Egg Harbor River Kayak Trip

[Wick]

Looked at the weather for today and realized it was going to be the warmest day of the week. Did not have another driver to go with me and my 2 kids for a trip on the Mullica or Batsto. So I decided to try Palace Outfitters and do the 2-3 hour kayak trip. The flow and level were perfect. The only low spot was right in front of Weymouth Furnace. The river bed has a lot sand and gravel and not the vegetation along the bottom that the Wading has. One noticeable difference was the amount of trees trunks, branches and blow downs in the water. There were not any large sandy beaches like the Wading has. The bank had a lot of tall red flowers here and there. There was 1 purple flower that was very cool. I did not have a camera so I was not able to take any pics of the plants. At the location were the kayaks came out there was blue/green slag all in the water like you find in the road at Martha Furnace.

 

[RJG]

I see lots of cranes in the marsh where I live and in the freshwater lakes, ponds and streams I fish, but in all the years I have hiked in NJ I have never seen one in a pine barrens stream.

 

[bobpbx]

Looked at the weather for today and realized it was going to be the warmest day of the week. Did not have another driver to go with me and my 2 kids for a trip on the Mullica or Batsto. So I decided to try Palace Outfitters and do the 2-3 hour kayak trip. The flow and level were perfect. The only low spot was right in front of Weymouth Furnace. The river bed has a lot sand and gravel and not the vegetation along the bottom that the Wading has. One noticeable difference was the amount of trees trunks, branches and blow downs in the water. There were not any large sandy beaches like the Wading has. The bank had a lot of tall red flowers here and there. There was 1 purple flower that was very cool. I did not have a camera so I was not able to take any pics of the plants. At the location were the kayaks came out there was blue/green slag all in the water like you find in the road at Martha Furnace.

The red flowers were likely Lobelia cardinalis and the purple either pickerel weed or purple loosestrife.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

www.wildflower.org

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

www.wildflower.org

 

[Wick]

I see lots of cranes in the marsh where I live and in the freshwater lakes, ponds and streams I fish, but in all the years I have hiked in NJ I have never seen one in a pine barrens stream.

RJG
When we first came down the river we saw the shape of some kind of bird. As we got closer we thought it was even fake because it did not move at all. My son paddled by and was only 5 feet away. At that point it had not moved until we just about past it and then it opened its beak but still did not move. As we went further downstream I kept looking back but it still did not leave its spot.

 

[Wick]

The red flowers were likely Lobelia cardinalis and the purple either pickerel weed or purple loosestrife.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

www.wildflower.org

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

www.wildflower.org

Bob, you are spot on with the red flower but the purple flower was more like an orchid? It was the only flower in with other green stalked plants without flowers and it was on a very tiny grassy island or they may have been growing out of the steam bed itself. Its color and its soft looking leaves really made it stand out.

 

[gipsie]

Looked at the weather for today and realized it was going to be the warmest day of the week. Did not have another driver to go with me and my 2 kids for a trip on the Mullica or Batsto. So I decided to try Palace Outfitters and do the 2-3 hour kayak trip. The flow and level were perfect. The only low spot was right in front of Weymouth Furnace. The river bed has a lot sand and gravel and not the vegetation along the bottom that the Wading has. One noticeable difference was the amount of trees trunks, branches and blow downs in the water. There were not any large sandy beaches like the Wading has. The bank had a lot of tall red flowers here and there. There was 1 purple flower that was very cool. I did not have a camera so I was not able to take any pics of the plants. At the location were the kayaks came out there was blue/green slag all in the water like you find in the road at Martha Furnace.

This is absolutely my favorite kayak trip ever, except we usually go all the way to Lake Lenape. It is a great day trip and never seems to disappoint no matter the water level.

 

[bobpbx]

Bob, you are spot on with the red flower but the purple flower was more like an orchid? It was the only flower in with other green stalked plants without flowers and it was on a very tiny grassy island or they may have been growing out of the steam bed itself. Its color and its soft looking leaves really made it stand out.

The only other one this time of year I can think of is purple loosestrife or Decodon verticillatus.

Lythrum salicaria - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Decodon verticillatus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Wick]

The only other one this time of year I can think of is purple loosestrife or Decodon verticillatus.

Lythrum salicaria - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Decodon verticillatus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It did not look like either of those. It had maybe 4 or 5 pointed petals in a star shape

 

[RJG]

RJG
When we first came down the river we saw the shape of some kind of bird. As we got closer we thought it was even fake because it did not move at all. My son paddled by and was only 5 feet away. At that point it had not moved until we just about past it and then it opened its beak but still did not move. As we went further downstream I kept looking back but it still did not leave its spot.

