glass bottle that was weathered probably from moving around on the bottom. On the right was a rubber glove.

All of the trash I found on this trip were single items scattered about. With the water levels lower I was able to get some cans on the bottom that would have been out of reach on other trips. 

Made several stops where I just docked my kayak and walked down the bank. This gave me a different perspective than I would have had if the water level was normal and I was in my kayak. I was able to find some old cans that I wouldn't have seen from a boat or that I just wouldn't have been able to retrieve. 

Not a lot of trash and I had to search for every piece. This was from one of the bank walks. 

This was another day of amazing colors on the mountainside. Really my views in every direction on this paddle were pretty spectacular.

Looking down the lake towards the dam. The leaf colors seemed the brightest along the shore against the darker backdrop of evergreens.

The bottle on the left really makes me wonder how many of the round bottom bottles are still out there. They clearly show that plastics don't easily break down in our environment, it has been around 25 years or more since these bottles have been produced. On the right was a good find. From a distance I could only see something small and green sticking out of the water about an inch. When I paddled over, it ended up being the end of a kids net and I pulled it up. In the netting I found a lure. 

As the sun started to set I took a slow paddle back. Look at how calm the lake was!

What a beautiful way to finish the day, paddling through the sky. The entire lake turned into a huge mirror, with only the occasional fish adding a ripple to the surface.

These are both photos of the water and the reflective image on its surface.

The sun was down when I made it back to the launch. I covered a good amount of ground on this trip, but not too much trash. I was happy to get some of the older cans I had missed or were out of reach on previous trips. In all it was an amazing day! 
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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