Chatsworth North....A PBX Hike

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,180
All,

After being rescheduled from October 25 because of rain, it was decided last evening to go ahead with our plans to take on the woods behind Chatsworth Lake even with rain in the forecast for today. With future hikes in the process of being scheduled, we did not want to push this one back and cause scheduling problems for others. So at 8:45 this morning some members of our PBX hiking club met on 532 by Chatsworth Lake where the canal crosses under the road. Joining us on this hike for the first time was Manumuskin (AL). The members of PBX were Bob, Me, Scott, Tom, Gabe, and Bob’s dog Buddy.

Our first agenda was to travel to the start of our hike on White Horse Road, where we would being our journey across the Parker Preserve property. The weather was good, our spirits were high, and the unknown was ahead as we entered the woods. After bushwhacking for a while and finding a small gutted deer, we hit this road.



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Nearby in the woods we found this huge corn feeder and Tom checked it out.


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As you would expect there was a tree stand, and this one was really high. Obviously, I had to check it out.


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I could almost see Mt. Everest!


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Since Jeff was not there this hunter did not have to witness the moon :) He will see a few ugly mugs, and oh yes, my camera.


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Buddy! My favorite PBX member.

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As usual, Bob checking out the plants. I would not want it any other way.


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One of the many odd canals and man made dikes.


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I always look over the aerial photo at HistoricalAerials.com, and noticed an area that appeared to be a building in 1956. After visiting it we think it was a dump. There is a large cellar like hole there with all kinds of car parts and other small items. This area was all blueberry fields and it looks like they discarded their equipment parts at this location.

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You can see how far down Bob is in this hole.


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I also noticed another building in the 1956 aerial so we checked that out also.


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This one turned out to be what we think was just a garage.


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By this time it was raining and we were getting quite wet, so we picked up the pace as we were getting close to the end. We had to cross a few area’s where Bob had some concerns, but the dry conditions made them quite easy to cross.


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It was not as dark as this photo shows, but it was dark.


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This is I believe the location where the sand was dug for the DeMarco bogs when they “sanded” the bogs. Sand is used each year to cover the bogs to increase yield.


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And this last photo shows Route 532 from the far end of Chatsworth Lake. As you ride by there the next time you now will know what it looks like from the other end.


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Despite the rain I enjoyed myself immensely. I want to thank Manumuskin for joining us today, and I also want to thank all the participating members for a day to remember.


Guy
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,258
Pines; Bamber area
Nice trip report Guy. And always nice to be exploring with you again. Yes, the rain dampened the last half of the trip, but I'm glad I went today--we had a great first half!

Very nice to meet Al. What a good guy he is! I hope he continues with us as a Pine Barren Brother.

Well, now the mystery of those woods north of Chatsworth is revealed. I was please with the topogrophy. I'm going back in the early summer to check out the plants at Man's Folly.

Sorry you couldn't make the tailgate party. It was a blast.

PS: I missed Jess, the best little woman explorer on the planet.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,258
Pines; Bamber area
No snakes but still a very good day.The spung monster almost got Bob but as i rushed to the rescue he knew he was outnumbered and I don't think he quit running till he got to D.C.:)
Al

That was a weird experience. We were going through a leatherleaf bog that was very deep. I saw the plants moving ahead of me and wondered what it was. It turned out to be a raccoon we startled. I called for Al to come catch it!
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
I don't think he quit running till he got to D.C.:)
Al

Very subtle Al. I like the way you think.

It was a good day in the big woods with great companions and we all enjoyed a little bit of tough going with the added rain.
Here are the original soggy bottom boys:
http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/showphoto.php/photo/9640

A view of the misty Chatsworth Lake:
http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/showphoto.php/photo/9641

Here is a picture of a disturbed individual who jumped in front of my camera just as I was taking a picture of a misty savannah (This was before he slugged down some of my homemade wine.)
What a buttmunch. :)
http://gallery.njpinebarrens.com/showphoto.php/photo/9642

Another good day to be suckin' air.
Scott
 

whippoorbill

Explorer
Jul 29, 2003
675
121
65
Bridgeton
Nice, Gentlemen. Some of my nicest walks/hikes in the barrens have been in the rain. There is something extremely peaceful about all the pine green and the falling, dripping water ... especially this time of year.

Very subtle Al. I like the way you think.
Scott

Scott ... Al is also famous for beating around the "bush".

Bill
 

dragoncjo

Piney
Aug 12, 2005
1,524
238
42
camden county
Recognize alot of those spots, especially the fallen garage by the blueberry fields. That area was very dry in the summer good to see it filling back up. Did any of you happen to find any large in tact at. white cedar swamps? Preferable, behind the lake(north).
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,180
Recognize alot of those spots, especially the fallen garage by the blueberry fields. That area was very dry in the summer good to see it filling back up. Did any of you happen to find any large in tact at. white cedar swamps? Preferable, behind the lake(north).

