A beautiful hike to the pools to start our day!
On September 9th, a group of 16 volunteers hiked out to the Red Rock Pools to clean up trash left behind by visitors over the Labor Day weekend. The group included ForestWatch volunteers, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. employees, and members of the Fig Mtn Brew Mug Club. After a couple of hours of work, these awesome volunteers hauled out over 100 pounds of trash scattered around the pools!
The morning started off clear and cool, but quickly heated up in the canyon. Our group carpooled out to the Red Rock Trailhead where we geared up with water and supplies. A resourceful volunteer brought a stack of used grain bags repurposed for trash collection, which proved to be tear-proof in some of the thornier areas that trash had accumulated.
Some volunteers go the extra mile (especially when swimming in a nice pool in the heat is involved).
After a short half-mile hike to the pools, the group fanned out to find trash lodged between rocks, floating in the water, and caught in bushes around the pools. One volunteer even left the dry heat to brave the nice, cool water to get some trash out of a hard-to-reach crevice. The scattered trash was mostly beverage containers and plastic wrappers, although diapers, floaties, and a bicycle helmet were also found.
Once our hardworking group was sure the area was spotless, we lugged our many bags of trash back to the trailhead. After the cleanup, we were treated to beer from Figueroa Mountain Brewing and our volunteers received a coupon for a free beer at one of their taprooms!
Thanks to all of these great volunteers for coming out and helping keep this special part of the Los Padres National Forest clean and to Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. for helping make this happen! Be sure to check out our upcoming volunteer projects if you are interested in getting involved.
See below for more pictures from the cleanup:
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