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

Appalachian Trail: Caterpillar Hike (17-Sept-2016)

Set out to do a night hike specifically looking for caterpillars, of course there was trash and I did pick up about a pack full. This post though is mainly to show you the diversity in life that can be found in eastern Pennsylvania that most don't see. Above was the first caterpillar found on this hike. A friend identified it for me as Lithacodes fasciola, a Yellow-Shouldered Slug Moth. It was a good start to the hike and my luck continued as I hiked up a portion of the Appalachian Trail. 

This fuzzy little caterpillar was my next find. I believe it is Ecpantheria scribonia, a Giant Leopard Moth. I have a number of insect books and have taken several entomology courses, I don't however have a good guide for caterpillar identification. I do my best to identify species I post, though I will admit some could be wrong.   

This is another caterpillar that was identified by my friend Stephen Kloiber. It is Papilio troilus, a Spicebush Swallowtail. In my posts from over the summer, I know I have put up photos of the adult butterfly. I was actually surprised it was a Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar, because I found it on a Sassafras Tree. I have since learned that both Spicebush and Sassafras are host trees for this caterpillar. Like this species many caterpillars are very specific with what they will eat. Knowing the host plants can make finding certain species much easier. 

Do you get the feeling this caterpillar is looking at you? What looks to be its eyes are just markings called eye spots. The head of the caterpillar can't be seen from this view and is right around where the little horizontal yellow line is below the eye spots. This type of patterning can help certain caterpillars deter predators from coming after them. In this case the caterpillar resembles a snake, something a bird or other predator may avoid. 

This species has a different common name for both its caterpillar and adult form. It is both a Lacecapped Caterpillar and a White Streaked Prominent Moth. Many moths don't even have a common name for the adult form and somehow this species managed to get two. Oligocentria lignicolor, is the scientific name. 

I am pretty sure this is Prolimacodes badia, a Skiff Moth caterpillar. This is the second time I have seen this species on a hike this year. The other I think I posted, but did not identify and it was near the Lehigh River. 

This is a species I have not been able to identify as of yet. It may be extremely common, I just haven't been able to find an exact match yet. 

In addition to caterpillars I found a few other insects. This is a Chinese Mantis, Tenodera sinensis, it is an introduced species. In Pennsylvania we have two other mantis species, the European and Carolina Mantis. All Mantids in this state have been introduced. None are protected by law and all can be problematic species. Some think Mantids are beneficial because they eat pest insects, the problem is they are not picky in what they eat. Mantids are voracious predators and I have come across many eating native pollinators. They have also been documented eating non-insect species including Hummingbirds. 

On the trailside I heard an odd sound different from that of Katydids calling in the trees above. I search the underbrush until I spotted it. It ended up being a species of Conehead Katydid. It isn't often that I see these.

Walking Sticks! And they are mating! I have seen Walking Sticks at many locations, this was the first time I have ever seen them mating. 

The last critter in this post is this porcupine. This was a Penny find and I can't take credit for spotting it. 

This was the trash picked up for the night. It was a little less than a pack full. I will have to check this site again during the day later this fall. I know I didn't find and pick up everything that was up there. 

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: Lehigh Gorge State Park (17-Sept-2016)

Started near the old rail bridge pillar and tunnel. If you have never been to this access before, the old railroad tunnel is open to public access and gives a nice view of the river in this section. I will caution that on weekends in the spring, summer and fall this access is packed with people and parking is limited. As a result of the heavy use of this area some of the trails are washed out and can be dangerous. Sticking to the D&L Trail would be my suggestion if you do visit the area. 

My first stop was not far from where I put in. The area around where Glen Onoco Run flows into the Delaware was a mess. It looked like a group had a party here and most of what I picked up was alcohol containers. 

If you click the photos they will enlarge for a better view. At the top of the rocks on the left I noticed something blue and I paddled back to go get it. My dismount from my kayak here was not in the least bit graceful and I hope those watching from up river got a good laugh. I scrambled up the rock to find a small pile of cans and some cigar wrappers. Getting back into the kayak went much better. 

