Lehigh River: Lehigh Gap to Walnutport (21-June-2016)

Set out for the Lehigh River again and this time with some help. Andrew Gaerthe came along for the paddle between Lehigh Gap and Walnutport. This is not that long of a trip, yet this section can get trashy. I have already done a couple clean-ups this year that over lap pieces of this section, but I was sure we would find more and of course there was.

Andrew going in for a piece of chair. I would like to point out that Andrew is not wearing a Personal Floatation Device. It is his choice, but it really is better to be safe and wear one. 

Trash... Always more trash. 

One of my favorite river birds, this Green Heron let me get close for some good photos. I even got to watch it hunting and it caught a small fish right in front of me. 

We had to paddle back upriver a little bit to get to navigable channels on a small area of rapids in this river bend. Andrew ended up taking one of the navigable channels, I ended up pushing my way down the rocks with my paddle to get to a piece of trash.  

 Didn't take the easiest route, made it to and picked up this lawn chair though.

One of the best views of the year!

Andrew spotted this from half way across the river and directed me towards it. I confirmed it was what he thought it was and he paddled down the channel behind me. 

Who throws a Power Wheels into the river? If I was alone or if this was at the start of the trip, this would have been something I would have had to leave. With Andrews help though we were able to get it off the river. Each of us grabbed an end and placed it over the cockpit of my boat. The take out wasn't far down river, but was on the other side. I walked my boat down and across and I fell a couple times, but everything stayed in the boat.

The trip was short, but we picked up a bunch of trash! Thank you Andrew for coming along and helping out!
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

Lehigh River: Bowmanstown to Lehigh Gap (19-June-2016)

The boat launches were just packed with people. In Lehigh Gap where I left my car the lots for the launch were completely full and people even lined the road parking in the grass. This made me leave my car parked at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center and away from the river. The launch in Bowmanstown was similar so I ended up being dropped off at a small access above it. I can't complain about people using the river, I do too. It does bother me that a number of people using the launches do not have launch permits. I pay every year to use the launches provided by the DCNR or Fish and Boat Commission and it annoying on weekends like this not being able to use those launches because people without permits are. Above is where I ended up launching. 

Out on the water with this view, I forgot about all the people and just enjoyed the moment. Then it was right to work. I paddled across the river and started working on the opposing shore.

It wasn't long before I came across this first large item. Things like this stroller I have to leave. To large and heavy for the kayak. I really do hate leaving anything behind. 

Jumped out on a small flood plain area. I really thought there would be more, yet only found a small bags worth of common river trash. There were also tires, but in this section, like the stroller there is nothing I can currently do about them.

Where I could I kept to the left bank, but in some places I had to keep to the middle with water too shallow on the sides. 

Started seeing cans along the bank and I made another stop. This one concealed a straw buried in the sediment that filled it. First straw I have ever found in an old pull tab can. 

All from one small section of bank. Loaded it up and got back on the water.

Made another stop in an area I know things get caught up often. 

Picked through the debris pile and after a short time had another small pile to be loaded into the boat.

These are casings of Stoneflies, left behind when the Stoneflies emerged as adults. These casing are a common sight along the river and as a water quality indicator stoneflies are a good sight to see along the river. 

Two of my least favorite finds of the day. The bag on the left had food remnants of someones picnic in it. The jar on the right, well you can see it, it had beet juice which had to be emptied.

The chair on the left had been in this particular spot for months. I know this because it could be seen from route 248 which parallels the river in this section. It has been bothering me for sometime and on this trip it would finally be taken care of. Getting to it however, caused me a slight problem. I made a turn in my kayak in moving water, which normally would be fine. With the trash I already had in and on the boat though, it was not. I went right over! I pulled everything to the riverside and didn't loose one single piece of trash.  It worked out for the best. I got cooled down with the swim and was able to rearrange everything on the boat.

Only stopped a couple times after going over. There are a couple fast moving areas just above the gap and I didn't want to repeat what I had done. 

Can you see the small Snapping Turtle hanging out on the bank? It is looking right at you!

Not being parked near the launch I did have to carry everything a bit further than usual at the end. It wasn't bad though. I was happy with the haul, but this section like many others still needs more work. 

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

Lehigh River: Glen Onoco to Lehighton (18-June-2016)

Normally I try to avoid State Parks on weekends. It completely slipped my mind when I decided to do this run starting at the Glen Onoco Access of the Lehigh Gorge State Park. The only thing I was thinking of was the shore opposite of where I removed all the tires earlier in the year. It needed to be cleaned and last year when I worked on this section there were parts of it that were just a mess. Pulling into the access I found what I try to avoid, crowds of people, almost every parking space filled and a complete overuse of a natural area that needs more of our respect and less impact from our traffic. Once I got out on the river things were better. Very few were heading to the water, most to the falls and the trails going up the mountain. I picked up some pieces of trash underneath the rail bridge then paddled away from the madness of the area on a weekend. 

Just below the access is the first set of rapids. Happy not to have much trash at this point. Paddling without a skirt I tried my best not to get too much water in my boat. The left side of the river here is the floodplain area where I removed the majority of tires from this year. 

In a slight turn below the rapids there is always trash after high water. Bottles, shoes and other common river finds were scattered throughout the bank.

This was something new. Guessing this was a costly loss. Portable water purifiers generally aren't cheap. Always new surprises when picking up trash. 

This wasn't nearly as bad as last year. In the same area I removed two full garbage bags of non-recyclables and had to end the trip early. I think I can say that last years clean-ups made some difference at least. 

I don't know why, but this channel around one of the islands is one of my favorite places on the Lehigh. The Nesquehoning Creek enters the river in this section and so does diverted acid mine drainage. Still I like the peacefulness of paddling through. 

Clinging to the bank I found this Luna Moth. It looks as though so far it has had a hard life. After snapping some shots I placed it back where I found it and paddled on. 

This was easy to remove from the tree, but once attached to the back of the boat it did keep catching on things as I was paddling. It took several adjustments to get it secured just right so no part of it was dragging. 

A freshly emerged Dragonfly. Still waiting for its wings to harden wasn't able to fly and needed some help out of the water. Placed it as far up the bank as possible. Dragonflies love to eat insects we consider pests, they are great to have around!

Whitewater Bucket! I really don't like these things. Last year I did write the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and asked if they could pass a law that required all whitewater operations to label all of their stuff. I don't think that is ever going to happen, but if they did, specific blame could be given to the right company for these. 

Made this stop to check out the flood plain on the right. Didn't know what I was going to find, ended up being very happy I stopped. 

In the same debris pile, about three feet away from one another I noticed these to blades sticking out. I knew right away they were kayak paddles and I thought there was no way they could be full and unbroken. I worked on wiggling them out and to my amazement both were fully intact. After breaking a paddle last year I needed a new back up and the blue one was the perfect size for me!

Also found three canoe paddles in the same flood plain, these two and another that was bent.

The new bridge in Jim Thorpe is almost complete. Wonder when the deconstruction of the old one is going to start? 

With about as much as I could carry I only stopped for buckets the rest of the trip. 

Minus the trash, what a stunning view. 

Finished the trip in Leighton and although I love being on the water, with all this trash I was glad the trip was over. 

Pretty good haul for the day. I still can't believe I found not one, but two nice kayak paddles. Also, take notice to all of the small buckets. They should not be in our river!
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