I don't think so. I definitely didn't drive through anything like that. I hit a couple of holes that were maybe half a car length long and not very deep. I did drive through some areas where the sand was very wet looking (dark colored as opposed to light) as if the road had been underwater and then the water receded after a lack of rainfall. I've never seen the infamous Calico puddle except for pictures, and there's no way I'd ever try it alone. Even if I was with someone I'd worry about getting stuck out of strap length range. What is the exact location of the puddle? If nothing else, seeing where it is would help me rule out places I had not been.
Trip report: Pilgrim Lake Campground and Bass River SF exploring
- Thread starter Badfish740
- Start date
I don't think so. I definitely didn't drive through anything like that. I hit a couple of holes that were maybe half a car length long and not very deep. I did drive through some areas where the sand was very wet looking (dark colored as opposed to light) as if the road had been underwater and then the water receded after a lack of rainfall. I've never seen the infamous Calico puddle except for pictures, and there's no way I'd ever try it alone. Even if I was with someone I'd worry about getting stuck out of strap length range. What is the exact location of the puddle? If nothing else, seeing where it is would help me rule out places I had not been.
http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.68185952516112&lng=-74.48952682289121&z=17&type=hybrid&gpx=
The infamous Calico Puddle.I have a very funny story about this place.happened the day i walked through it.
There is a cut around to get around it but it is very tight and damn near as bad as the puddle.Not as deep but jusr as soft and sloppy.
The infamous Calico Puddle.I have a very funny story about this place.happened the day i walked through it.
There is a cut around to get around it but it is very tight and damn near as bad as the puddle.Not as deep but jusr as soft and sloppy.
You took allen coal up past to oswego, attempted to turn west but saw the puddle and went further up allen. You hit warren grove around where you indicated and couldn't go further. You took that thin strip of road south of the gate that you couldn't go through and headed west. You then took shamong south until you hit oswego and made a right and headed west, you then took the unmarked road west of ives branch that is totally uneven and ascended up. You couldn't cross the stream flowing out of the pond so you took the chute where you got pinstrepped to hell and linked up with martha road and headed north bypassing cutts and then taking calico to martha then out to 679 just across from bodine field.
Al, he was never up on that portion of calico he was mostly south of oswego with the exception of his trip on shamong and north on allen to the range.
Al, he was never up on that portion of calico he was mostly south of oswego with the exception of his trip on shamong and north on allen to the range.
Thanks for posting. I'm piecing more of it together now-there's no way I went through there unless the puddle dried up, which is unlikely from what I've read because it's supposedly fed by a bog. I am betting that after I turned off of Allen onto the unnamed road that follows the Beaver Branch between Allen and Shamong that I then turned off of Shamong onto one of the many unnamed and unmarked roads that traverse the area. At some point I must have picked up Oswego and then Calico-Warren Grove near Cutts bogs, southwest of the puddle.
This all sounds dead on-that road west of Ives is wild isn't it? What do you think accounts for the unevenness of the road?
Can you point out where this is? I don't remember encountering any streams, just some puddles which I made it through.
Again, sounds dead on-thanks! Let me know if you ever want to head out there sometime since you seem to know the area well!
I'm not sure why allen's is so destroyed. It was always a mess with big potholes and both sides. It seems like maybe they were going to repave it and decided not to. I hope they don't pave the road, wild woods back there.
No idea why the other road is so uneven, but there are wet spots along it on the sides so maybe it is overflow.
No idea why the other road is so uneven, but there are wet spots along it on the sides so maybe it is overflow.
Actually I'm confused now maybe you just came up martha road and then turned back around. Did you ride the uneven road up and back?
No-I started encountering the "whoop-de-doos" as I was ascending a hill. My GPS was working at that point and I think I topped out at about 110' before I began to descend. The "whoop-de-doos" continued until I was back on flat ground. After that I pressed on and eventually found myself on Martha headed south.
i think you went up allen road to the gate then turned around and turned right on the Oswego road heading east and that's how you passed the old farm with the rope gate in your second to last picture. you then continued through that straight out to 563.so you must have took the veer to the left or right the left is full of the the whoop de doos and the right has a few but not as bad as left side coming out that way.
Wouldn't that be West?
I see where I was wrong. I had no idea the gate was that far south on Allen road.
It is good to see the level of participation this thread has stimulated. It's been very quiet lately.
Carry on boys and girls.
Carry on boys and girls.
Thank you Bob for the correction. I ment west. The gate on Allen road is south of the gravel hole. He may have also have turned around at the gate and turned the first right and gone down burnt cabin road which has high hills along it. Then from burnt cabin road to shamong then back to Oswego in order to pass the gate depicted in the picture.
Glad to be of service
Now that I know how to save tracks on my Nuvi my next episode of getting lost will be much more productive.
Great trip report Badfish! There is nothing like loading up the truck and hitting the woods for the weekend!
This is how I learned my way around in the pines when I was a kid, getting lost. As soon as I turned 17, I got my pick up and hit the pines! Once I was out of high School and in college I had more time to spend in the woods. At the time I had January and Feburary off from work, and I was also in between semesters of school in Janurary and early February. I woke up with every day being mine! I was in the pines all day at least 4 days a week, it was great! No GPS for me at the time, I used to keep The NJ Atlas & Gazetteer/Topo Maps of the Entire State published by Delorme in my truck. This did help some.
You have the perfect truck for exploring the pines, Badfish! I had a '87 Toyota SR5 4x4 and a '95 Toyota 4x4. They were by far the best trucks I have ran in the pines.
This is how I learned my way around in the pines when I was a kid, getting lost. As soon as I turned 17, I got my pick up and hit the pines! Once I was out of high School and in college I had more time to spend in the woods. At the time I had January and Feburary off from work, and I was also in between semesters of school in Janurary and early February. I woke up with every day being mine! I was in the pines all day at least 4 days a week, it was great! No GPS for me at the time, I used to keep The NJ Atlas & Gazetteer/Topo Maps of the Entire State published by Delorme in my truck. This did help some.
You have the perfect truck for exploring the pines, Badfish! I had a '87 Toyota SR5 4x4 and a '95 Toyota 4x4. They were by far the best trucks I have ran in the pines.
I enjoyed reading your report, Badfish. You must have visited this fairly recent thread before attempting Calico Ridge http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/posts/109350/ the topography in that area is pretty amazing. There are a number of examples of once paved roads being reclaimed by nature and in every instance you can't help but think how much better it would have been to have just left it dirt. But it does keep the riff raff out I suppose.
Those whoop-de-dos are natural believe it or not....well, i guess the process was started by the wear from dirt bikes and jeeps but water and weather did the rest. They go on for many miles on some trails. they aren't done intentionally.
Anyway, thanks for the great report!!
Jeff
Those whoop-de-dos are natural believe it or not....well, i guess the process was started by the wear from dirt bikes and jeeps but water and weather did the rest. They go on for many miles on some trails. they aren't done intentionally.
Anyway, thanks for the great report!!
Jeff
Thanks-I had a good time writing it too. I read probably everything there is to read on this board about Calico/Calico Ridge before heading out there. If we just had more time we would have been able to explore the ridge a bit more-I agree about the topography-I think this is definitely my favorite part of the pines for sure and one I'll come back to again and again.
It's a heck of a feeling when you're traversing them in a short wheel base truck at 10 mph with the branches on either side threatening to rip your fenders off