All,
On 1/31/2018 all members of PBX received this edited message from Bob.
This trip won’t be roses and green grass. It will at times be a hard bushwack through pygmy pines and scrub oaks, those species snatching at your clothing, trying mightily to tear them off your body and fling the scraps to the wind and to the turkey vultures overhead, who will be casting an evil eye upon you, as they circle lower and lower, eager to rip and tear at your wasted flesh.
This is all true. And I have to selfishly say, that I designed this trip because I want to be tested a bit, and to see what this wilderness is like, because we’ll be in some areas that nobody goes through on foot. Sure, we might hear the whine of a motorcycle now and then, but they have a ride out. We won’t be so lucky.
I used to be a Costco member, of which there is one at the junction of route 72 and the Parkway. I’d often go in the door, while also peering over at the plains, which in that area begins on the side of their building (really), and wonder, “what’s it like to walk from here to route 539 through that tangle”?
If you want to join me, we’ll likely meet on route 539, on Saturday, 17 March. We are starting at Costco (of course!), so time and exact location to meet will be determined later.
Five miles as the crow flies men!
Happy Trails!
bob
So this morning at 8:30 eight members of PBX met at the end of our hike on 539 and we then promptly drove two vehicles to the Costo parking lot to start our day. By 9:07AM we were on the move.
In the parking lot.
The view from the parking lot that inspired Bob.
The first location we were heading to was 1 mile away. It was an old dump that I visited a few years back and mentioned it on this site. In 1931 the dump is not there in the aerial photos but by 1951 it was. It is obvious the towns in that area along the shore were using this property to dispose of their trash. However, in the 1956 aerials the state had built the Garden State Parkway effectively blocking the road to the dump off.
1951
And in 1956 you can see the Parkway blocking the road.
And the view of a very small portion of the dump when I visited there in the past.
After leaving there we started to smell the controlled burning that went on today. Soon we could see a faint plume in the distance.
Bob decided to have a better look. He stood on my back and climbed this tree.
Another hour of hiking and we stopped for lunch.
Some of the crew.
Into the obyss.
Bob with his new backpack. Quite impressive if I say so myself. Looks well built. (The backpack that is
)
And later in the day the plume was more impressive.
And then it was over.
I was most impressed with a stone hill we came upon along the route. In the past someone had mined large pieces of stone to either built foundations for homes, a fireplace, or even property stones. I will return one day to investigate further.
Tracks to come later.
Guy
On 1/31/2018 all members of PBX received this edited message from Bob.
This trip won’t be roses and green grass. It will at times be a hard bushwack through pygmy pines and scrub oaks, those species snatching at your clothing, trying mightily to tear them off your body and fling the scraps to the wind and to the turkey vultures overhead, who will be casting an evil eye upon you, as they circle lower and lower, eager to rip and tear at your wasted flesh.
This is all true. And I have to selfishly say, that I designed this trip because I want to be tested a bit, and to see what this wilderness is like, because we’ll be in some areas that nobody goes through on foot. Sure, we might hear the whine of a motorcycle now and then, but they have a ride out. We won’t be so lucky.
I used to be a Costco member, of which there is one at the junction of route 72 and the Parkway. I’d often go in the door, while also peering over at the plains, which in that area begins on the side of their building (really), and wonder, “what’s it like to walk from here to route 539 through that tangle”?
If you want to join me, we’ll likely meet on route 539, on Saturday, 17 March. We are starting at Costco (of course!), so time and exact location to meet will be determined later.
Five miles as the crow flies men!
Happy Trails!
bob
So this morning at 8:30 eight members of PBX met at the end of our hike on 539 and we then promptly drove two vehicles to the Costo parking lot to start our day. By 9:07AM we were on the move.
In the parking lot.
The view from the parking lot that inspired Bob.
The first location we were heading to was 1 mile away. It was an old dump that I visited a few years back and mentioned it on this site. In 1931 the dump is not there in the aerial photos but by 1951 it was. It is obvious the towns in that area along the shore were using this property to dispose of their trash. However, in the 1956 aerials the state had built the Garden State Parkway effectively blocking the road to the dump off.
1951
And in 1956 you can see the Parkway blocking the road.
And the view of a very small portion of the dump when I visited there in the past.
After leaving there we started to smell the controlled burning that went on today. Soon we could see a faint plume in the distance.
Bob decided to have a better look. He stood on my back and climbed this tree.
Another hour of hiking and we stopped for lunch.
Some of the crew.
Into the obyss.
Bob with his new backpack. Quite impressive if I say so myself. Looks well built. (The backpack that is
)
And later in the day the plume was more impressive.
And then it was over.
I was most impressed with a stone hill we came upon along the route. In the past someone had mined large pieces of stone to either built foundations for homes, a fireplace, or even property stones. I will return one day to investigate further.
Tracks to come later.
Guy
Last edited:
