Appalachian Trail (25-Jan-2017)

The section of Appalachian Trail between Little and Lehigh Gap is one that I hike often throughout the year. I decided I was going to hike a loop that was around eight miles and I called up Stephen Kloiber to see if he wanted to go along. He met me at the parking lot and the above photo is what we found when we arrived. Since this was on Gamelands, I called a state employee with the DCNR who has a direct contact to the Game Commission's local Wildlife Conservation Officer. He informed the WCO, who was already aware that the items were there. Both the Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission do investigate illegal dumps like this, so this pile is not something I would deal with. I have found their investigations can take a long time, but individuals do get prosecuted for these actions. If you ever come across someone who is illegally dumping items please contact law enforcement immediately.

The parking area was the trashiest part of the hike. The trailsides had a few items, but for the most part we didn't find all that much. The top of the mountain yielded amazing views. This is looking towards the Carbon County side.

In a few of the puddles along the trail we found Springtails. Springtails, also called Collembola, have been in several of my posts. This particular species is often referred to as Snow Fleas, because they are often found in large numbers on top of snow at this time of year. An appendage to their rear gives them there name and allows them to spring up as one method of moving around. They also have appendages that allow them to walk around. Springtails in general a common. They inhabit leaf litter and topsoil and most people don't even know they exist.  

Remnants of an old forest still can be found standing at the top in this section. These trees died decades ago from the deposition of heavy metals created by a zinc smelting facility in the nearby city of Palmerton. Restoration efforts have helped bring new life to the mountain top and slowly this once desolate landscape is sprouting new life.

Fences now restrict access to large sections of the mountain top. This is part of the restoration effort and keeps deer from browsing on young trees that are sprouting up. I have been going to this site for over fifteen years. When I first started hiking this area there were hardly any trees, no grasses and vast areas were just exposed rocks. Even the soil has washed away. Things are much different now and every year the mountain gets a little greener. 

We made a quick stop by a vernal pond that is off one of the trails. In the spring and summer this pond will act as a breeding site for several species of amphibians. Vernal ponds/pools fill up with snow and rainfall in the winter and spring and by mid to late summer are usually dry. This means  predatory animals like fish are not around, giving the amphibian offspring a better chance at survival. This does not mean there are no predators. There are many insect species that inhabit vernal areas that do feed on amphibians and there larvae, certain reptile species will visit these ponds for a quick bite to eat and too will some bird species like the Barred Owl. So vernal pools are the safer option for breeding amphibians, but still come with an assortment of hazards for them. 

Throughout the entirety of the eight miles I don't think we came across any birds other than a couple of Juncos and a Turkey Vulture. This will change in spring as migratory birds return and start to nest. I am looking forward to the Warbler's return. 

An abandoned campsite right off of the AT. Over the years I have found many abandoned campsites off of the AT. Why people do not clean up after themselves is beyond me. Tarps and tents are not single use items and I have found that many people treat them this way. This tarp looked to be brand new and was probably only used for one night. Stephen helped me fold it up and take down the line it was on. I will make sure this tarp is used again and it will not be just thrown away.

For the amount of ground covered this really is a tiny amount of trash. Others do work on this section of trail, still there is generally more than this. I will probably do this hike again in lake spring to early summer, who knows what I will find then. Mr. Kloiber, as always thank you for coming along on this hike! 
See my most updated posts on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

State Gamelands: Glen Onoco Trails (11-Oct-2016)

A few weeks ago I hiked up the Glen Onoco Falls. I removed a good amount of trash and from that I thought that some of the other trails in the area might need a cleaning. Today I set out to work on some of the other ones. The destination for the trip was to a overlook that gives amazing views of the Lehigh River and Jim Thorpe from the rim of the Lehigh Gorge. Starting in the Lehigh Gorge State Park I took trails up the mountain through State Gamelands. Snapped the photo above of the Lehigh before I started up the trail. Some of the colors are starting to come into the trees. 