Cranes can make an awfully loud screeching sound if you startle them. If you think about it, they do have the body shape of the mythical Jersey Devil. One could see how someone could be walking in the pines in low light at dusk or dawn and startle a crane fishing in a stream, then mistake its scream and body shape as it’s flying away as the Jersey Devil, especially if they had been imbibing that day.

 

[RJG]

This is absolutely my favorite kayak trip ever, except we usually go all the way to Lake Lenape. It is a great day trip and never seems to disappoint no matter the water level.

I fished Lake Lenape on Sunday. Right now the water level is pretty low.

Lake Lenape is a good lake for fishing, but it is also one of the two lakes in South Jersey where you are allowed to use an outboard motor with unlimited power. There were several water skiers and boats towing inner tubes when I was there on Sunday. For some reason there is almost always one person in a boat who will come right next to your kayak with their boat planed at the right angle to put up the maximum wake. On Sunday there was a father with his children towing an inner tube putting up a 2’-3’ wake and he made two passes at me, laughing the whole time as I quickly reeled in my fishing rod and grabbed my paddle to turn into his wake before it broke into waves and dumped me into the lake. If that guy ever wins Father of The Year I’m going to contest it. LOL

 

[66C10]

Kayaked the Maurice river this weekend from Almond Rd to Sherman Ave. Water was low had to get out in a few spots but what a beautiful trip.

 

[gipsie]

I fished Lake Lenape on Sunday. Right now the water level is pretty low.

Lake Lenape is a good lake for fishing, but it is also one of the two lakes in South Jersey where you are allowed to use an outboard motor with unlimited power. There were several water skiers and boats towing inner tubes when I was there on Sunday. For some reason there is almost always one person in a boat who will come right next to your kayak with their boat planed at the right angle to put up the maximum wake. On Sunday there was a father with his children towing an inner tube putting up a 2’-3’ wake and he made two passes at me, laughing the whole time as I quickly reeled in my fishing rod and grabbed my paddle to turn into his wake before it broke into waves and dumped me into the lake. If that guy ever wins Father of The Year I’m going to contest it. LOL

That drives me nuts but it is much better after the summer. If they won't outlaw them completely, they need to raise the cost of those permits. I think they are only like $5.

 

[amf]

Bob, you are spot on with the red flower but the purple flower was more like an orchid? It was the only flower in with other green stalked plants without flowers and it was on a very tiny grassy island or they may have been growing out of the steam bed itself. Its color and its soft looking leaves really made it stand out.

Possibly a rose pogonia orchid. I've seen them on the pink side of the purple spectrum... not sure if this is their normal flowering season.

 

[bobpbx]

Possibly a rose pogonia orchid. I've seen them on the pink side of the purple spectrum... not sure if this is their normal flowering season.

Yes, this is too late for them, they are in seed now. I was thinking of this some more. I never canoed that river (I should), but I wonder if Wick was seeing the blue lobelia that should be in that area.

Lobelia puberula - Native Plant Society of Texas

www.npsot.org

 

[oji]

Yes, this is too late for them, they are in seed now. I was thinking of this some more. I never canoed that river (I should), but I wonder if Wick was seeing the blue lobelia that should be in that area.

Lobelia puberula - Native Plant Society of Texas

www.npsot.org

Maybe Mimulus ringens?

 

[bobpbx]

Maybe Mimulus ringens?

Yes, could be that too. Monkey flower. I can't recall things that happened two days ago, but I think I was with you when I first saw that flower. Was it Pemberton, behind the now defunct college, on Rancocas Creek?

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

www.wildflower.org

 

[oji]

Yes, could be that too. Monkey flower. I can't recall things that happened two days ago, but I think I was with you when I first saw that flower. Was it Pemberton, behind the now defunct college, on Rancocas Creek?

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin

www.wildflower.org

Yes, right at the canoe launch on the bypass.

 

[Wick]

Yes, this is too late for them, they are in seed now. I was thinking of this some more. I never canoed that river (I should), but I wonder if Wick was seeing the blue lobelia that should be in that area.

Lobelia puberula - Native Plant Society of Texas

www.npsot.org

It was a single flower on a stem.

 

[bobpbx]

Possibly a rose pogonia orchid. I've seen them on the pink side of the purple spectrum... not sure if this is their normal flowering season.

I got word from a friend yesterday (Gerry Moore) that Rose Pogonia "is possible as some populations of P. ophioglossoides, like many violet species, will have a second (reduced) flush of flowers in late summer and early fall. I have seen P. ophioglossoides blooming in late August and September in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland Cos. Arethusa, Calopogon and Cleistes (Cleistesiopsis) don’t do this to my knowledge. Some of these southern populations of Pogonia also produce plants with two flowers."

So, it can happen this late, though I've not seen it.

 

[oji]