Batona with a dog

[tweezer159]

howdy y'all. first time poster here. i've recently become interested in backpacking and finally have accumulated the basic items that i need to get started. my girlfriend and i (with our dog) are planning on hiking the batona, north to south, sometime in march. after doing some research, we have learned that the only camps that are dog friendly are batona camp and lower forge camp. i dont feel that we are ready to hike the approximately 25 miles from lower forge to lake absegami in one day.
i'm really just looking for general advice about the situation from someone who has hiked this trail with a dog. would the park police be somewhat leaniant since it will be during the off season? do the park police patrol regularly between buttonwood hill camp and evans bridge? we are planning to go to batsto to talk to the staff on thursday, but i was hoping to get some information from someone that has actually hiked the batona with a dog. thanks in advance for your advice and comments.

 

[kayak karl]

Pet Friendly

the pet friendly was new last year. i think Kaia my do has taken advantage of it the most with like 12 nights (5 this year). i am very careful to follow all rules as to keep this program going. they MAY open up other sites if this goes well. everything you said in your post is true and just the way the trail is. the buttonwood cutoff is fairly new and a well need site.

i am not going to tell you how to camp illegally. even if I had i, i would not post on the internet about it

for info: buttonwood, goshen and batona are the most patroled.

im going back out for 2 days tomorrow. i use lower forge, hawkins bridge and batona as a large triangle to hike with Kaia.

and now a commercial break.......

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/579661795dJFvSR?vhost=outdoors

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/579755125rNAmek?vhost=outdoors

Have a great time. nothing better then hiking with your dog. Oh, and girlfriend :rofl:

KK, Maple and Kaia

 

[tweezer159]

thanks

thanks for the reply kayak karl! nice photos!

i really do want to follow all of the rules as well - being so close to so many highly populated areas, we have to do what we can to maintain what we have. after looking at my map again, it looks like we are planning on going from

ong's hat to batona camp - day 1
batona camp to lower forge camp - day 2
lower forge to evans bridge to hawkins bridge camp - day 3
hawkins bridge back to evans bridge to lake absegami - day 4

it looks like it will add about 6 miles to go to hawkins bridge and back - but its just more of what we are getting out to do anyway. does this look like a decent itenerary for a couple of novices? are you familiar with the water sources on the trail? do you hang your food or sleep with it? any other advice?

like i said, we're planning on talking to the staff at batsto, but practical advice is always welcome. thanks again.

david, erica, and molly

 

[Teegate]

They are the commercial breaks I don't mind watching

Thanks Karl!

Guy

 

[Old Crazy]

do the park police patrol regularly between buttonwood hill camp and evans bridge?

I have hiked the entire length of the Batona Trail 70 times and I have only seen the Park Police on foot on the trail once. They generally only patrol areas that are accessible by vehicle, which includes the campgrounds you mentioned.

I don't know how big your dog is, but be aware that there is a decent sized population of coyotes in the pine barrens, particularly in the Batona Camp area. If your dog were to wander away at night, the coyotes might consider him dinner.

 

[tweezer159]

thanks

Thanks for the reply Old Crazy - some helpful information for sure. our dog is a golden retriever - about 65 lbs. we did a trial run from batsto to lower forge a couple of weeks ago and she did great. i did keep her tethered to me around camp after dark, and i'll be sure to do the same next time just in case - thanks again for the advice.

david