A ride South part 1

[woodjin]

I'm going to do this in two posts because it keeps deleting before I finish.

Monday was so beautiful. I have been curious about areas south of the A/C Expressway. I have been down there, but not much. I wanted to get a bit more into the thick of it so I took the motorcycle down. I started by going through Wharton toward Elwood. The roads were flooded.

I stopped at Hawkin's Bridge and, as expected, the water levels were very high.

An old Gulf station in Sweetwater

This is what you need when stuck

Just South of the Expressway I got onto this power line road

Just after I took the shot a couple pineys in a jeep told me that the pit up ahead was block off with cable. I took a ride to the pit. It is much larger than the picture lets on

 

[woodjin]

A Ride South Part 2

Around the blocked off pit were smaller pits. Filled with garbage, beer cans and junk. This pit pictured must have had over 2000 shot gun shells lying in it. This was a real waste land/ backwoods type area.

To someone unfamilar with the pine barrens, I suppose this kind of a thing might seem odd.

Contrary to popular belief, the locals have more interests than just shooting shotguns and drinking beer.

Beyond the pits I found some ruins filled with garbage

I'm going to continue this in a part 3 so as not to lose this post.

 

[woodjin]

A Ride South part 3

Not far away I found some more ruins.

this was an unusually scenic thing to see in a highly disturbed area

A very stange but curious area. Very close to the A/C Expressway. I half expected to find a body dumped around every turn. While close to Makepeace Lake WMA, land ownership was uncertain. The amount of garbage was unsettling. It reminded me of the Chatsworth pits before the ORV park was established

The backwaters of Makepeace lake.

MakePeace Lake

The coolest recovery vehicle ever.

Well this concludes the triology. It was nearly a six hour ride in total. There is so much to explore down there and I am excited about my next trip to the area. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Jeff

 

[dragoncjo]

I think myself and njsnakeman are the only ones that explore outside of burlington and ocean counties. I do primarily because I find that the probability of seeing wildlife is greater down where I go. I've never had much herping success with the true pine barrens. That makepeace wma looks like a nice place might have to check that out. Nice post.

 

[bobpbx]

Good report Jeff. Its funny, it seems pretty much as I pictured it down there. My friend Steve used to drive an ambulance that looked pretty much like that. It was from Mercy First Aid Squad in Lebanon Lakes I think.

The one spot I do have interest in exploring down there is the Tuckahoe river watershed, and parts of the Manumuskin and Maurice.

 

[LARGO]

Your GULF station is Clyde Birdsall's old place.
The tales it could tell, wow. True pines gold. And equipment... he had stuff the likes of which many have never seen. Some military stuff that never came out of the crate. Had an old 50's car in one of his garages with about 26 miles on it. Bought it for one of his kids that passed away.
I actually gassed up there some time ago after it was closed. My Uncle lives three doors down and the Old lady Birdsall opened it to pump gas in my bike after a long ride to Amatol. sorry to go on man, you passed through some of my old stomping grounds.
Looks like you had a great day.

G.

 

[Ben Ruset]

It's magic! I turned three threads into one!

 

[Teegate]

Your GULF station is Clyde Birdsall's old place.

And for those of you who don't know who Clyde was, here is a newspaper article on him. He was the ranger at Atsion for many years and still was when I first started exploring the pines.

Nice report Jeff. Thanks for posting.

Guy

 

[Boyd]

Great report! I lived in Burlington County for over 10 years and just moved to Atlantic County a few months ago. While contemplating the move last winter I started exploring the area, and there are some great out-of-the-way places to be seen. Keep going South and you'll find less garbage and more nature (generally speaking).

 

[woodjin]

Great report! I lived in Burlington County for over 10 years and just moved to Atlantic County a few months ago. While contemplating the move last winter I started exploring the area, and there are some great out-of-the-way places to be seen. Keep going South and you'll find less garbage and more nature (generally speaking).

Yeah, I know this area was not representative of all of the woods south of the expressway. I want to do alot more exploring. This area, though not regarded as the heart of the pine barrens, is still definitely the pine barrens. The area I was in was typical pine barren environment.

Jeff

 

[woodjin]

It's magic! I turned three threads into one!

Wow! That is magical! Thanks Ben.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Awesome report and pictures Jeff. It looks like something I'd like to explore. Can you PM me with more specific directions to this location?