Independence Day Trash Patrol

This month's first Saturday falling on the fourth resulted in a festive Independence Day Trash Patrol with the New Hampshire Appalachian Mountain Club Paddlers (NHAMCP).  I counted 14 boats launching into the Merrimack River at Frost Road Park in Tyngsborough, MA this morning.

Club member Denise Hurt organized and led the event with help from Tyngsborough resident Paul Husted.

Soon we were all patrolling the river's shoreline and taking advantage of the high water levels to recover trash not normally accessible...

Mrs. Trashpaddler enjoyed her first-ever view...

...of the Tyngsborough Bridge from the river...

This musquash was seemingly unfazed by our activities...

It was only fitting that today's holiday edition trash patrol should get an assist from a Tyngsborough Patrolman who helped us with the post-patrol sorting and joined us for the group photo...

...before a much enjoyed post-patrol barbecue.

The day's trash haul before sorting...

The final count had 231 recyclables and around 130 pieces of miscellaneous rubbish which included a perforated plastic drum, an old car tire, and many chunks of flotation.

The first Saturday in August will find the NHAMCP group trash patrolling quite a ways further up the Mighty Merrimack in Concord, NH.

One result of our patrol is a little less trash to spoil Wannalancet's view of the river he cherished...