All,
Today a few members of the PBX hiking club headed out to again explore Wescoat Bog and a few other interesting locations in that area. For those of you who do not know, the Wescoat Bog is the fan shaped bog on the edge of the Great Swamp between Atsion and Batsto. In attendance was TeeGate (Me), Bobpbx, Pinelandpaddler, and another member of PBX not from this site. And also in attendance was Bob’s dog Buddy who made the day even more interesting. He took a swim and walked across a log that would have made the Walenda's proud.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.69...976&spn=0.012846,0.030556&t=k&om=1&iwloc=addr
We parked along the road from Atsion to Batsto and started our hike by bushwhacking to the bog. Along the way we encountered this interesting gem.
And you can see in this photo how vehicles driving where they should not be has left their mark.
As usual we came upon a hunters blind that we had to check out. As you can see they had the best of creature comforts.
A view of one of the many frozen area’s we encountered.
Arriving as Wescoat I found the very NE corner state monument. You can see it was a corner by the angled slash marks, and it is in the town of Hammonton because of the letter “H”. When the state purchased Wharton in the mid 50’s this bog was still in private ownership and was considered an “exception”. That means all of the property in that area was Wharton “except” Wescoat Bogs.
This area is quite remote and Bob was surprised to find this quantity of this particular flower growing in the corner of the bog. I am embarrassed to admit I have forgotten the name, so hopefully Bob will help me out.
We then went looking for a very old tractor wheel that RedneckF350 informed us was there. He gave us what he felt was the approximate coordinates from his remembrance of where it was, and I have to say he was way off. When we finally found it we were all of 28 feet away. Give us more accurate coordinates the next time Scott
And less than 40 feet away Bob found another state property stone. No need to post a photo of another one.
From there we headed to the dam or mill we had visited a few years back, and decided to check it out again. Here is Bob on the left relaxing during lunch. You can see the remains of the dam for the mill pond behind him.
http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/completepbx/02102007/Bob:Paul.JPG[/IMG]
In this photo you can see where the dam or mill had been located, with only the high ground that surround the mill pond remaining. There are very old cedar logs still remaining just a few feet below the water at this location.
I will let Pinelandpaddler if he wants give his historical perspective on this location.
All in all a great day to be in the pines. The average rating this time was about 8.5 with Bob giving it a 9. One of the higher rated hikes for sure.
Guy
Today a few members of the PBX hiking club headed out to again explore Wescoat Bog and a few other interesting locations in that area. For those of you who do not know, the Wescoat Bog is the fan shaped bog on the edge of the Great Swamp between Atsion and Batsto. In attendance was TeeGate (Me), Bobpbx, Pinelandpaddler, and another member of PBX not from this site. And also in attendance was Bob’s dog Buddy who made the day even more interesting. He took a swim and walked across a log that would have made the Walenda's proud.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.69...976&spn=0.012846,0.030556&t=k&om=1&iwloc=addr
We parked along the road from Atsion to Batsto and started our hike by bushwhacking to the bog. Along the way we encountered this interesting gem.
And you can see in this photo how vehicles driving where they should not be has left their mark.
As usual we came upon a hunters blind that we had to check out. As you can see they had the best of creature comforts.
A view of one of the many frozen area’s we encountered.
Arriving as Wescoat I found the very NE corner state monument. You can see it was a corner by the angled slash marks, and it is in the town of Hammonton because of the letter “H”. When the state purchased Wharton in the mid 50’s this bog was still in private ownership and was considered an “exception”. That means all of the property in that area was Wharton “except” Wescoat Bogs.
This area is quite remote and Bob was surprised to find this quantity of this particular flower growing in the corner of the bog. I am embarrassed to admit I have forgotten the name, so hopefully Bob will help me out.
We then went looking for a very old tractor wheel that RedneckF350 informed us was there. He gave us what he felt was the approximate coordinates from his remembrance of where it was, and I have to say he was way off. When we finally found it we were all of 28 feet away. Give us more accurate coordinates the next time Scott
And less than 40 feet away Bob found another state property stone. No need to post a photo of another one.
From there we headed to the dam or mill we had visited a few years back, and decided to check it out again. Here is Bob on the left relaxing during lunch. You can see the remains of the dam for the mill pond behind him.
http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/completepbx/02102007/Bob:Paul.JPG[/IMG]
In this photo you can see where the dam or mill had been located, with only the high ground that surround the mill pond remaining. There are very old cedar logs still remaining just a few feet below the water at this location.
I will let Pinelandpaddler if he wants give his historical perspective on this location.
All in all a great day to be in the pines. The average rating this time was about 8.5 with Bob giving it a 9. One of the higher rated hikes for sure.
Guy
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