My plan of this morning, hastily concieved over a glass of scotch the previous evening, had been to take Batsto River road south from Quaker Bridge, and come down the West side of the Batsto River to Batsto, then cross over and take Paradise Drive from behind the cemetary all the way up to 206, exploring some side roads into the Great Swamp as we went.
However, my friend and exploring buddy Jack (whose Taco you will occasionally see brimming with kayaks in my pictures) informed me that the bridge on Paradise was out. So we switched to plan B and entered the woods just south of Atsion on Washington Rd., and worked our way from there down to Constable Bridge. Deep sugar sand and dispy-doos the whole way, definitely 4wd territory unless you have very understanding friends. Jack saw a 2wd S10 stuck back there last week. Later on he was on the river and heard the hydraulic whine of a flatbed wrecker, so that was an expensive adventure.
Though the bridge is in excellent condition the approaches on either end are so washed out that there is nothing to be done about driving across, and we assume that's why the barriers are there. You can see that the western barrier has fallen over. Here's a shot of the Mullica looking upstream from the bridge.
The lighting was a little challenging today, as there were storms blowing through, which I'm sure you all know already unless you're on vacation and reading this from Canada. After leaving Constable Bridge we went up a little to the North and found a put-in.
There were storm clouds boiling up in the West, and we heard thunder off and on. At one point it started to rain so we bailed and headed south again. Tried to work our way past the bridge on the West side, but quickly ran out of road and up against a marked trail where vehicles are prohibited. Sun pops out again and we head back to the put-in, but even as we unloaded the yaks I was seeing the cotton candy puffing up over the trees.
We went maybe a half mile upstream from there. Not a bad paddle at all, had to work a little in the fast spots, and there were quite a few snags and blow-downs, including a lay-flat and suck-in-your-gut number. We could have gone quite a bit further but the thunder was getting rather intimidating at this point, it was pelting rain and Jack, who is a meteorology buff, was describing the chances of the low gray ceiling above being the base of a growing cell.
The downhill run back to the put-in went much faster.
After that we piled back in the trucks and proceeded up toward Dave's Road. More very deep sugar sand, lots of dosey does, the suspension got a workout. I wouldn't go anywhere back in here with 2wd.
Earlier we had noticed a _lot_ of flies whenever we stopped in the low spots. On our way Northwest toward Dave's Road we stopped where the road crossed a creek to see how many we'd get. I've never seen a swarm like the one that descended on our trucks. Jack and Jon were filiming and taking pictures, so if I can get my hands on some of those I will post them. Here is a close-up of one of the little bastards, briefly enjoying a last meal.
Curiously it neither hurt nor itched much when he bit me, and six hours later there is still no reaction at the site.
Not far from there Jon, who is a "verminator," rolled over a log and exposed an ant colony.
We made our way back to Atsion where Jack stopped in at the office to get a camping permit. I snapped a few shots of the mansion and the barn out back, presented without further comment:
The young woman working the counter in the ranger's office said she didn't know when the work would be done, and that it continued to get pushed back. It seemed like a sore topic.
We topped the day off by stopping at the Pic for a feast of bad-for-you goodies like wings and onion peels. It was the first time I had eaten there, and I was very impressed by the quality of the food and service. Great place to wind down after a day on the rivers or trails.
However, my friend and exploring buddy Jack (whose Taco you will occasionally see brimming with kayaks in my pictures) informed me that the bridge on Paradise was out. So we switched to plan B and entered the woods just south of Atsion on Washington Rd., and worked our way from there down to Constable Bridge. Deep sugar sand and dispy-doos the whole way, definitely 4wd territory unless you have very understanding friends. Jack saw a 2wd S10 stuck back there last week. Later on he was on the river and heard the hydraulic whine of a flatbed wrecker, so that was an expensive adventure.
Though the bridge is in excellent condition the approaches on either end are so washed out that there is nothing to be done about driving across, and we assume that's why the barriers are there. You can see that the western barrier has fallen over. Here's a shot of the Mullica looking upstream from the bridge.
The lighting was a little challenging today, as there were storms blowing through, which I'm sure you all know already unless you're on vacation and reading this from Canada. After leaving Constable Bridge we went up a little to the North and found a put-in.
There were storm clouds boiling up in the West, and we heard thunder off and on. At one point it started to rain so we bailed and headed south again. Tried to work our way past the bridge on the West side, but quickly ran out of road and up against a marked trail where vehicles are prohibited. Sun pops out again and we head back to the put-in, but even as we unloaded the yaks I was seeing the cotton candy puffing up over the trees.
We went maybe a half mile upstream from there. Not a bad paddle at all, had to work a little in the fast spots, and there were quite a few snags and blow-downs, including a lay-flat and suck-in-your-gut number. We could have gone quite a bit further but the thunder was getting rather intimidating at this point, it was pelting rain and Jack, who is a meteorology buff, was describing the chances of the low gray ceiling above being the base of a growing cell.
The downhill run back to the put-in went much faster.
After that we piled back in the trucks and proceeded up toward Dave's Road. More very deep sugar sand, lots of dosey does, the suspension got a workout. I wouldn't go anywhere back in here with 2wd.
Earlier we had noticed a _lot_ of flies whenever we stopped in the low spots. On our way Northwest toward Dave's Road we stopped where the road crossed a creek to see how many we'd get. I've never seen a swarm like the one that descended on our trucks. Jack and Jon were filiming and taking pictures, so if I can get my hands on some of those I will post them. Here is a close-up of one of the little bastards, briefly enjoying a last meal.
Curiously it neither hurt nor itched much when he bit me, and six hours later there is still no reaction at the site.
Not far from there Jon, who is a "verminator," rolled over a log and exposed an ant colony.
We made our way back to Atsion where Jack stopped in at the office to get a camping permit. I snapped a few shots of the mansion and the barn out back, presented without further comment:
The young woman working the counter in the ranger's office said she didn't know when the work would be done, and that it continued to get pushed back. It seemed like a sore topic.
We topped the day off by stopping at the Pic for a feast of bad-for-you goodies like wings and onion peels. It was the first time I had eaten there, and I was very impressed by the quality of the food and service. Great place to wind down after a day on the rivers or trails.
