Beltzville State Park (27-Nov-2015)

The plan this morning was to just take Penny out on a hike and then later in the afternoon go out and do a clean-up on my own. Of course things did not go as planned. We started our hike at the Preachers Camp access at Beltzville and headed down the lake on the Trinity Gorge Trail towards where I had done two clean-ups earlier this week. I did not even take any bags along, just my pack and not far into the hike I wished I had. 

I think Penny is sick of the whole routine. Her hike gets interrupted while I pick up piece after piece on the trailside. 

This was the first pack full, actually it was a bit more than a pack some of the items I had to carry. Loaded this in the car and set back out on the same trail. 

Not far along on the second trip out I noticed some plastic plant pots a little ways off the trail in a pine grove. That led me to bottles and the pile above.

The second pack of the day, it too was more than I can fit in my pack. Finding the plastic planters helped some. I filled those and it made it much easier to carry contained instead of loose items.

Something useful on the third trip out the trail. These needle nose pliers weren't even rusted shut so they will be getting a second life. 

This past year I had seen a small segment on one of the local news shows that was blaming the geese for the E. coli in the lake. Now I understand they are a big factor, but the amount of diapers I have seen around the lake aren't helping things. 

Looking up the lake, a nice break from all of the trash. There was a surprising amount of boats out on the water. I think this time last year there was ice. 

Another pile and this one just from around one small fishing spot. The right is what it all looked like packed up. There were a lot of chicken liver containers I just couldn't get to. Many plants with thorns in this area and I needed my tongs. I will be back, maybe tomorrow. Fishermen should respect the areas in which they fish, it seems too often around this lake that does not occur. It is mind boggling how many chicken liver containers I have already picked up here and how many are left on this lakes shores.

The third haul of the day. 

All together I came very close to filling a contractor bag. I don't think I will be getting out again this afternoon, but may go for a night hike. 

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 at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Beltzville State Park (25-Nov-2015)

Back to the same section of Beltzville I was at on Sunday. I haven't yet contacted the main office, going to wait until after this week and the holiday is over. As a result I stuck to mostly recyclables and covered much more ground than I did over the weekend. 

Cans and bottles, same old thing. The majority of the trash in this area is between the lake and the trail in really thick brush and thorns. I had to leave a lot of it there on this trip, just like Sunday. Had Penny along again and I can't take here through some of these areas. She does not do well with thorns.

I do not know what kind of bird made this nest, but I can tell you it is not made out of all natural materials. I think it might be rarer now to find a nest that doesn't have any garbage in it, I am sure that is species dependent though. 

This was odd. There was a large section next to the lake where the brush has been cleared out and all of the lower branches on the trees had been cut. On many of the cut smaller branches these shotgun shells were placed over the ends. There were several more trees that had the same thing.

How does industrial strength cleaner get out to a place like this? 

Getting back to the car the sun was dropping towards the horizon and I got to see this wonderful sunset over the lake. 

A full bag was removed. The contents in front of the bag was just what I had put in my backpack at the start. I was planning on just filling my pack and not an entire trash bag. I know when I go back for non-recyclables I will fill several more. 

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 at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Route 93 (18-Nov-2015)

This section of route 93 is right outside of Nesquehoning. I tend not to do road clean-ups that much, but I may be doing more in the coming weeks. I picked this site in particular due to a large wetland that 93 runs through. The wetland flows into Jeans Run, which travels down the Broad Mountain joining the Nesquehoning Creek at the bottom, the Nesquehoning Creek then runs into the Lehigh River. Potentially items discarded off of the side of 93 in this section could traverse that entire route or just end up anywhere along it.    

In a perfect world before the Game Commission did a prescribed burn in this area they would have first done a litter clean-up at least on the roadside. Instead they set fire not only to the underbrush, but also to a good amount of trash. There were many burned items, most of which can no longer be recycled. 

The wetland on the east side of the road is more open with a few taller trees, on the right it is thick with smaller trees and others woody plants. If you drive by this area in the spring keep your windows open and listen for the songs of Spring Peepers and Wood Frogs! 

This is the Common Cattail. A native aquatic plant, like its name states it is common throughout PA wetlands. Non-native species, like phragmites, can out compete this plant and lead to its extripation from an area. In this wetland there are sections that phragmites has already taken over.

Until you do a roadside clean-up, I don't think you will fully realize just how many people drink and drive. More than half the cans I collected are beer cans and most of the roadside clean-ups have the same results. 

My goal for the day was two bags. By the time I got to this speed limit sign my first bag was full, I headed across the road and started on the next. Whenever I do road clean-ups I like to use markers as stopping points it allows me to pick up where I left off on the next time out. 

This just isn't a normal November. Flower's should just not be blooming now.