Dog bags were some of the first trash finds. I learned from my last visit to hickory run to put them in another bag before adding them to the rest of the other trash. It would be nice if more dog owners respected the trails and properly dispose of their dogs waste.

This trail starts out going through old foundations of buildings that once lined the bottom of the mountain. All of the foundations are laid stone and the steps from the old structures give a nice start to the trail. Portions of one of the trails here also has laid stone steps. As far as I know the only structures were near the base of the mountain, but there are portions of steps that go all the way to the top.

Plastic bottles were the main trailside find. Most were not easy grabs and a lot of them I had to go off trail and down a steep slope for. 

At the top I worked my way out to an access road instead of taking the trail to the top of the falls. I was disappointed to see this along the trail. When I got out to the access road there was a new bridge over the run and it two was covered in carved and painted names. I feel the graffiti really diminishes the esthetics of our natural areas. If you ever see someone tagging rocks or tree on State Gamelands please contact the PA Game Commission. 

At the lookout. Jim Thorpe is the town out ahead. In the coming weeks this view will become a lot more colorful as more of the leafs start to change. 

The largest pile of trash in one place on the entire hike. This was next to a fire ring by the lookout. Fires and camping are prohibited on State Gamelands.

Looking down on the river upstream from the lookout. The dark cut to the left of the river is the D&L Trail and railroad tracks.  

Looking downstream on the Lehigh River. Even from this far away you can see how low the Lehigh is right now. It definitely wouldn't be a fun paddle, we need rain. 

Penny yawning, even though I didn't pick up much, she was tired of trash collecting. She just likes hiking with no stops, unless it is to sniff.

Took a different trail on the way back down. This view was right before the decent. The gap in the mountain in the distance is Lehigh Gap.

These items were all below the outlook above. 

This little caterpillar was crossing the trail on my way down. I believe it is a Giant Leopard Moth Caterpillar. 

Ended up collecting much less trash than I anticipated finding on the trailside. Took two burlap sacks along and only filled up half of one. Much less than what was along the falls, I do think these trails though see less traffic.

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

A Turtle and a Tiny Bit of Trash (26-Sept-2016)

I never know what I am going to come across while out working on clean-ups. I always hope to see wildlife and not much trash and on most trips I see a lot of trash and not much wildlife. This one was a pretty good trip. The turtle above is an Eastern Box Turtle and is just about the best thing I could find while hiking trails. In Pennsylvania the Eastern Box Turtle is a protected species, their biggest threats include habitat loss, road fatalities and over collection. Since they are a protected species I have chosen to omit the location in which it was found. Even with their protected status there are those who still collect these turtles and illegally sell them and this is the reason I choose not to share locations of where I find them. If you ever see an Eastern Box Turtle trying to cross a road, please stop and help it on its way across. It is best to move them in the direction they were headed and off of the road thirty feet. 

In addition to the turtle I found some interesting fly species as well. Like many insects I can not tell you what specific species these are. I am just adding them to the post because I found them to be pretty cool.

I have probably passed by these same species hundreds of times on walks and never took the time to look at them close up. They are spectacular.

I was hiking for hours and this was all the trash I found along the trailside. I wish every place could be like 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

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

Appalachian Trail: Bear Rocks (18-Sept-2016)

For this trip I went to check out the condition of Bear Rocks on the Appalachian Trail. Bear Rocks is a popular overlook and attracts many individuals for the amazing views. Less people visit this location compared to the near by Bake Oven Knob overlook, mostly because this is a longer hike. In recent years however, I have noticed much more traffic at this location and with it a good amount of trash. 

Getting out to the rocks on this occasion seemed to take forever. There was more trash along the trailside here than I have ever seen. Bottle after bottle diverted me off the trail. Some items I was unable to pick up because they were thrown into thick patches of briar. 

Was hoping to find a good number of caterpillars on this hike. Searching for trash diverted my focus from looking for these little critters. This was the only caterpillar I found on the entire hike. I believe it is a Virginia Tiger Moth caterpillar. 

