Bear Swamp and Lake Minsi (27-Feb-2017)

Hit the trails, with Leigh Ann Stratakos from 3 Moons Studio, at Bear Swamp and around Lake Minsi. Both of these properties are part of the Northampton County Parks System. The photo above is the start of the trail through the archery course at bear swamp. The other side of the road at this location has a boardwalk and study ponds. 

We made our way around the study ponds and boardwalk first, then we did the loop at the archery course. Found this lure in the first study pond. The sign on the other side clearly states no fishing. The rest of the trash around bear swamp was found on the trailsides and a picked up a few items in the swamp itself. 

We did not see much wildlife, this Fox Sparrow did come to take a look at us, never gave me an unobstructed shot though. 

Everything Leigh Ann and I collected from the boardwalk side of the road. 

Small bridges help to avoid the wet spots along the archery loop. 

This was it from around the loop at the archery course. Much less through this area and really we covered about the same amount of ground on both sides of the road. 

Then it was down the road to Lake Minsi for a lakeside clean-up. We parked at the main access and started walking the edge to the dam. 

Here Leigh Ann poses with a balloon she picked up. Please if you do use balloons make sure they are secured and disposed of properly. When released they end up in our environment and can be detrimental to wildlife. 

Most of the items we picked up were at the lakes edge within the cattails. 

From the dam looking out over the lake. What looks like a white line on the water is a group of Ring-billed Gulls floating on the surface. 

This frog lure made it so close to the trash can at the end of the dam, but didn't make it in until we put it there. 

As we were headed back to the parking lot this Bald Eagle flew across the water and landed in a tree on the opposing side.

All that we picked up along the lake. Special thanks to Leigh Ann for joining me on this clean-up!

See my most updated posts on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (19-Feb-2017)

Last year I had contacted the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area multiple times about a 55 gallon drum I found near the river within the park. My concern was that the drum had contents in it and it was labeled as oil. They informed me that they would take care of it. They had pretty much a whole year, so I went to check to see if it was still there. Leigh Ann Stratakos from 3 Moons Studio joined me and we turned it into a clean-up day as well. Leigh Ann does many clean-ups around the Delaware Water Gap and you can check some of hers out by clicking the link to 3 Moons Studio. Above is the view of the Delaware from the upper launch at the Smithfield Beach Access, our first stop and first small clean-up of the day.

This was collected from around the launch. We didn't stay too long or walk around this area too much, the barrel was the priority of the day and we knew we were also going to make other stops. 

Our second stop was another short one before the going to the site of the drum. Here we stopped to take a look at a Bald Eagle's nest. Just the head of one of the adult eagle can be seen near the rim of the nest. At the time I couldn't really tell if it was an eagle or a patch of snow. It did end up being one of the eagles. 

At that stop we picked up another small pile of trash around the parking area. From there it was on to our target for the day. 

The ground in the area of the drum was still covered in snow and we had to find a different way in than I used last year. Before I had crossed the stream which is fine in warm weather, just not when it is cold and snowy. It didn't take us that long to find the spot and there it was, still in the same exact spot. Last year I even gave the National Recreation Area GPS coordinates right to it. 

Leigh Ann helped me to lift it upright, something I couldn't do alone. Last year I thought it just might be wedged in some way in the debris pile, but I couldn't lift it just due to the weight. With it upright we were able to give it a shake. By doing so we could tell without opening it that it definitely wasn't water inside. This time I decided I was not dealing with the park and when I returned home I was going to contact the state's Department of Environmental Protection. 

This was the trash we removed from the hike down to the barrel. It wasn't much, but most of the ground was covered in snow. We made several more stops before returning home, but didn't find much trash after this one. Thank you very much to Leigh Ann Stratakos for helping me out with this.

Update: I am just catching up on these posts now and several things have happened since we did this check. I did contact the DEP, which very quickly contacted the National Park Service. A park service representative called me and I was able to direct him to the barrel. I was called again, told it was found and that they would be calling a hazmat team in to remove it. I ask to be contacted when it was removed and I was told I would be. I have heard nothing from the park in over a month and there have been high waters in the Delaware. I think it is likely the Delaware took the barrel down river before the park service took action. Who knows though, maybe they will let me know it has been removed in the coming weeks. 

See my most updated posts on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

A Northampton County Park (26-Oct-2016)

For our last clean-up of the day, I took Leigh Ann to a park not far from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area that she had never been to before. The park is part of the Northampton County Parks System, I am not giving the name or location because it is not well known and in many cases the more people that know about a place the worse it gets as far as trash goes. 

Before starting down the access road we cleaned up a small ditch by the roadside. This we just piled next to the car to be sorted with the other trash at the end of the hike.

There are two ponds at this park, only one has trails that go all the way around it. This is the smaller of the two and what a nice view. We then took the trails around the larger of the ponds. 

Most of what were were picking up was the normal trailside trash, bottles and cans, and some bait containers. 

Then we got to this. Someone had made a considerably large fort and had abandoned it. There were three main piles of garbage. One in the back of the photo where the actual fort was, one on top of the fire ring in the middle and one in the very front of the photo that was partially covered by leafs. The fort was collapsed and everything looked like it had been there for some time. We pulled some very odd items out of the piles and luckily found a large trash bag too. 

We couldn't make sense of the items that were around. It could have possibly been a kids fort and they just randomly took things from home or it could have been a homeless persons collection of things. In any case it didn't look like anyone would be back for them and they don't belong in this park.

"Cowabunga Dude" Leigh Ann posing with one of the oddities found in the collapsed fort. 

The collection of items really didn't make any sense what so ever. There weren't any alcohol containers or the normal food stuff wrappers that would normally be found around a camp. I just don't know what to think.

We bagged up just about everything except for bedding that was piled on the fire ring and left in the fort. It was really a lot of trash. Had we had more time we would have gone back and bagged up and taken out the rest. With this and everything we already collected we had everything we could carry at the time. From this photo the clay dog and stack of paper were left behind. The paper will biodegrade and the clay really has no impact on the surrounding environment. 

This is what we had to leave. The next time I am in the area I will return to remove this stuff. Hopefully someone else will before I get to it, but I doubt that is likely. 

This was everything from this stop. We were left with a slight issue though. With all of the recyclables from the other stops we didn't have enough room for all of it in the car. We had to leave a bag of recyclables near the pull off and we took the trash from this site to another nearby Northampton County Park that does have a dumpster. After the trash was disposed of we went back and collected the recyclables. For the day we collected a lot of trash. Thanks Leigh Ann for suggesting the first two sites of the day and for coming along! It is always fun working with you! 
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

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (26-Oct-2016)

After completing a clean-up at Minisink Park, Leigh Ann Stratakos and I drove up to a couple of the pull-offs for the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation area off of route 611. The first stop was a quick one and we only picked up a handful of trash, so it is not pictured in this post. Above is from our second stop which offers amazing views of the gap. 

All of the trash at this location was along the edge of the parking lot, road and trail going up to a small observation structure. There was a lot. I think part of the reason for all of this trash is that there are no garbage receptacles at this stop. Most of the time the reason there are not receptacles at areas like this is because they fill up quickly, have to be maintained by the park and often people dump items that shouldn't be left near them. So simple solutions like adding trash cans can come with more problems and this is why many parks ask you to take your trash out with you.

This was everything we collected from around the observation area. There were multiple diapers and it looks as though some people use the observation area as a changing table and discard their child's waste into the brush on the side. From this point we loaded the trash into the car and continued cleaning up along the parking area. 

