Nescopeck State Park (12-Nov-2016)

On this excursion I went back to Nescopeck State Park to hike trails I haven't been on before. I parked at an access off of Honey Hole Road where the bridge above can be seen from the entrance. Before hitting the trails I took a side path up stream on the creek the bridge crosses. 

From the bridge itself I could see a beaver dam and that is what drew me to take the side path. 

Before getting to the dam I found a fishing spot that had a bit of trash around it. This would end up being the trashiest spot of the day.

The beaver dam looked like it still had beavers maintaining it. When I got to it I could see that the trail continued, but it was on the other side of a small channel that was filled by the dam. I couldn't go any further and headed back to the main trail.

Back on the main trail I met a hunter who had just arrived and walked with him for until we made it to the Wood Frog Way Loop. I always try to talk to hunters that are in the areas I am cleaning up. When I do I ask what direction they are headed in so I can respect their space and take a path away from where they plan to be. He was trying to harvest a turkey and when we got to the loop I wished him the best of luck and took the path away from him.

I found no trash along the loop and on the way out decided to take the smaller path down the stream. There I found a few items, but also found myself surrounded by small game hunters. It was then that I decided it was time to leave the woods to the hunters and head back to the car. I have no objection to hunting and I believe it is necessary without large predatory species which we have lost in Pennsylvania. When there are too many hunters in the woods though, it is not a place I want to be.

Got to take some new trails and found that the area is relatively clean. It was a good day, a little shorter than I wanted to do though. I probably won't be back to this area for at least a year for a 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

Nescopeck State Park (8-Nov-2016)

Went back to Nescopeck State Park for this post. Over the weekend I did a short hike there and found new trails I had never been on before. I didn't have time to take them on the weekend, so I was happy to return. I started on the Farmstead Trail with no real idea of what to expect. 

A family member told me about this portion of the park a few weeks ago. The trails here don't connect to the main parking area and that is the reason I never knew they were there before I was told. I found four pieces of old farm equipment off the side of the trail and although I couldn't tell what some of them actually did, they were still pretty cool. 

This piece had awesome all metal wheels even with metal tread. I wonder how long these have been sitting there? They all look like with a little bit of work they could all be used again.

There were no big piles of trash along the trails. Just single items here and there.

The Farmstead Trail is about half through uncut fields and half through wooded areas. I was hoping to see more birds with these two different habitat types, nothing was flying or calling though. 

By the stream I ran into the Lupine Loop and took it, diverting away from the Farmstead Trail for awhile. Half the loop followed the stream and half was through the woods. 

Just like the Farmstead Trail, no piles of trash, just the occasional piece.

Throughout this section the stream is calm and looks fairly deep in some places. Along the trail there were remnants of old foundations on the creekside and pieces of old bridges. 

There were several places where it was evident there used to be a bridge across the stream. This was the only one where the cables were still up. At this point this bridge is not certainly not one that can be crossed.   

On the wooded section of the Lupine Loop I noticed this old foundation. Inside were a couple old bed frames and outside even a kitchen sink. Generally when I find a foundation like this they tend to be filled with newer trash. It was nice to find one with only the contents of the old house that once stood there.

After finishing the Lupine Loop it was back to the Farmstead Trail. There are a lot of off shoots to this trail and portions that connect to one another. I took as much of it as I could, even taking some of the accesses out to the road. 

The most trash was found near one of the parking lots. Wasn't much, but it was a pain to get. I can't say that I enjoy removing trash from Green Briar.

Back to the car I snapped this photo then dumped out the trash. 

About a pack full. Overall I was really happy with how little trash were along these two trails. I anticipated finding much more than this. In all this turned out to be a really nice day of hiking. 

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

Nescopeck State Park (29-June-2016)

Took to the trails at Nescopeck State Park. Haven't been to this park since the winter and was wondering how clean it would be. 

There ended up being more wildlife along the trails that trash, something I am always happy to see. A Juvenile Green Frog is on the left and a Red Eft stage Red-Spotted Newt on the right. 

With it being such a hot day I tried my best to stick to the trails closest to the streams. Here beavers have turned one of the smaller creeks into a nice sized pond. 

If you are out hiking around any water source at this time of year be mindful of turtles laying eggs or hatchlings emerging from eggs laid last year. I came across two Painted Turtles digging nests right on the trails and one nest that hatchlings had recently emerged from. The remnants of the turtle egg shells are on the right.

It was slim pickings for trash, most of the trails were spotless and the streams were not too bad either.  Things can always be found though if you look hard enough.

In a couple places I was able to cover both sides of the streams. I stuck to the paths though so I had to skip some portions. What a beautiful area though. 

One of the many shallow ponds throughout the park. 

This was all for trash. Why can't all of our parks have this little. 

This buck was on the trailside and didn't seem to mind too much that I was there. For a time I stood and watched as it went between eating and watching me.

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

Nescopeck State Park (18-Dec-2015)

Hit the trails at Nescopeck State Park today, it ended up being a good choice. On my previous visits to this park, it has always been fairly clean. Although I did get a good amount of trash, it wasn't nearly as bad as the single trail I took yesterday. 

The first items of the day.

Like used diapers, I do not pick up full dog waste bags. There were many of them around Lake Frances. This is another thing that I can't figure out. An individual takes the time to pick up the dog waste with a plastic bag, ties it and throws it into the woods. If you aren't going to take care of the bag, why even bag it. Almost all of the bags I saw today were ones that the park gives out for dog waste disposal, by giving them out the DCNR is adding to the plastic waste littered around the park.

This is the work of some of the residents of Lake Frances. On the left is a recently felled Birch tree. The right, the lodge of the tree fellers. Nescopeck State Park has a healthy population of Beavers and the ones in this lodge enjoy the safety of living in a no hunting zone. 

Below Lake Frances, the beavers of this lodge had damed a culvert to raise the water surrounding their home. The local humans must have had a problem with this, they removed the plug on the culvert and drained the beavers watery oasis.

 It was interesting that after passing this sign I found no more dog waste bags on the trail sides. Now I don't think the sign has much to do with it, but I still found it funny. I think the reason the dog waste bags were all around the Lake and nowhere else along the trails was as a result of the lazy people who can't carry out a dog bag also don't go far from their cars. Fun fact: The lake is also the closest location to trash cans.

The bottle on the left was another that had a plastic cup on the bottom. There is a good likelihood that this bottle has been there since before the area became a State Park. The item on the left was along the stream. It was the seat to a tricycle.

The majority of the trash today was along the trails and the section of stream I walked was devoid of trash, with the exception of the tricycle piece. I found it refreshing walking a waterway that had pretty much no trash on its banks. 

This ballon was some distance off the trail. The bright shinny blue drew me to it. Please don't let balloons go into the air. That can't be said enough, it is the same as littering. 

When I got back to my car I could hear something moving around in the brush on the other side of the parking lot. I then heard bells, followed by a pheasant distress call and I watched a pheasant flying off with a ringing hawk in pursuit. This got my attention, I walked over for a closer look. The hawk was called back by a falconer in the brush. Can you see the two of them? 

In total while I was there the hawk flushed three birds. I think it was just being trained and was not actually hunting. No pheasants were harmed while I was watching.

This is what I removed off of the trails. 

After taking the non-recyclables to the nearest trash can I found this in the brush along the parking lot.

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