Schuylkill River (17-Sept-2015)

Six bags and the back hull was full!

The day started off slow. Paddling up river I followed along a steep bank. In this section all of the trash piles were in the water and often behind overhanging branches.

Spots like this are such a pain. I have to carefully use my paddle to pull out one bottle at a time. I do my best not to disturb how things are or break branches while removing the items.

I found a small area where I was able to get out of my boat. From this little landing I was able to skirt behind some rhododendron against the bank and get to piles inaccessible with the kayak. I didn't feel comfortable taking the camera back with me so this is just a shot of everything I pulled out of there.

And it starting filling up. I continued on up the bank and filled another bag before I was able to find some sort of access to get out again.

Killdeer. I know I have put up photos of these birds before, but I like them, so there will probably be more photos of them in the future.

Do child's dolls have a tag on them that instruct parents to throw the doll in the river when the kids no longer want them? They seem to be in every river. 

This little painted turtle was not thrilled when I picked him up to say hello. He was ready to try to take a finger off.

Found a small trail that came down to the water so I paddled over to it. The muddy bottom was only inches from the surface and I had to push my way in to get to solid ground. Out of the boat, I took a moment just to take this in. It really is spectacular if you ignore the trash.

This was half stuck in the muddy bank. I wonder how many a below the surface of the mud. Something I think about every time I make a bad step and sink in.

Painted turtle shell.

It took me a while to find a way back to this. From the river I could hear the plastics expanding and contracting in the sun. The muddy bank between this and the river extends for about thirty feet so I had to find an access up river and trails that worked back down to it. 

I do not know how extensive this pile is. I think it goes down the river bank pretty far. Next time I make it back I will find out and this area is the priority the next time I set out.

Not only do I find a multitude of soda bottles, but on this trip I even found a fake soda bottle. 

Didn't do such a great job lining up these shots. I think you can still see the difference.

Like other photos there is still a lot left behind. In this case there are still a lot of recyclables. I ran out of bags and I had too many to take back as it was.

I didn't know what I was going to do here. I had six bags and one side of the kayak was against branches so I couldn't load it up the way I wanted. I ended up throwing two of the bags out into the river and attached them after I retrieved them on the water. The paddle back was slow and when I got out near the middle of the river the wind picked up. I was very restricted in my paddle movement and as a result I thought I was going to be blown up river. I was able to make it through and was left with the second puzzle of the day packing six bags into my car. 

Would you like to see me continue to take out the trash? If so contributions can be made here: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Schuylkill River (11-Sept-2015)

A whopping five bags, a hull full and even a plastic cauldron. This completely filled my car and I now know that it is the maximum amount I can take at one time. If there was any sort of trash receptacle at this launch I would have done multiple trips today and worked on non-recyclables.  

Pulled this Midland Painted Turtle off of the road on my way to the site. In Eastern PA we have two subspecies of painted. The Midland and the Eastern. The two are distinguishable through coloration patterns on both the plastron (bottom part of shell) and carapace (top part of shell). If you ever come across a turtle crossing a road and help it out, pick them up and move them about thirty feet off of the road in the direction they were heading. If it is a snapping turtle, use caution and keep your hand at the back end of the shell. They have extremely long necks and can easily get a hand or finger near the front of the shell.

What a beautiful day today. The drive was nice, the short paddle across the Schuylkill was nice, then I made it back to the decades of washed up trash. With the needle finds yesterday, I took today slow and made sure every step was a safe one.

I had a plan to work on the large piles of washed up trash against the hillside. That changed because, I  figured the bottles along the bank are most likely to wash further down river in the next flooding event. You can see in these photos that taking out the plastics makes a difference, but many things are left behind. I will work to get everything out of there, but I may have to wait until next year before I can come up with some way of disposing of everything. 

Such a nice surprise. I frightened this Longtail Salamander out of his hiding place. Just so you know, there is a much greater likelihood of finding needles on this bank than finding any salamander. This really was a treat.

An unpulled pull tab! I did not pull it. I have enough aluminum cuts on my hands currently.