This was everything we collected along the lot. This area is part of our National Park System and shouldn't be filled with litter like this. I will never be able to comprehend why individuals can't respect our parks, federal, state or local. These areas belong to all of use and we should all make an effort to maintain them not only for our future generations, but for the wildlife that inhabits these areas. After loading everything into the car, Leigh Ann and I were off to make one more stop before calling it a 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

Like this project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

Minisink Park (26-Oct-2016)

Traveled up to the Delaware Water Gap again to do another clean-up with Leigh Ann Stratakos of 3 Moons Studio. She had suggested we make stops at Minisink Park and a couple places in the National Recreation Area. We started at Minisink and hopefully this is the last clean-up that has to be done there this year. The posted signs along the Brodhead Creek have been maintained, but from what we found they aren't completely stopping people from going down to the water. 

Along the path to the water we found our first sign that there would be a lot of trash. This Yuengling box had cans in it an they weren't just Yuengling. Generally this means there was a party and we would be finding more cans scattered around the area. 

What we found along the creek side was much like our other clean-ups of this same spot. Bottles and cans had been thrown just a couple feet into the brush and we found another whole garbage bag of picnicking stuffs. This bag may have been there for awhile and it may just have been hidden from sight.

No matter the time of year, minus the garbage this site has such magnificent views. This is looking up the Brodhead. Just to the right of this photo there was a road cone on a small island. The water was too cold to go in with shoes so I ran back to the car for boots and an additional garbage bag for all of the stuff Leigh Ann and I had piled up on the bank. 

On the way back from the car I made this find. This was the first syringe either of us have seen in the park. It was located below the bridge so it may have been tossed down from the road. Always be aware of where you are walking, syringes can be found almost anywhere these days and from what I have seen are showing up in more and more places. 

This was everything we removed from along the Brodhead. The bag is full of non-recyclables and was disposed of in proper receptacles in the park. The recyclables were loaded into the car. We were then off to walk a portion of the trails around the park. 

The trails really didn't have all that much trash along them. The sides of the soccer fields on the way to the trails had more. 

Penny always seems to be howling mad at all of the trash we find in Minisink Park. After we disposed of the trash and loaded up the recyclables we were off to the next location in the National Recreation Area. 

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

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (5-Oct-2016)

Drove up to the Delaware Water Gap for another clean-up with Leigh Ann Stratakos of 3 Moons Studio. We set out to try to find some places in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area that neither of us had seen before. Our first stop was along the Delaware River and it was more for a rest stop for Penny than anything else. This is a section of the park both of us have been to before and is a place that I have worked on cleaning up before. We did find a good amount of trash in this area, most was along the access road and there wasn't much by the river. 

The view up river. We didn't stay long at this stop and proceeded on further north into the recreation area. 

We ended up on a road that took us out of the park then back in again. Upon re-entering we found this stop. Since this was someplace new, we took the time to walk around the lake. 

This was the trash from the first two stops. Since there were trash cans at this stop we decided to do the sort and get rid of the non-recyclables which included a diaper and a few filled dog bags. 

Leigh Ann spotted this Eastern Comma on the road going to the Zimmermann Farm, our third stop of the day. 

I had been to the Zimmermann Farm once before, but it was a new stop for Leigh Ann. The organization The Friends of Marie Zimmermann has a good record of the farms history and from their information I learned the farm was abandoned in 1969 before the government takeover of the area for the proposed dam. If you would like to know more about the history of this farm or the restoration of the house The Friends of Marie Zimmermann have a great website.

Several pieces of old farm equipment still sit around the property. Some of the outbuildings are in disrepair, but the main barns are still intact and house all of the old stables and chicken coups which is interesting to see. We only picked up a few items at this stop. 

The last location ended up being another place we had both been to before. I had wanted to go to this location because I only had done a small portion of the trails here before and was interested in seeing more. The area is called Cliff Park and a portion of the trail runs along the top edge of the cliffs overlooking the Delaware. 

Two Red-Tailed Hawks flew by at eye level when we were on the cliff edge. Was able to photograph one of them as it flew down and away from us. 

This was it from the last stop. The trails in Cliff Park were fairly clean compared to other areas. I think for future clean-ups in the recreation area I will stick to the river. Thank you Leigh Ann for coming along on this trip!  

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