Job's Old Swamp, A PBX Hike

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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All,

On January 7 there was a discussion with a few PBX members about getting together for a hike as we had not had many this season. At that time I was working on finding a few stones in Job's Swamp and offered to make a hike out of it. Bob agreed to it so I mapped out a route and came up with a name. Unfortunately, as you know this winter was a little out of the ordinary and the date of the hike kept changing. I did not want to stone search in the snow. It has taken until today for it to come to pass and even then a few members were not able to make it because of other obligations. Just last week Bob announced it to all members. Here is an edited version of that from Bob.

Boys, as you can see in the attached trip list (and if my tally is correct), this upcoming exploration will be our 70th in the history of the Pine Barren Explorers. I have not missed any of these trips.

Guy has come up with this short explore titled “Job’s Old Swamp” that will bring us into some wild areas in the back of Whites Bogs, next to Fort Dix property. I always wanted to get back to this area too. I think it is very infrequently visited.

This trip is 4 miles long if you are a crow.

Normally, we go on Saturday, but this trip has been very hard to schedule. April is always busy for me…so this one will be outside the normal. We are meeting at 9 AM on Sunday, 12 April (next week). Let me know if you are coming so we can look for you if you are running late.

Happy trails!

Bob



So this morning at 9AM we met along route 70 at the southern edge of Job's Old Swamp. This swamp is all of the area at the below link bounded by the Ft Dix property on the East, Bombing Range Road on the North, Whitebog on the West, and Route 70 on the South.

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.9635470760442&lng=-74.45510644119264&z=15&type=hybrid&gpx=

On this hike was rednekF350, bobpbx, teegate (myself), Hewey, lost town hunter, Mike Baker from MikeBaker.com, Mickey Coen, and Mark Szutarski.


The beginning of the hike was the stone searching portion. I had acquired an old map from 1919 with the property owners names and stone locations. The primary owners at that time were Mick and J.J. White. On one corner of J.J. Whites property he had placed a creosoted post which is mention on this portion of the map.


post.jpg



We found the post in very good shape.


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We were also looking for a stone that was the "Beginning Corner of the Shinn Survey" from 1796 which was also shown on the 1919 map.


jjwhiteshinn1796.jpg



And from what I can tell we found it. It is a huge stone laying on its side.


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We also found a few other stones. This one on the Ft. Dix line underground.


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This appears to be a nice marble stone tilted on it's side. I will be going back and examining this one more closely.


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And this large one underground. I tried to feel to see if it was incised but could not tell.


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And the day would not be complte without our first male box turtle of the season. It looked tired.


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Lunch time in Job's Swamp.


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At this point we had a 1 mile straight hike directly across the swamp to Troy Island on the other side. This portion would seperate the men from the boys and was at times extremely tough. In the end we all came through.

A cedar stand along the way.

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After more than an hour we finally made it to the series of islands on the West side of the swamp.


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Guy
 
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bobpbx

Piney
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Oct 25, 2002
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Pines; Bamber area
Guy, that was a tough hike, even for our standards. A very primitive swamp. Mountain laurel 10-14 feet high along with heavy brier made it difficult, but I would not have it any other way. Another tromp through an area that few people see. Thanks for the trip, and for your support. I did not bring my camera this time.
 

Teegate

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I am pretty confident he is a little uncomfortable today. We actually asked him if he had things to do today. He did say he was busy Tuesday. But he looked as usual when he pulled away for his ride home.
 

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
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Love them islands! Never made it there but have had it on my island list for years.I have to get there now.Nicer then I imagined from the photos.Nice stones too.Stones and islands and as usual I had to work Sunday,my first day shift.
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
5,064
3,341
Pestletown, N.J.
I think we should have called it Job's Old Swamp For Old Men.
Idle chit chat is starting to lean towards war stories about ailments, aches and swollen prostates, something I never imagined I would hear on a PBX hike.
Well it's happening but we ain't quittin' till someone gets airlifted.
:)

It was a deep and mysterious woods that has not been trodden by man for a very long time. Evidence of historic cedar harvesting was everywhere and the few remaining uncut trees appeared to be well over 100 years old. The darkness and the cool air of the cedars was replaced around noon with an arduous stretch of black gum, red maple and laurel mired in greenbriar that had everyone bogged down for nearly two hours.

