Today Guy and I revisited the Tulpehocken and Friendship area.
First I took Guy to see the stream I had found a couple of weeks ago. It was a little underwhelming as it was covered with pollen and did not seem as clear. We still cannot figure out how the pool in this stream formed. From there we headed back to my truck and back north a little where we re-entered the woods to find the savannah Guy had been to a few weeks ago. We hiked up a causeway and crossed a small beaver dam to get to it. The savannah was beautiful. It was also very wet and a little difficult to walk through, there being about a foot of water throughout the area. From there we went on to search for the cedar bridge Guy had found the last time he was at this savannah. This was a little tough going and there were a couple of places were we had to crawl to get through the brush and trees. We then found a trail that we believe was cut and marked by who ever it was that made the bridge. We followed this until it ended where we entered a swamp to continue to the bridge. This was not the easiest (nor the hardest) swamp to get through. Even with our gps units we still had trouble locating the bridge and at one point even considered giving up on it. One last try and Guy caught sight of it. We made our way to the bridge and stopped for lunch.
After lunch we headed south to the savannah that we had visited on the PBX hike. What a beautiful area that is! We then continued south to a spot where we knew there was a road that comes off of Tuckerton Rd. We did not know if we would be able to get through because it shows as being flooded when viewed on aerial photos. It is. We first came to a road that skirts around the south side of this vast savannah area and is flooded for most of it's length. From this road we found the road that leads to Tuckerton Rd. This road is also flooded and a bit deep too! With our trusty hip waders we continued on to the stream that had been dammed up by beavers and caused all the flooding. We were able to cross the stream and made it to dry land. The road we were on I know leads to Tuckerton Rd as I had been on it before.
It was getting late so we headed back over the dam and to the flooded road that skirts the savannahs and headed east until we got to a point were we could turn north again toward the bogs at Friendship. Crossing a rather dry field we came to and entered yet another swamp. This swamp was not too hard to get through and eventually we came to a trail that led to a bog where we had to cross a long man made dam. The first half was made of cedar logs and the second half was made of pieces of 2x4 lumber. This put us onto a causeway that led us back to the road and our cars.
It was a great day. The weather was perfect and we saw many beautiful sights. Guy and I agreed that we could spend a year of weekends exploring this area and not see it all. But we can try!
Here is a link to my album where I put some of the pictures I took today.
http://www.njpinebarrens.com/module...ery&file=index&include=view_album.php
Steve
First I took Guy to see the stream I had found a couple of weeks ago. It was a little underwhelming as it was covered with pollen and did not seem as clear. We still cannot figure out how the pool in this stream formed. From there we headed back to my truck and back north a little where we re-entered the woods to find the savannah Guy had been to a few weeks ago. We hiked up a causeway and crossed a small beaver dam to get to it. The savannah was beautiful. It was also very wet and a little difficult to walk through, there being about a foot of water throughout the area. From there we went on to search for the cedar bridge Guy had found the last time he was at this savannah. This was a little tough going and there were a couple of places were we had to crawl to get through the brush and trees. We then found a trail that we believe was cut and marked by who ever it was that made the bridge. We followed this until it ended where we entered a swamp to continue to the bridge. This was not the easiest (nor the hardest) swamp to get through. Even with our gps units we still had trouble locating the bridge and at one point even considered giving up on it. One last try and Guy caught sight of it. We made our way to the bridge and stopped for lunch.
After lunch we headed south to the savannah that we had visited on the PBX hike. What a beautiful area that is! We then continued south to a spot where we knew there was a road that comes off of Tuckerton Rd. We did not know if we would be able to get through because it shows as being flooded when viewed on aerial photos. It is. We first came to a road that skirts around the south side of this vast savannah area and is flooded for most of it's length. From this road we found the road that leads to Tuckerton Rd. This road is also flooded and a bit deep too! With our trusty hip waders we continued on to the stream that had been dammed up by beavers and caused all the flooding. We were able to cross the stream and made it to dry land. The road we were on I know leads to Tuckerton Rd as I had been on it before.
It was getting late so we headed back over the dam and to the flooded road that skirts the savannahs and headed east until we got to a point were we could turn north again toward the bogs at Friendship. Crossing a rather dry field we came to and entered yet another swamp. This swamp was not too hard to get through and eventually we came to a trail that led to a bog where we had to cross a long man made dam. The first half was made of cedar logs and the second half was made of pieces of 2x4 lumber. This put us onto a causeway that led us back to the road and our cars.
It was a great day. The weather was perfect and we saw many beautiful sights. Guy and I agreed that we could spend a year of weekends exploring this area and not see it all. But we can try!
Here is a link to my album where I put some of the pictures I took today.
http://www.njpinebarrens.com/module...ery&file=index&include=view_album.php
Steve
