Canoe trip in the pines

[Xhunter911]

A buddy that I work with has been hearing about my adventurous hiking and camping stories for years, but unfortunately he has never taken the plunge to tag along with me until today.. Now For me on the other hand I have camped at the Lower Forge and the Mullica river campsites in the pines for years but have never canoed or kayaked down the Mullica or batsto river before. This morning this will all change and my 15' Coleman canoe will be christened by its dark tea stained water that I occasionally filter out and drink.
I'm using my own canoe but Im using the PinelandAdventure guys for drop off and pick up.. Gonna be a nice little 4 hr starter trip for me and my buddy. The trip for us will start at the Hampton furnace to Quaker Bridge..

 

[PineBarrens Advocate]

Nice! Looking forward to reading about the trip when you get back. I've actually never kayaked that section, water level can be low and its used far less than the QB to batsto route beacsue of that.....

 

[Teegate]

Thanks for the post. As PineBarrens Advocate says we are looking forward to hearing about your outing.

 

[Xhunter911]

The trip was great and the water level was decent as well.. It took us a little over 4 1/2 hrs to reach Quaker Bridge from Hampton furnace, but there were plenty of obstacles and great views along the way..
1 very large water snake at the train tressel and a few turtles sun bathing on the downed cedar trees..
Birds galore and plenty of tree frogs.. We stopped at Lower Forge to grill up a few hotdogs and snacks. Life is good
All in all it was a great way to kick off the Memorial Day weekend.. I can't forget to give the guys from Pineland Adventures a big thumbs up for great service.. Happy Memorial Day folks

 

[Teegate]

Glad you had a good time. Life is good for sure!

 

[Xhunter911]

Lower Forge bridge

Train trestle

The beach at Lower Forge campsite

Just a few pictures taken along the way.

 

[Xhunter911]

A few more pics

 

[smoke_jumper]

A few more pics

Cool find!!! A grill with hotdogs on it to boot

 

[Xhunter911]

Cool find!!! A grill with hotdogs on it to boot

They def hit the spot

 

[woodjin]

Nice report! that is a great stretch. It is also an area that was used extensively during the iron era. most of the evidence of it's past use have been reclaimed by nature and hard to see now. There are a lot of seeps/springs entering the river before lower forge and after the trestle on the western bank. In higher water they aren't as noticeable. Glad you had a good time.

Jeff

 

[mountainbikemax]

Nice report, love that section of river. It can become pretty challenging on a canoe when the water levels are low.