Lehigh Gorge State Park (25-Apr-2016)

Back to removing tires from the Lehigh Gorge on this trip. Worked on a lower section at the Glen Onoco access that I had put off until I discussed details about it with the park office. I had scouted the area in the past couple weeks and I thought it would be reasonable today to remove around ten tires. So that was the goal, ten tires, I ended up surpassing that gaol a bit.

The first two tires removed. As you can see there is some impact on the area with the removal. I do my best to save as many of the plants growing inside the tires as possible and I fill in the groves left behind with the sediment taken out of the tires. The benefits do outweigh the impact. As I have said before the areas that I am working in are floodplains. They are constantly changing and after a short amount of time you wouldn't even be able to tell that tires were ever there at all. The tires do not belong in these areas, they can change the route the water will take in a high water event, they confine the root systems of the plants they contain and think about the space they take up where plants cannot grow. Removing tires is not only cleaning up the bank, it is restoring things to as it should be.

This American Toad may not agree with my last statement. The second tire I pulled out was his home. I do not feel bad removing it from him. The conditions out were fine for him to hope around and find a more natural place to stay. One fun fact about American Toads, you can easily distinguish a male from female by holding them in a certain way. Males will chirp, females will stay silent. This method of sexing also works for other frog and toad species, but not all.  

A Northern Red Salamander was a surprising find in the spot I was at. The site is not optimal for a Red. I found this one when I started moving debris off of the top of a tire. It was in the debris. In this case the top of the tire was the best place for this salamander. I put the debris back, then put the salamander down and let it crawl back into it on its own. Reds move around throughout the year so I will be able to go back and get the tire at a later date. For now leaving the conditions as they were for the salamander is the most important thing. By the size of this individual, I think it may have been a gravid female. Northern Reds are not a common species to find along the river, they are more regularly found in streams and upland moist wooded areas. 

As I was walking along I was also picking up smaller items like cans. One can I picked up was full of sediment so I broke it open and to my surprise with the sediment this larval Cicada came out as well. It was an odd place for one to be. This one most likely was getting ready to emerge and started making its way to the surface, unluckily finding its way into a can. Well, that's the most plausible thing I can come up with. Did you know larval Cicadas feed by tapping into roots for the plants xylem?

I wish all of the tires were as simple as this one. 

When walking through these areas I don't tend to think of how high the water actually gets until I see items like this. This pair of sunglasses was about four feet up in the saplings. 

Found a couple paddle blades. This one isn't exactly a cheap paddle, you do have to do a lot to break one like this.

 One last before and after. These were the last two tires I took out.

This was the second pile I made and at this point it was time to take them all back to the other pile near the trail out. Penny was fairly well behaved on this trip. As I was pulling tires she was tied up watching my pack and camera. Every once in awhile I would take her to the river to cool off and she wasn't up for swimming at all today. 

At this point I was kind of wishing that I had stuck to my ten tire goal. Ended up with eighteen, a full pack and an old rusted lawn chair.

So close to the end, but just looking at this incline that I had to take everything up made me decide to take a break.

Penny was sick of sitting around and she wanted to get going. Although rusty the lawn chair still did its job. For the photo the camera was dangling from a tree branch by its strap and was set on a timer.

When everything was up to the road I was exhausted and happy. This is the most tires I have removed in a single day so far this year in the gorge. I don't think I am going to try to top this trip and from now on I think I am going to try to stick to my goals and not exceed them. 

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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Beltzville State Park: Part 2 (6-Jan-2016)

Since I was right there, I just went across the road to the Pine Run Launch. Before I started this project I had done clean-ups around the launch itself, but this was my first stop there on a thorough search for trash. 

Starting off I walked the field edge around the parking lot and down to the lake. I then followed the lake shore up as far as I could go and then back down to the launch.

From the start I wasn't finding much, but throughout this short hike I just kept finding more and more.

This unopened Mike's from 2009 must have been there for awhile. Too many people drink in this park, which tells me that maybe the DCNR and the Fish & Boat Commission isn't doing the best job at patrolling. I believe more fines would lead to less drinking and therefore less trash. Less trash would be a nice thing. 

Some interesting items from around the launch. On the left not only did I find a leather binding for a bible, but also the large plastic bag that is underneath it in the photo. I used the bag for the trash items and it allowed me to pick up a lot more today. On the right was a deflated beach ball.

Anyone in need of a slightly used Iron Pigs ball cap? It's free in a garbage can at Beltzville. The only lure of the day is on the right. Missing a hook and a little paint, but I think it would still work.

This was on the launch itself. A fairly large knife, when I got home I figured out what it was used for. It was cold enough today I couldn't really smell anything, but when I brought this home, I quickly realized it reeked of fish. 

After the launch I followed paths that paralleled the inlet for Pine Run. It just kept getting trashier and trashier.

At this point I filled my pack with recyclables and the found non-recyclable bag was getting heavy. After packing this pile away I decided to call it quits for the day. 

On the way back the trail I noticed this on the trailside. Yup, another diaper. This time I had a non-recyclable bag and there were trash cans at the launch. I picked it up with the tongs and too my surprise it was frozen solid and about ten pounds or more. Went right in the bag. 

This is everything from around the launch. Coupled with the other pile I got across the road I think I had a pretty productive 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

Beltzville State Park: Part 1 (6-Jan-2016)

The original plan for today was to head to the end of Penn Forest Road in Beltzville State Park and check on a high traffic area that I had cleaned several times last year. When driving on the bridge over the inlet for Pine Run these plans changed. In the inlet was a duck, I couldn't make out the species, so I decided to take a closer look. I parked in a small park lot across the road from the Pine Run Boat Launch access. When I got out of my car the duck was still there and I headed down to the water. About half way down the path above the duck went under. I got to the lakeside and waited and waited. It never came back up. I did start finding trash, I didn't dwell on the mysterious disappearing duck and got to taking out the trash.

I have never stopped at this section before. I have paddled by it, I just never had a need or desire to park there. It seems a lot of fishermen like the spot judging by the amount of line I collected in the brush by the lakeshore. 

This was right next to the lot. I did leave the cardboard case all of this was jammed into. A lot of times I do not pick up paper products, it doesn't take them that long to biodegrade where they are. 

If you take the time to collect the items, bag the items, go for the last step and throw away the items. These people were so close, but not doing that last step defeats the purpose of the other two. 

Between the parking lot and a portion of the inlet I could see a white garbage bag that looked to be full of cans. It was on a steep slope with thick underbrush. I was only able to reach it with the tongs once I got down parallel to it on the slope. The first grab ripped the bag and I found it was a nearly full bag with not only cans, but bottles as well. I took the items out one piece at a time with the tongs and filled my pack. 

 This was everything that was in the bag on the slope. Like the other bag above, why did these people even take the time to bag this up if they were just tossing it down towards the lake anyway?

The area I covered here was not that large, but it yielded much more trash than I would have hoped. I just wanted to see what kind of duck was there, instead I got all of this.

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