In total I took out a little over two bags and the section of road I worked on wasn't that big at all. I wonder just how many tons of trash are sitting on Pennsylvania's roadsides right now? 

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 at:gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Appalachian Trail (17-Nov-2015)

After the clean-ups by the Schuylkill, I wanted to get out hiking. This access to the Appalachian Trail below Port Clinton was the perfect stop. 

As soon as I pulled into the lot I knew I had some work to do before I got on the trail. Once I cleaned up around the lot I crossed the road really quick to pick up a couple bottles. The next thing I knew I was walking back to my car with a whole bag. In the parking lot itself there were also a couple full garbage bags and what looked to be a cooler. I did not touch them. I was just not in the mood to deal with mystery bags and I have no place to take them to just throw them out. 

I don't know why I have never hiked this section of the AT before. I have hiked the other side of this gap, just never bothered to stop at this one. This side had better views. 

From here I was able to get a better perspective of the river and a good view of the dam I visited earlier in the day.

Found a fire ring and of course these items were strewn through the brush around it. Not as bad as other sites, but still stuff to pick up.

This looked to be the highest point and the sun was starting its decent, so I decided to start mine as well. 

Thought this was one of the coolest homemade markers I have seen on the trail. Looks like it has seen some rough times, but is maintained.

This was it from the trail and after putting this in the bags in the car, I should have called it a day. The trail lead across the road and down to the river, I just had to check it out.

Some of the views are nice, but it was party site after party site and lots of trash. 

This was around just one of the many fire pits. I was tired by this time and the sun was falling fast, I really didn't want to find all of this.  

After cleaning up most of what was along the river, I started back to the car on a different path than I took down. I found this, which looks like another party area. There were three types of items here. Coke cans, Ramen containers and Reece's peanut butter cup wrappers, what went on here? The combination does not sound good to me and a lot of these items were consumed by one or many people. I choose to think it was just one person. 

More than two bags total for the day. This from both locations, two different posts. Had a good hike and took out some trash. I would say it was a decent 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 at:gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Big Pocono State Park (16-Nov-2015)

Before today, I had not been to Big Pocono State Park. Even drove by it every day for several years going to school in East Stroudsburg. I don't know why I never stopped. Hiked almost every piece of trail today, only missed out on half of the South Trail. Took out around a bag of trash, there was a little more in addition to the bag above that I had dropped off at the car earlier in the day.  

Always exciting entering a new park. 

First stop in the park led to the first trash find. Someone left their picnicking items behind. There were also paper plates in the pile. I left those. They will biodegrade and they were moldy.  

If you want to see this particular fire tower you are going to have to make your visit to Big Pocono State Park soon. At the base of the tower was a notice that the DCNR plans to built a new tower on the site. 

I have a feeling the rhyming was planned. It really does have a view though, North and South facing.

If you ever wanted to interact with an oversized compass, well then the top of Big Pocono is for you. Just move the back of the needle to one of the yellow discs and you can read where the needle is pointing to an how far away it is.

Don't think the DCNR keeps the doors unlocked anymore. I think that would just lead to a trashed cabin.

My favorite type of trash to find. Now if only many more people could litter like this I could just keep this project going forever. 

On the trails the trash was like everywhere. A bottle here, a can there. It was different in the fact that the amount of trash on the trails went from highest at the top of the mountain to lowest at the bottom. I am sure that this just correlates with ease of access to the trails. 

The trails in Big Pocono are not the hardest I've done and definitely are not the easiest. I would suggest, if you do not like hiking up and down hill, that you not plan to go hiking at this location. All of the trails start at the top and go down. 

The view East. I am not a fan of the indoor waterparks that seem to be popular in the area. The one in this photo, to me, is just an eyesore. 

Completely unexpected on a November day. This Garter Snake was out and about, making the most of this warm fall day. Is winter not coming this year?

Part of the Loop Trail was an old rail bed. This was pretty far from any of the parking lots and there wasn't much trash at all. I think three items the entire time I was on the old rail line. Passing through these cuts in the rocks made me think about how much work went into creating this path. I wonder what those who worked hard to put a rail line through here would think if they knew the line would just end up being a hardly used path in a State Park. 

Coming off of the old rail bed I was tired and had no idea of exactly where I was. I didn't realize I had made it that far from the top mountain. The hike back up wasn't bad though.  

The boarder along Camelbacks one sky slope had the most trash out of anyplace all day. Lots of beer cans, this was just a portion of what I removed along the boarder. I think people may come to this area to watch skiers, it would be nice if they didn't leave this stuff behind.

A Sulfur Butterfly, like the Garter Snake, not something commonly seen in Pennsylvania in November. 

The last view before I left. The park isn't that large, but does boast exceptional views and some good hiking trails. I am happy I visited and left the park a little bit cleaner.

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 at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash