Upper Batsto

Yesterday a friend and I did the upper Batsto. I canoeing guide I have said the upper portion of the Batsto should not be attempted unless the water gauge at Quaker Bridge was at least 5.5'. When we dropped a vehicle off at QB we saw that the depth was almost 7'. Whoo Hoo!
Now most of you have seen how the Batsto looks at Hampton Furnace where we put in. A beautiful spot with clear, fast moving water and no obstacles. Don't let it fool you.
Within seconds of putting in we were being beaten to death by the over growth. The water was very high and fast and it was very difficult to maneuver. I had to break my paddle down and use only half of it for this stretch as there was no room to paddle using the whole paddle. This was like bushwhacking on water. Some of you guys would have loved it LOL but my friend was not having much fun. I had trouble trying not to laugh at him as we were being brutalized by the brush.
Many of you know how close the Hampton put-in is to Riders Switch. Well it took us well over an hour to get there. Shortly after Riders Switch the Batsto started to open up a bit and not too far past we took a break at a spot that someone had used as a camp. This spot was beautiful and I would consider camping there too but it was rough to get to.

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We were now in a section of the Batsto that was very beautiful and somewhat easy to navigate. The water was still very fast which made it a little difficult and of course there were some blow-downs and in spots some overgrowth to deal with. Like Stu, there were a couple of trees that we had to lay down in our kayaks to get under. There was only one spot that we had to portage around and that was a little tough because the water was deep and the banks were high but we managed.
After passing Lower Forge the river widened again and was moving a bit slower for the most part. We stopped only one more time on Stokes Rd, not far from QB.

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The trip took us approximately 6 hours. Now the guide book had said it was 5.5 hours from Hampton to Batsto so we were figuring it would take 2.5 to 3 hours Hampton to QB. We got out of the water at 7:00 and had we left a vehicle at Batsto and tried the whole thing we would have been screwed.
All in all it was a great day, scratches and all. I only wish that the water was not moving so fast so I would have felt comfortable having my camera out on the water to get more photos.

Steve
 
pinelandpaddler said:
Gotta love the Batsto, Steve. Tell me, what exactly is Riders Switch?

At Hampton there is a road called Riders Switch Rd. that heads south to to RR tracks. Just east of where the road meets the tracks is the trestle that goes over the Batsto.

Have you done that section? What was your experiance on it if you have?

Steve
 
Apr 6, 2004
3,607
552
Galloway
Steve,

Do you know why the road is named Riders Switch?

I've paddled the upper batsto from about 2 or so miles above the bridge near Hampton furnace to its confluence with the Mullica. The section which parallels Rider Switch was a nice stretch, as I recall. At one point there are remains of some old docks in the middle of nowhere. Its hard to imagine the sort of activity that transpired on this creek all those years ago.
 

woodjin

Piney
Nov 8, 2004
4,338
326
Near Mt. Misery
Nice report Steve. I once took the mullica from Jackson road to Atsion lake and it took over double the time indicated in the book (are we referring to Robert Parnes book?). Oppisite from your situation, I did that when the water levels were much too low. I don't think the book is off, the time just varies so much based on water level, lift overs, etc.

Jeff
 

onehand

Explorer
Apr 11, 2005
374
1
potter co. pa.
as far as "riders switch" goes, this is the story i got. i was told by a long time hiker in the area that knew a women who was one of the last residents of Hampton she stated that they used to bring coal down Rider switch road (stright as an arrow to the rail road tracks) if you look along it you can still find pieces of coal, if there was a RR siding there at one time i don't know
Rider owned the bogs there at one time and either he or a releitive and his forman were involved in a shoot out robery on hampton rd (the robbers wanted the payroll money for the bog employees) foget the rest of the story
maybe some body can correct me if i got some part of it wrong
 

grendel

Explorer
Feb 24, 2006
561
2
Fredericksburg VA
last month I put in about a mile north of Hampton furnace and went to Batsto.it took about 11 hours.To do it in 5.5 hours the river would really have to be rolling!That stretch along riders switch was nice,I remember spotting some planks that someone had thrown over the mud,I bet there is a nice camping spot back in there. The stretch of River from the Railroad bridge to Q.B. was the roughest if I recall lots of obstacles.Sure was nice though I did it on a week day and never saw a soul till I got to Batsto.I ate lunch at Q.B. and not one car went by! Amazing how much solitude you can find in the middle of NJ.
 
grendel said:
last month I put in about a mile north of Hampton furnace and went to Batsto.it took about 11 hours.To do it in 5.5 hours the river would really have to be rolling!That stretch along riders switch was nice,I remember spotting some planks that someone had thrown over the mud,I bet there is a nice camping spot back in there. The stretch of River from the Railroad bridge to Q.B. was the roughest if I recall lots of obstacles.Sure was nice though I did it on a week day and never saw a soul till I got to Batsto.I ate lunch at Q.B. and not one car went by! Amazing how much solitude you can find in the middle of NJ.


The stretch along Riders Switch is where we had the most trouble. It wasn't until passing the trestle that it became easy. I think the water was too high. Along Riders Switch we were 1.5 feet higher/closer to the overgrowth. That made for a brutal paddle on that stretch. The high water was helpful after the trestle as most obstacles were submerged. Of course some of the obstacles that may normally be easy to go under were now a challenge.
I'd like to get out there again. My friend said "never again". LOL

Steve
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,506
2,768
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
onehand said:
Rider owned the bogs there at one time and either he or a releitive and his forman were involved in a shoot out robery on hampton rd (the robbers wanted the payroll money for the bog employees) foget the rest of the story maybe some body can correct me if i got some part of it wrong

See this old thread: http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/showthread.php?t=2167
 

grendel

Explorer
Feb 24, 2006
561
2
Fredericksburg VA
I wish I had paid attention to the water levels,but now that you mention it I do remember alot of brush right after Hampton furnace. I only had to get out of the canoe once on the whole trip and that was south of Q.B.Most of the obstacles I hit were logs just under the surface and sand bars. You probally cruised right over all that.
 
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