I ventured off early this afternoon, following your directions, Guy, on a quest to find at least one of the lakes. I found A lake, but I don't think is was one of the Twin Lakes. I turned left on Savoy Road at the Route 72 RR bridge, crossed the railroad tracks and took the most left of I believe three sand roads that were more or less straight ahead after I crossed the tracks. I turned right at the first junction and when I came to the first four-way intersection, I turned right again. After a drive roughly as long as the first right I could see a lake through the trees, not far away. Before that, I passed the rye (goes well with liverworst, onion salt and mustard), that clearing you mentioned in your recent "front page" article, Ben, which you wrote is called that by hunters. It looked nice and neat. I saw other clearings, which is a good idea.
I didn't see any signs and after I followed the sand road, which was carpeted by needles and other debris, alongside the lake, and parked near a narrow strip of land that crossed the water. Except for a few puddles, which were not in the way, I found the ground quite dry.
I crossed the lake and turned left. The needle carpeted trail ended after about 1/4 mile, and there was a turn around. I went back and passed the bridge, following the trail that skirted the water. The trail went away from the water, and soon the trail, more like a sand road, was bare, somewhat think sand, but not quite sugar sand (maybe a lump or two). Soon I the railroad tracks were in front of me, and I turned left, skirting the tracks to my right. After 1/2 mile or so, I came to the railroad siding switch. I backtracked and crossed back over the stip of land to the other side back to the car.After I crossed over the lake, I turned left, and followed a needle carpeted trail, bearing to the left a junctions. I came to the railroad tracks again, beared left, and followed the road, which opened up a little, skirting the tracks to my right again. Between the tracks and the sand road I followed was a depression, filled with a strip-grove of cedars To my left, with just low growth between, was the lake. At one point I crossed a small wooden bridge. I heard what I believed were animals sounds coming from the lake area. One was a peep, either a bird or maybe spring peeper? I also heard a chorus of sounds that had rhythm similar to crickets but with a different tone, a little like the sound when you're driving with a wheel that's not on quite right or have a bad bearing. It went something like "Chit--chit-chit-chit Chit-chit-chit-chit I saw a fallen tree that looked like it was pulled to the side of the road, on the edge, almost parallel to it. A cable or rope was attahched between it and a think stalk of a bush or tree. I thought is funny if anyone would expect that little stick to hold the big long in place, as if it were a leash.
I followed the small sand road and came upon the junction where earlier I had turned left from the other direction to find the switch. I turned left and followed the trail to the land bridge over the lake. At one point I turned right, and went away from the lake and then swung back. The trail to my left that was closer to the creek evidently had dead ended somewhere between where I turned right and where the trail I was on swung back towards the lake. I crossed over the creek, got in my car, and drove back to Savoy Road. This time I sprayed myself and Dolly with OFF, which contains DEET. I didn't mention on my post about my hike on the Botona trail from Apple Pie Hill to just above the Carranza Memorial that I picked up a chigger in an unmentionable area of my body. The hikers I had met that day mentioned that the chiggers are now out. I didn't pick up anything today. Maybe I didn't even need bug spray, as it was cool and a little windy.
Instead of turning left to return to Route 72, I turned right on Savoy, now, I believe, Padadena road, to see if it connected to route 539. It did, but it changed names at least once. I think it was Malone or something. There was a sign for some kind of pancake breakfast house, which I had passed and had seen signs for earlier. I forget the name of the breakfast house. I don't believe it was Frank Zappa's SAINT ALFONSO'S BREAKFAST HOUSE, where, after "trudging through the tundra, up north where the doggies go and make the yellow snow..., where the pancakes are all light and fluffy brown, there's the finest in the town."
I turned left on Route 539, heading north. Soon I came to the junction where route 530 splits off to go to Whiting, and continued on 539 past Fort Dix and past the Paintball place. This road is much more scenic and less congeswted than Route 206 between Trenton and Route 70, and I also passed a gas station where gas was almost as cheap as that on route 206 just outside of Trenton.
On Pasadena road, the only traffic I remember encountering was a school bus that had stopped well-ahead of me, coming the other way. Shortly before the bus, on my side of the road, was a Manchester Township police car, parked on the side of the road. This seemed like a nice, rural area. I just hope the police car was a sample of the seriousness of law enforcement, to keep the public safe and the woods vandal free.
