the woods along the Roberts branch in Wharton is seriously thick. Recently a set of clearings worked it's way into some PBX conversations, but attempts to reach them seemed just too far off of schedule. I had seen these clearings before in aerials and had been curious for some time, so I decided to make the trip there today.
I decided to approach from the east side of the Roberts due to heavy ice to the north and private land to the west. This required me to cross the Roberts. I have kayaked enough of it to know that is narrows considerably the further north one goes, but I still needed to construct a make-shift bridge from dead cedar to cross the approx. 5' depth.
I was then struck with very thick cat brier making the 1/2 mile particularly difficult. I eventually found the first clearing which stood in sharp contrast to the density of the forest around it.
I reached a total of four clearings, all similar, but differing in size. The ground was higher than the woods around them. The floor was typical sugar sand with lichen covered moss. Here are a few random photos:
What was most stricking, was the isolation of these clearings and lack of any evidence of human intrusion. Only one had an old feeder, now rotting away on the ground. No garbage anywhere. Virgin as things get in the pine barrens.
When I arrived at the last and largest of the clearings, I was rewarded. This clearing had the purest suger sand floor I've seen in a long time. The only disturbance were some recent buck tracks. I thought to myself that I could probably live right there and no one would ever know. You could almost taste the isolation in the air.
Notice the "dune" or mound in the middle.
There was a significant amount of sandstone here.
It was getting late and I needed to head back
Reaching the clearings is not an easy task. The woods are filled with brier. I suspect this is what has kept the area so protected. Spungs, filled with encroaching leather leaf were frequent.
and some consumed by leather leaf
On my way home (and a distance from the clearings) I crossed the Roberts branch again further north and came upon a hunters trial. He had cut (by way of chain saw I would guess) a series of intersecting cedars to cross the river and flood plain. He probably took out 20 cedars. Many in the 60-70 year old range. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it doesn't mean anything, but just seemed a bit over zealous for lack of a better term.
Hope you enjoyed the report. I had a great time in a very wild area.
Jeff
I decided to approach from the east side of the Roberts due to heavy ice to the north and private land to the west. This required me to cross the Roberts. I have kayaked enough of it to know that is narrows considerably the further north one goes, but I still needed to construct a make-shift bridge from dead cedar to cross the approx. 5' depth.
I was then struck with very thick cat brier making the 1/2 mile particularly difficult. I eventually found the first clearing which stood in sharp contrast to the density of the forest around it.
I reached a total of four clearings, all similar, but differing in size. The ground was higher than the woods around them. The floor was typical sugar sand with lichen covered moss. Here are a few random photos:
What was most stricking, was the isolation of these clearings and lack of any evidence of human intrusion. Only one had an old feeder, now rotting away on the ground. No garbage anywhere. Virgin as things get in the pine barrens.
When I arrived at the last and largest of the clearings, I was rewarded. This clearing had the purest suger sand floor I've seen in a long time. The only disturbance were some recent buck tracks. I thought to myself that I could probably live right there and no one would ever know. You could almost taste the isolation in the air.
Notice the "dune" or mound in the middle.
There was a significant amount of sandstone here.
It was getting late and I needed to head back
Reaching the clearings is not an easy task. The woods are filled with brier. I suspect this is what has kept the area so protected. Spungs, filled with encroaching leather leaf were frequent.
and some consumed by leather leaf
On my way home (and a distance from the clearings) I crossed the Roberts branch again further north and came upon a hunters trial. He had cut (by way of chain saw I would guess) a series of intersecting cedars to cross the river and flood plain. He probably took out 20 cedars. Many in the 60-70 year old range. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it doesn't mean anything, but just seemed a bit over zealous for lack of a better term.
Hope you enjoyed the report. I had a great time in a very wild area.
Jeff