I know the lighting is bad between the two photos, but I think you can still see the difference. 

Pickerel Frog. Happy to see multiple amphibian species. The lack of them my first day at this site was concerning.

Anyone need a magnifying glass? Just a little scratched up. 

This is exactly why I made sure to check everything I tread on. Bent so the needle was sticking up.

Found two total today. Sealed them up in an old pepsi bottle. On my way home I did what the State Police officer told me should be done with them and stopped at St. Lukes which was on my way home. The receptionist looked shocked and I am positive no one has walked in with needles before. She did take them and my card. To the receptionist if you do read this Thank You and I am sorry you had to deal with it.

I have found over five of these bottles at this site. There are only two possibilities I can think of as to why they are there. Either an event was held where these were floated down the river for a bottle race or it is part of a study on where plastic bottles end up on the river. If it is a study and the researcher is reading this. Use GPS trackers, your not going to find all of these bottles! I would lean more towards a large even with a bottle race, in that case all bottles should have been accounted for at the end.

Five full bags and if you look beyond them still more. I haven't even explored the majority of river bank at this access. There could be site after site here that is just as bad. I want to remove it all!

 Number five fish. I wonder what one, two, three and four were.

Who would throw this awesome spoon in the river? I am guessing a child.

All of my bags were full and I still had to fill the hull of the kayak. Went back to the cauldron, emptied the water out of it and started filling it with bottles. I know know that the hull of my kayak can hold multiple cauldrons of trash.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BOAT! Everything attached and ready to go back across the Schuylkill.

Almost forgot. One Rubber Ducky.

New readers. In order for me to keep taking out the trash and continue this blog next year, I need funding. This summer I did it all for free, but I can't keep it up without funds. To contribute please visit: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA 2016

Schuylkill River (10-Sept-2015)

Rain, rain, rain, rained the entire time I was out and I do have to say it was much less brutal than the past couple hot days we have had. It was a bad day as far as trash as you can see above and will see below. Too much. Three contractors bags, a flex bag and the hull full. I filled my car completely today, even the passenger seat.

I enjoy the rain. However, I would not suggest paddling for an extended time in the rain. With it being on the hot side in recent days you may forget about hypothermia. I hit close to the end of the safe range of being out. Even with the heater on full coming home, I was freezing.

My first look of a new piece of bank. A lot of trash, but it looked manageable.

On my other side, pretty much the same. Bad, but I could clean it. What looks like smoke is the cold rain hitting my hand. It took awhile for me to stop misting.

Then I walked further down the bank. I thought, this is going to take some time.

Here I just had a Jaws moment and thought to myself "I think I'm going to need a bigger boat."

It just kept going.

The first needle find of the day. Can you see it? If not I suggest not walking by the Schuylkill. 

Round a Pine and more trash.

More and more and more. This is going to take me longer than Bake Oven Knob. If you haven't seen those posts from earlier in the summer, it was similar, but on a cliff side.

The rain was falling hard when I was packing up. It took me a couple time of looking at the bags and looking at my kayak to decide how I was going to paddle it all across. 

Now I just had to figure out how to get in after I pushed the boat out on the water. 

The paddle back across the Schuylkill was slow, yet much easier than I expected. Definitely going to use this method of floating bags to the side in the future. 

Four needles total today. This is the largest amount I have discovered at any location I have worked on. I am also sure there is more at this one. Without a local law enforcement number to call I took them and found the Landingsville Fire House. A gentleman there was nice enough to invite me out of the rain and gave me the number for the local State Police barracks. I would like to say thank you to the Landingsville Fire House for this! It took a while, but an officer did arrive and took the needles off my hands. He then proceeded to tell me that the way I bottled them was the best way to do it and that next time I can take them to any hospital for disposal. I did not get the officer's name, it was raining, I was cold, so I tried to keep it quick. Thank you to that officer!

I have a lot more work to do. If you would like to help me continue these clean-ups through 2016, please check out my fundraising page: Taking Out the Trash in PA 2016