October moves in, but summer still shines at times. I was in the woods today. So nice, so very nice.
Pine Barren Flora
- Thread starter bobpbx
- Start date
Love the Dragonfly.The stream appears to be flowing through and old cranberry bog turning maple swamp.Am I correct? Now that is a classic Bob picture.Whoever took that did a very good job.
My guess on that Al, is Viburnum nudum, also called Possumhaw, or Witherod. It is a member of the honeysuckle family.
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Al, that photo was taken on the Wading river, about a half mile (as the crow flies) downstream from Wading Pines Campground.
That Bob photo is by my friend Mark. I rarely get to see that grass (Sugarcane Plume-grass).
So what was at Area 151?
I punched that way-point in before I left home as I wanted to start there. That's where I stopped when working the river last year from the beaver dam down.
Bob,
I was wondering if I can pick your brain about gear again.
I've been wearing hip waders, and find they allow greater access to wetter areas. Today I ventured from solid land to marsh to water, trying to get to a marshy island for a better shot. Though no grass, there was, a few inches below the surface a mat of roots or grass that was unstable, and "bouncy", but it held me for a few feet, until I broke through and ended up stuck up to my thighs, and had to retreat. My backpack with lenses stayed dry luckily.
When you go on a hike, it seems like you go directly through swamp, rivers, briars, or whatever you encounter. You just keep pushing on. Do you wear 18" boots, or hip boots? And do you end up having to wade across streams, chest high? Do you ever get so stuck you have to fight your way out?
Great shots by the way. You find hidden treasure that few if any ever see.
I was wondering if I can pick your brain about gear again.
I've been wearing hip waders, and find they allow greater access to wetter areas. Today I ventured from solid land to marsh to water, trying to get to a marshy island for a better shot. Though no grass, there was, a few inches below the surface a mat of roots or grass that was unstable, and "bouncy", but it held me for a few feet, until I broke through and ended up stuck up to my thighs, and had to retreat. My backpack with lenses stayed dry luckily.
When you go on a hike, it seems like you go directly through swamp, rivers, briars, or whatever you encounter. You just keep pushing on. Do you wear 18" boots, or hip boots? And do you end up having to wade across streams, chest high? Do you ever get so stuck you have to fight your way out?
Great shots by the way. You find hidden treasure that few if any ever see.
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Always be careful when the ground bounces at a quaking bog. I have almost gone complete under on one PBX hike. With waders you will not survive.
I admit that I was alarmed when I broke through. I suppose I have to understand, and better evaluate, the stuff I am walking on and through.
Jon, I put on hip waders maybe 2-3 times a year out of the nearly 80 times I go out. I learned not to trust the bottom of ponds and rivers. If I can't get there in my 15" waders, I get the kayak out. There are very few creeks (other than the bigger ones like Wading, Batsto, Mullica, Oswego) in the pine barrens that I can't cross on logs or hummocks. I usually do not even try to wade across, as I don't trust the bottoms.
I do get stuck, but I always manage to get out, and I rarely get stuck over my boots. I was really surprised when I went in that deep in early September. I was not paying attention, as I was excited by the amount of rare plants I was seeing.
Those few times I use the hip boots are because of bad ticks (I saturate the boot), or when the vegetation is really wet from rain or lingering dew.
I do get stuck, but I always manage to get out, and I rarely get stuck over my boots. I was really surprised when I went in that deep in early September. I was not paying attention, as I was excited by the amount of rare plants I was seeing.
Those few times I use the hip boots are because of bad ticks (I saturate the boot), or when the vegetation is really wet from rain or lingering dew.
Here is a very good technique for getting out of mud once stuck,it's dirty but it works. If your in to your crotch and seem to be on the verge of winding up a fossil try this.Throw your self backwards onto your back (the dirty part) Now start wigling your hips back and forth and your legs as much as possible to break suction and worm your way backwards using shoulder and hip gyrations till you get your legs out to the knee.You can then roll over and pull yourself across the mud till you get to something to grab or solid ground where you can stand up.Once in up to your neck with arms pinned in the mud your pretty much toast.Don't let it get to that point.
Good advice MM. I wonder if anyone's ever gone down that way around here? Like quicksand in an old TV show.
Yes, you are correct. There have been many, many bridges there. One time, someone cut down fairly large white cedars to make a bridge big enough for an ATV, but someone destroyed it. I suspect the NJ WMA staff took it out.
PS: Guy, do you recognize the plants in the 3 photos with the green leaves?
PS: Guy, do you recognize the plants in the 3 photos with the green leaves?