This is a new campsite that has popped up in the last year. Camping is allowed along the Appalachian Trail, but it is meant for threw hikers only, those doing extended hikes. From the access point to Bear Rocks there are many old campsites, but they are farther in than this one. It looks like someone was just lazy and didn't want to walk in to the others with all of their beer. It is sad that individuals can't respect the trail rules and diminish the hike for others by destroying parts of the trailside. 

I found a lot of glass items at the above campsite and instead of lugging them in with me I left them on the trailside to be picked up on the way out. 

Most of the older campsites were clean, except for this one. I always am baffled by those who leave their trash in fire rings and it is a common occurrence. Do they thing the next group to use this site will just burn their trash? 

I think Coca-Cola is on the way to doing a good thing, still this kind of labeling can be deceiving to those who do not read the fine print. It states that this bottle is made up of up to 30% plant material. The rest is still plastic. Some may thing with the label plant bottle that this is compostable like some other products on the market. It is not, it is still a plastic bottle.

On the start of the trip the AT follows and access road then diverts off onto a smaller trail. Here the hike becomes a little harder and through sections like the above you really have to watch your step. 

At Bear Rocks I started searching around. On the top of the rock pile most of the trash I found was out of reach and thrown down between the rocks. The next time I do this hike I will take tongs with me and will be able to remove most of what I couldn't reach. The top was cleaner than other trips up, the sides are a different story. 

Here I climbed up the side and started my way to the top. When I turned the corner behind this formation I was a bit shocked when I ran into a couple, one with nothing on below the waist. I politely turned around, went back the way I came and down the side of the rock pile to pick up trash and let them continue what they were doing. It was the weekend, during the day, this is a place that many people hike to, probably not the best place to engage in private activities. 

Down the side was a mess. I had Penny along and portions of this area are extremely hard to traverse. I tied her to a tree and worked on cleaning a portion of the rocky slope. I was able to scout out some of the other areas and there is a lot more than this pile that I collected still up there. 

While I was working I noticed the couple I previously ran into climbing down off the top and leaving. I bagged everything I piled up and Penny and I headed back to the top. From here we took a trail that loops up the rocks and back to the AT. We passed two more groups of people before we left, one camping and the other just sitting on another outcrop. Didn't find much trash going this way, I didn't want to disturb the groups doing a clean-up where they were enjoying the views though, so we just passed by two of the areas where I normally find trash. 

Even with not hitting every spot on the rocks I still came out with a bag full of recyclables. I will return later this fall with tongs and without Penny to finish up this 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

Recycling Day! (8-Sept-2016)

Since July 7th I had accumulated a good amount of recyclables. A recycling day was well overdue. My car needed a minor repair and while I was waiting to get it back I decided it was time for a recycling sort. Had around twenty bags to go through and I knew it was going to take me awhile. 

As always on my recycling days I sorted out the plastic bottles, plastic jugs, aluminum cans, oil containers and glass bottles. 

It took around five hours to get all of the bags sorted and all of the items counted.

In total there ended up being 2,828 recyclable items collected since July 7th. 1,282 plastic bottles, 1,258 aluminum cans, 245 glass bottles, 39 plastic milk/tea jugs and 4 plastic oil containers. This brought this years total to 12,536 recyclable items this project has removed from our waterways and natural areas here in Eastern Pennsylvania. 

This does not included recyclables collected on the Wildlands Conservancy clean-ups or the clean-ups I have done in Montgomery County. Wildlands properly disposed of the recyclables on their trips and the recyclables collected in Montgomery County were disposed of their due to me not wanting to possible transport a non-native insect pest that has been discovered in that area. I also have to thank Leigh Ann Stratakos, Tyler Sacks, Jeffrey Greco and Andrew Curtis, all who have helped with clean-ups since July 7th. 

I think 12,536 is a pretty good number of recyclables removed from our waterways and natural areas so far this year, but there is always more to be done. The clean-ups will continue!

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