Seven Scenic Savannahs...a PBX Hike

Teegate

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On February 6 all of the members of the Pine Barrens Explorers (PBX) received this edited email from bobpbx.

********
The title of our big trip for 2006 is entitled:

"Seven Scenic Savannahs"

This trip is 9.5 miles long by just connecting the waypoint dots, and we will be adding a mile or so by walking crooked and exploring as we go. The format will be the same as last year's, we will be using Wading Pines Campground as our end point and having a nice shower, a barbecue, and and a beer or two after we drag our sorry butts into camp.

This trip was inspired by Guy and Steve's love of the area around the Tulpehocken, bolstered by Ed and Stu's most recent explore into this wild and lovely area.

Sometimes walking in savannah land is tougher, and sometimes its easier. Either way, we have some deep swamp to go through between them, so get in shape. Seriously.
**********

So this morning at 6:30 we all met at 563 at the road to the Wading Pines Campground. There were 7 of us down from 9 because of a serious injury and work commitments. The seven included 5 from this site... bobpbx, Behr655, Woodjin, Onehand, and Teegate (myself).

From here we parked our cars at the parking area at the Wading Pines, and we then all piled into Bob's truck for the early morning ride across Hawkins Bridge to Carranza road about 2 miles north of Friendship on the east side of the Tulpehocken Creek.

Exiting the vehicle near Carranza road.

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Entering the woods.

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Within a few minutes we were blocked by a much deeper Tulpehocken than we had expected, so we improvised by building a bridge from the available downed tree's in the area.

Crossing the Tulp.

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The Tulpehocken is one of the nicest rivers in the pines.

[IMG][IMG]http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/completepbx/05062006/IMG_6869.JPG

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Bob and his interesting new hat in a savannah.

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Onehand also in a savannah.

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One of the nicest of the seven scenic savannahs. If you have never visited one you are missing out on the best places in the pines to visit. A must be!

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Now at this point for some reason my camera switched to B&W; however, they are interesting in any event. Here is Bob at the savannah.

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With the lack of rain the evidence is certainly visible of it's effects. Normally wet area's are completely dry and....well see for yourself.

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And while walking through this remote area I found this sharp gift that I kept for myself. It is nice and sharp :)

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And after 9.8 miles, and 9 hours we coasted into camp for a shower and a great cookout to end the evening.

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Our final hike until fall has ended, but the memories will last a lifetime. Thanks to all who attended, and to Edcampbell and Willow for their help yesterday in some preparation. And for those of you who continue to keep the ruts of the road on both side of you, I can assure you that you are missing out on the true wonders of the Pine Barrens.

Guy
 
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bobpbx

Piney
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Oct 25, 2002
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Pines; Bamber area
Great report Guy, and great pictures.

It was a really great trip, one for the memory books. I actually like that black and white savanna shot, looks like the old days of roughing it.

The one savanna we named "Behrland" is actually 1/4 mile long by 600 feet wide. It was astonishingly beautiful back there. Seeing those deer running through the water and grass off in the distance made it seem like we were in the African Serengeti.

Other spots I liked were the creek entering the Tulp at "Confluence", the open woods between "Mojave" and "Boone", and the other huge savanna at "Clean Start" and "Turbulance".

There is much more to explore back there. We have still only scratched the surface. A truly wild area of NJ. We went 9 miles through the woods and did not see or hear another person. Did not hear a car, nor a dog, nor anything but the wind.

And then back to a shower, a barbecue, a few beers and a cigar. Man, that is living life large!

Thanks for your help with the drops and at the campground Guy. Also thanks to Nick for driving us and dropping us off. I'm sure he thought it was nuts dropping us off so far in the wilderness and then leaving.

I have to give it a 9.5 with Onehands early 10. Big guys like big adventure, and crossing the Tulp was a real adventure. Everyone chipped in and made it work.

Happy trails again.......:cool:
 

Teegate

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Sorry I forgot to mention Nick. I was tired after a long day and was trying to rush off to bed. He seemed to enjoy taking us and had quite a few good jabs at us. And we had a few good ones for him also, especially the 72 circle incident. :)


Guy
 

bobpbx

Piney
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Oct 25, 2002
14,693
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Pines; Bamber area
TeeGate said:
Sorry I forgot to mention Nick. I was tired after a long day and was trying to rush off to bed. He seemed to enjoy taking us and had quite a few good jabs at us. And we had a few good ones for him also, especially the 72 circle incident. :) Guy

I don't think I heard the 72 circle incident. Refresh my memory.
 
