Today my friend Jay and I decided to head out into the woods to find the Swamp Monster that everyone but myself has been to, and to revisit Ace Campground.
Despite the fact that we're not armed with hiking sticks we had a great time.
My GPS autorouted me the wrong way to the Monster. We ended up where two tributaries of the Mullica River come together. It's a pretty cool out of the way spot. Driving out I noticed a marker standing in the middle of a clearing. I am starting to get eagle eyes for markers now:
Topo: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=18&n=4393692&e=527622&s=50&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25
Photo:
http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=252&pos=0
It's the border of Atlantic and Burlington Counties. One side is marked with "A" and the other with "B". I am sure that Guy has seen this so this is most likely not anything new. It's in really good shape.
We finally went down the right road towards the Swamp Monster. The road had some pretty nasty puddles but the Rubicon handled them without any problems. We managed to drive pretty close to the monster. The only thing that stopped us was a puddle that was more or less giant ruts. I think if I was able to get around that I could have driven nearly all the way out to the Monster. However we both had our waterproof boots so we hiked the 1/8th of a mile in.
It was pretty interesting to see. I'd love to know who came along and took the engine, shovel, and pulleys out. And I would really like to know what they were digging for with the machine. One other interesting thing is that it is still full of diesel fuel.
Pics here:
http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=252
By the time we left the Monster it was getting dark. Ace Campground is nearby so we decided to see if we could get there before it was too dark. We got there right around dusk. Unfortunately the place has just been trashed. There is graphitti all over now, all of the electric meters have been smashed, the signs have all been ripped down, and the payphone is gone. It was pretty sad to see that some kids came along and trashed the place. I sincerely hope it wasn't because of us posting about it.
Unfortunately it was too dark to take any pictures.
Despite the fact that we're not armed with hiking sticks we had a great time.
My GPS autorouted me the wrong way to the Monster. We ended up where two tributaries of the Mullica River come together. It's a pretty cool out of the way spot. Driving out I noticed a marker standing in the middle of a clearing. I am starting to get eagle eyes for markers now:
Topo: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=18&n=4393692&e=527622&s=50&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25
Photo:
http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=252&pos=0
It's the border of Atlantic and Burlington Counties. One side is marked with "A" and the other with "B". I am sure that Guy has seen this so this is most likely not anything new. It's in really good shape.
We finally went down the right road towards the Swamp Monster. The road had some pretty nasty puddles but the Rubicon handled them without any problems. We managed to drive pretty close to the monster. The only thing that stopped us was a puddle that was more or less giant ruts. I think if I was able to get around that I could have driven nearly all the way out to the Monster. However we both had our waterproof boots so we hiked the 1/8th of a mile in.
It was pretty interesting to see. I'd love to know who came along and took the engine, shovel, and pulleys out. And I would really like to know what they were digging for with the machine. One other interesting thing is that it is still full of diesel fuel.
Pics here:
http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=252
By the time we left the Monster it was getting dark. Ace Campground is nearby so we decided to see if we could get there before it was too dark. We got there right around dusk. Unfortunately the place has just been trashed. There is graphitti all over now, all of the electric meters have been smashed, the signs have all been ripped down, and the payphone is gone. It was pretty sad to see that some kids came along and trashed the place. I sincerely hope it wasn't because of us posting about it.
Unfortunately it was too dark to take any pictures.