After completing the hike it only took a few minutes and a cold beer or three to make one forget the tough spots and instead appreciate the view into some early pines history and a woods seldom seen.

Thanks Guy and Bob for putting it together.

My first pic is a rotted stump with holes on two sides allowing sunlight to illuminate leaves beneath a foot of water. The photo did not do this justice at all.


Here is a man who puts all of us to shame. Never complaining about pain or failing body parts, the 77 year old Ted Gordon made it through the 5.75 mile trek with flying colors. Ted is indeed royalty in the World of The Pines.
I can only hope that I am out there at 77 like our man Ted
He and I holding up an 84" circumference Atlantic White.


We inspected the remains of one of the most intact sawmills
I have ever seen. These are the type that were built on the site of a cedar cutting and were then abandoned after the harvest. Ted told us that many of the cylindrical footings were made using nail kegs as forms.



I thoroughly enjoyed this hike and the rescheduling paid off tremendously; giving us a perfect weather day.

I brought the usual Italian specialties, homemade wine and some craft beer from Evolution Brewing in Salisbury MD.
I really could have stayed all night.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,693
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Pines; Bamber area
That first paragraph in your post is classically you Scott...what a hoot!

This is my track to Troy Island with Mike. How does yours compare? Can you see where we all got scarred up and blocked by the briar wall?

Jaunt to Troy.PNG
 

Teegate

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You forgot falling, bleeding, feet above head, etc.
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
5,064
3,341
Pestletown, N.J.
That first paragraph in your post is classically you Scott...what a hoot!

This is my track to Troy Island with Mike. How does yours compare? Can you see where we all got scarred up and blocked by the briar wall?

I haven't viewed my track yet but I am sure it will show similar stalling in those areas.
For me, the last few hundred yards before popping out onto Rte. 70 really added insult to injury.
 

Teegate

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For me, the last few hundred yards before popping out onto Rte. 70 really added insult to injury.

They were really tough. When on the phone with you I was in them, and when you said you were going right to the vehicles I figured you would not have to deal with them. Then..... we talked again and you told me you were heading to 70 and I got concerned.

I somehow beat everyone to the vehicles and Bob and the others were ahead of me. I am still trying to figure out how that happened.
 

Hewey

Piney
Mar 10, 2005
1,042
110
Pinewald, NJ
This hike was a long time coming! After spending way to much time inside this past winter it was great to get back out and stretch my legs! We could have not asked for a better Spring day for a PBX excursion. Thank you Bob and Guy for putting it together. Thank you Scott for the wine and food.

old mossy rotten stumps from when this area of the swamp was logged long ago.


All that is left of the old corduroy road.


A large Cherry Birch we found just off to the side of the survey line.



Survey line through the cedar.


Although most of the mile long push through the swamp to Troy Island looked like this.


I did come across some open pockets in the tangled mess that were pretty cool.


I found a high dry spot in the swamp that had plenty of deer sign on it. I almost stepped on this shed antler.


Bob and Mike with a large White Cedar that Mark knew was in the swamp and was able to lead us to the tree.



Chris
 

manumuskin

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Jul 20, 2003
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millville nj
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Haven't seen an aerial yet that can predict briar entanglement or the lack thereof Al.
Your right,just looks like less pine to the north,doesn't necessarily mean less briar unless it means there are no pine because it's wetter.I will gravitate toward areas that look wet/black because I know briar doesn't like to be flooded.I see no black areas where you hit the wall so yes it may not have been easily side stepped.The worst areas seem to be along the edge of swamps or where the water table is close but not at the surface though I have seen very nasty briars on hilltops as well but I have never seen bad briars in a knee deep swamp,maybe on the clumps but not in the water.
 

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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I find it interesting it is all along route 70. This makes me believe it is growing well because that area has been burned to keep cigarettes from starting fires when thrown from cars.
 
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