Here are some of my shots from the day.

Sharing the bug juice
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Crossing the Tulp
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Near the confluence
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At the confluence
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Un-named stream flooded by a beaver dam
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1st water drop and rest
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Nice savannah
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Nice savannah too
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Lunch
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The best savannah. Here too my camera went to B&W. A shame because the colors were fantastic.
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Same savannah
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There is still some water in the Pines
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An area loaded with Sand Myrtle. Again the camera went to B&W but I like the effect.
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Same area in color
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Steve
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,693
4,864
Pines; Bamber area
BEHR655 said:
Not really an incident. But "Pop Pop Circle"? Gotta love it. Just like my brother ordering "panny cakes" at a reasturant. :D

Steve

Oh yeah! Now I remember. The panny cakes were a hoot!
 

Teegate

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Deer, frogs, and birds. We found two deer that it appeared had been eaten by maybe a coyote. They were in remote area's and the fir was all over.

Guy
 

onehand

Explorer
Apr 11, 2005
374
1
potter co. pa.
bob's hat realy topped things off :rofl:
bob did a spot on job of laying out the way points, just like he always does:dance:
bear looks skiny compaired to me, too many, me:guinness:
just a great day !!
my left leg was still suffering mini cramps today in my kayak while going up trenton/crosswicks creek by myself (i was so brain dead i paddled past a left turn and had to paddle to roebling park on auto pilot !)
but can't wait till the next big swamp/stomp/bushwack:)
 
I was telling Guy that my GPS was acting funny lately and may need to get a new one soon. Well I may be getting one sooner than later. I discovered this morning that I had lost it. The last place I know that I had it was when we got back to the cars. I remember turning it off. I think I may have placed it on the roof of my SUV.
I went back to the campgrounds and looked around where we had parked but did not see it. I went into the office and was told no one had turned one in. They let me walk back to the picnic area to look but I did not find it. Bummer.
That's two GPS units of mine that the Pines own now.
I left there and was heading to the 1st water drop to retrieve the bottles and my boots and almost had a run in with a woman on horseback. She was wearing an orange vest with a big #3 on it so she was part of a group. When I turned up Tuckerton Rd there was a truck parked at it's intersection with Washington-Batsto Rd. There were 5 or 6 of those big tupperware storage containers set out around the intersection. Thought that was odd but kept going. Returning from the water drop, at that same intersection, a woman flagged me down to ask if I had seen a woman on a horse. It turns out they were looking for the same woman that I had seen. She had gotten separated from the group and no one had seen her for about 45 minutes. The woman asked if I would give her a ride up to Hawkins Bridge as that was part of the trail they had taken. On the way we stopped a few times to try and see if she had turned off the marked trail but came up empty handed. After dropping her of at Hawkins Bridge I decided to do a little searching and followed the trail markers. I spent the next couple of hours followng the trail which took me all over the place. At one point near Quaker Bridge I came across two women on horses wearing the same type of vest. They were also looking for her but of course had no luck at that point. The trail ended behind Batsto and I decided I had enough so started heading home back up Washington-Batsto Rd. When I got to Tuckerton Rd. the truck and buckets were gone and when I got to Hawkins Bridge the woman I had dropped off there was gone so I assume they had found her.
So I had a very nice ride around the Pines and was on some roads that I don't think I had been on before so it was a nice day.

Steve
 

Teegate

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We must go back there in the fall before hunting season and just walk the savannahs. Maybe we could be there as the sun sets which at that time of year is late afternoon.

Guy
 

Teegate

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BEHR655 said:
I was telling Guy that my GPS was acting funny lately and may need to get a new one soon. Well I may be getting one sooner than later. I discovered this morning that I had lost it. Steve

The problem with this one is that someone most likely has it unlike the other one.

Worrysome :(

So you have the first drop at your boots, and Jeff when I left was heading to the second one. Do you have that one Jeff? That leaves the third one which I will get next Saturday.

Guy
 
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