Through this short flat water area I didn't find much trash, one washed up sandal and a large plastic bottle of Peach Schnapps. The later gave the interior of my kayak a peachy smell. 

This rock strainer often has trash in it. Pulled one whitewater bucket, one midsize bucket and a full size bucket lid, along with some plastic bottles. 

With the water level so low this was an interesting stretch to navigate. In areas like this it is best to get out above the fall line and scout your path ahead before going for it and paddling down. I found there was only one path for me to take through this area and in places the channel was only as wide as my kayak. This is the lowest I have ever seen the river in this section, we really need some rain. 

The person who lost this should now know to properly secure your personal items before going on the river.

This is what much of the rest of the trip looked like for me when I made stops. Footwear, shoe inserts and plastic bottles made up the majority of the trash found. 

One nice thing was that there was much less trash through this section than there was last year when I did the same run. Certain areas like this one a much more manageable now, but the clean-ups need to continue to keep it this way. 

Didn't take a look at all of the footwear at the end of the trip, but I think I found two matching pairs of Sandals. 

In addition to the whitewater buckets, I picked up two whitewater paddles. The first from Jim Thorpe River Adventures that had washed up underneath a rhododendron and the second from Pocono Whitewater that was right out in the open on a rocky bank. These companies could choose to enact policies to reduce their patrons impact on the river, simple changes that could make lasting effects. This could include strict rules that are enforced on proper footwear, making sure personal items of their patrons are secured in a fashion that there is no chance they will end up in the river and at the end of the day sending a sweep boat to remove lost paddles and buckets. This isn't all they could do, but these would be simple starts. I understand doing things like this might cut into profit margins, but I believe these companies should have a responsibility of doing everything they can to help the resource they profit off of. I would like to be clear that I am not singling out these organizations as the only ones trashing the river. There are many contributors to the river trash. I am pointing out these organizations because they do make money off of the river and I often find items that are traceable to them.

Not a much trash as the past couple paddles, it was a short paddle though and I would not have felt comfortable with much more in this section. At this spot I got out to check out a couple small islands. Found a strainer on one and picked through it. 

The last pile of the day. I was exited about the half of a kayak paddle. I had a similar paddle break last year and I was hoping it would replace my broken half. It was the right side, but didn't fit. Found a wallet too, either someone or the river had already removed its contents though. 

The tourist train passed as I was getting back into my kayak. I took out under the bridge the train is going over and had a bit of a portage to the car. This was another reason I was happy I didn't find that much trash. 

I should have emptied and displayed the contents of the non-recyclable bag. I picked up a lot of footwear. I didn't because everything in the bag was soggy and I was a little tired from the haul up from the river. I only covered a small stretch of river and even though it is less than I collected on the same stretch last year, it is still a lot. We all need to do better as a society so our rivers and natural areas aren't littered with our waste. 

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: Walnutport (16-Sept-2016)

For this trip I drove down river to Walnutport. There I can access the canal, paddle up, then take the river back down to my car. I did this same trip earlier this year and I wanted to see what accumulated in both the canal and river over the summer. The canal like the river was low, this was a little odd normally the canals depth is regulated by the locks that have been converted into dams and not the height of the river the canal draws its water from. I would see later in the trip that the river was so low that there was barely any water flowing into the canal at all. That changes things and was most likely the reason for the low water in the canal. 

I did not find much in the canal. It was actually a lot less than I found in the spring. I am now interested to see what the lower portions of this section look like. I wonder if they will be the same or if all the trash has just accumulated further down?

Couldn't ask for a nicer day for paddling. Not too hot, not too cold, just right! Not much further up from this point the canals depth did become a slight issue. There was one area where I was only in a couple inches of water and really had to push through to make it. In that section I did see one can I couldn't get to. 

Once through the shallow area, something further up the canal caught my eye. It was swimming across from the canal path to the wooded side of the canal. I picked up the pace and as I got closer it was exiting the water. A Raccoon! In my encounters with healthy Raccoons in the past, they normally don't stick around for photos. This one was very slow and spent a good amount of time watching me. It didn't seem to care that I was getting closer either. 