It was raining pretty hard when we were behind the lake, and I had my head down so my hat would keep the rain off my glasses. Al was walking pretty blind at this point. I did not see much in that area since we edited our route to finish earlier and may have missed them.

Guy
 

long-a-coming

Explorer
Mar 28, 2005
778
14
50
Berlin Twp
Missed the cedars too. Good reason to go back real soon. It was great to be back out on a hike. The season is firing up and I'll be out there whenever I can, as the balance of family, work, and rec can be very tough sometimes. Loved the area. Both the hike and the after hike tailgate in Chatsworth Woods was a great time with great people.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,258
Pines; Bamber area
Did any of you happen to find any large in tact at. white cedar swamps? Preferable, behind the lake(north).

Interesting question Chris. Terrain is one of my favorite topics. The Microsoft Live Search Map tool is great for investigating terrain before you get there.

This is the arial view of a canal at the northernmost part of the blueberry fields.

watermark.php


This is the same view in birdseye, clearly showing cedars. The lighter green trees on the east edge are pitch pine.

watermark.php


So yes, there is fairly large cedar groupings there, but we have all seen larger, and the groupings in that area are not continuous.

Live maps: http://maps.live.com/
 

dragoncjo

Piney
Aug 12, 2005
1,524
238
42
camden county
Thanks for those shots Bob. I've spent a good amount of time behind the lake looking for a certain slithering animal. I've really been trying to locate a good intact cedar swamp, but it seems much of that sort of thing isn't there, due to heavy agr. use. I did find a small intact cedar swamp along the lake, but nothing significant, and it disappeared as it turned into flooded blueberry field. I'll have to keep searching.
 

MartGBC

Scout
Sep 10, 2008
79
0
Glendora
Why do people always have to poke around a hunter's stand when you can see it is in use. By showing the stand and camera it is now possible for other people to find it and possibly harrass the guy or steal his stand and canera. What did he do to deserve that?
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,180
Why do people always have to poke around a hunter's stand when you can see it is in use. By showing the stand and camera it is now possible for other people to find it and possibly harrass the guy or steal his stand and canera. What did he do to deserve that?

If you think you can find it, and you do, I will apologize for posting the photo's. Until then I stand by what I posted. They are some big woods my friend, and unless the stand is yours I don't see me apologizing. I did not tell where it was, and I bet without a GPS and looking over any tracks or waypoints, any of us who were there would be hard pressed to find it again.

I have made some mistakes over the years posting things I should not have, but in this instance I have no regrets.

Guy
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
Why do people always have to poke around a hunter's stand when you can see it is in use. By showing the stand and camera it is now possible for other people to find it and possibly harrass the guy or steal his stand and canera. What did he do to deserve that?

You're right, the exact location of that stand is really easy to determine from the photos.
It is in the middle of the 10,000+/- acre Parker Preserve in a pine tree.
Can't miss it.
We spent about two minutes there and disturbed nothing.
This hunter, with his mechanical feeder and camera, does more disturbance hauling in his Walmart feed bags, changing batterires in the feeder spreader motor and downloading his camera.
No harm, no foul.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,180
So without cheating you have something to do next weekend Bob. Then think about finding it from the info in my post.


Guy
 

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,552
2,465
59
millville nj
www.youtube.com
I for one can find the stand again only because i hit my enter button and made a waypoint at the area and i have yet to delete it.Don't know why i did it,i have no intention of getting back.I also have the aerial still and could porbably eventually find it just from the aerial because i know basically where i was but the fellow didn't make a trail to it that i seen and we happened on it purely by bushwackers chance.The contraption wasn't disturbed and other then the pic the guy will have of me urinating under the feeder I don't think he will have any objections to us being there.Oh yeah i also looked into the lens and picked a booger too.he may not care for that either.
Al
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,180
I am finished with this thread and will not be posting again on it. I try to give those who may have an interest in this area and can't get there a glimpse into what we have found and viewed; however, I am beginning to think that it is more trouble than it is worth.

Guy
 

grendel

Explorer
Feb 24, 2006
561
2
Fredericksburg VA
I am finished with this thread and will not be posting again on it. I try to give those who may have an interest in this area and can't get there a glimpse into what we have found and viewed; however, I am beginning to think that it is more trouble than it is worth.

Guy

I enjoy your efforts. If you hit the lottery and gave everyone on this site a million dollars, someone would complain that you screwed up their taxes.
 
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