 

It is best to keep your distance from any Raccoon, especially one that is acting in an odd manor. For the most part Raccoons are active in the evening into the night and not during the day. There are always exceptions though, so daytime activity doesn't necessarily mean that a Raccoon is rabid. I watched it until it moved up into the woods and went behind a tree. It continued watching me to, even from behind the tree. 

Not long after seeing the Raccoon I made it to the lock and ran out of navigable canal. It was at this spot I could see there was just a trickle of water coming in from the river. At the end of the lock, there was a small portage to the river. In the spring when I did this same clean-up, there was a well defined path to the river near where I got out of the canal. Today it was overgrown and I had to find a different way down. 

When I set out I did not have a specific trash goal set for myself, but I did have the goal of not getting my shoes wet. I was able to manage it yesterday, the river height though made this goal impossible. 

The first stop on the river where I found a large amount of trash. This particular spot was much worse last year and since there really were no high water events I think most of this is stuff I missed on previous trips. 

At this stop I just kept finding more and more. I picked through several debris piles and walked a dry channel on the side of the river. The large items found here included a tent, a canoe end, a insertable kayak hold (sticker still intact and looked new), garbage can and whitewater bucket. It really does aggravate me when I find the whitewater buckets, paddles and other items that are clearly from companies profiting off of using the river. They do not do enough to limit refuse their patrons add to the river, nor do they do enough to clean up these items lost on their trips. I have found whitewater buckets as far down as the Delaware River and whitewater paddles as far down as the islands just above Easton. 

I said yesterday that I wouldn't like paddling on moving water with trash piled up in front of me to the point I couldn't see downriver. This was the only way it worked with the amount of trash and how I could attach the larger items to the boat. It became an interesting paddle after this and there were few small rapids after this that I had to navigate. 

The second tent of the day. I find too many of them along the river. In the water wildlife can become entangled and trapped in them and removing them from debris piles or wrapped around trees isn't easy. Do people know these are not single use items and that zippers and poles can be repaired?

This section of bank had mostly newer washed up items along it. I floated the kayak as I walked it picking everything up. 

Back on the water I heard an Osprey and looked up. Man did I get a show! The Osprey had a fish and was being pursued by a Bald Eagle. My camera was in my dry bag under the large bag of trash on the front of my kayak and I had to scramble to get it out. I was thinking they would be gone before I did, but to my amazement the chase continued and they flew in large circles over the river staying in my immediate area. I watched this for over five minutes. 

Both birds had to be exhausted by the end. The Osprey came out to be the winner when the Eagle ended its pursuit. The Osprey headed up river and the Eagle down. 

Not long after the aerial show, I paddled over to this thinking it was trash. Instead it was the remains of a small Common Snapping Turtle. 

Identifying a Common Snapper is easy even with just a sun bleached shell remaining. The photo on the left is of the carapace which is the top portion of the shell. Common Snapping Turtles are the only species native to Pennsylvania that had a jagged edge on the back end of the Carapace. The right photo is half of the plastron, the bottom portion of the shell. Snapping and Musk Turtles have reduced plastrons. This means they cover much less surface area of the bottom of the turtle than the other species we have in the state. In this case if only the plastron piece was found you could still tell it is a snapper just by the size. Common Musk Turtles are tiny in comparison to snappers. 

The last section of the river was not deep enough to paddle and I had to walk and float the kayak. 

My final trash collecting stop was under the bridge in Walnutport. The sun was starting to go down and it was not a place I really wanted to be. I quickly grabbed everything I could see, piled it up, then packed it into the boat.

The launch was not far after the bridge. It is brand new as of this year and this was the first time I have used it and this parking area. This was also the first time I have seen it where it wasn't packed. I don't think I could have removed much more of the river than I did on this trip at least with the larger items I picked up. I disposed of the bag of non-recyclables in the trash can in the back and placed the larger items, canoe piece, garbage can and kayak hold next to a trash can further from the river. I never like leaving larger trash items too close to the river, there is just too much of a chance that someone might help the items find their way back into the water. 

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