West Bank Oswego, A PBX Hike

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,984
8,737
All,

Way back in the cold winter on 1/29, all of the members of PBX received this edited and altered email from Bob.

Boys…our Big Trip for 2010 is titled ”West Bank Oswego”.

On Saturday, May 1st, at 7:30 AM we’ll meet along the fence at the entrance to Wading Pines Campground. From there we’ll take as many vehicles as needed up to the starting point; the little parking lot at Lake Oswego. And instead of canoeing down Oswego River like the tourists do, we’ll start out at the dam by foot and by boot and travel the West side of the river all the way the hell down to Martha. We’ll then make a hard right and head off though the woods until we get to the Wading Pines Campground, where we can have our usual hot shower and barbecue at the end.

Beer, beef, salads, and good company after a good strenuous exploring trip—it just doesn’t get any better than that!

This trip will be just about 8 miles long after all is said and done. Get your cranky, lanky, creaky body into shape for it. It’ll do you good! Call in for that day off right now if you work Saturdays. The rain date is the following Saturday. We’ll hit it one way or another. We’ll never canoe that river again without thinking about this trip. I’m looking forward to it!

I want to see you Boys there-no excuses.

Happy Trails until then………..bob


So today it happened, and from 7AM until 6PM we did just what Bob said we would do, and after that we partied. On this trip ... Oji, Bobpbx, Redneckf350, Long-a-coming, Woodjin, Hewey, Mickey, Paul, Jessica, and me (Teegate).


Parked along the road to Wading Pines at 7:30 this morning getting our gear together.


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Into the woods.

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Jeff checking out an area about 60 feet off the Oswego River.


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Same place with the sun beating down on us.


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Mickey stole that feather from me!


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Jessica braved the elements and did not wear boots. Here she found a concrete monument.


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Rest stop.


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Sex on Jessica!


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Jessica spotted this little turtle while she was forced to have her back turned while Bob swam naked in the river. Yea, he was naked today! Chris caught the turtle.


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It looks so relaxed.


http://teegate.njpinebarrens.com/05012010/IMG_4600a.jpg


Then the scary snake!


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Zoomed 40x


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Lunch time!


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Bob realized right away what this was. Notice the holes in the can. Blueberry pickers would wear this around their waist in years gone by.


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Jessica and Tom crossing a canal.


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Others should add more later. It was a very nice day for sure!


Guy
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,693
4,864
Pines; Bamber area
Just got home Guy, the snake photos are outstanding, the best i"ve ever seen!

PS: the rope was around the waist on the 'pickin can".
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,984
8,737
Just got home Guy, the snake photos are outstanding, the best i"ve ever seen!

PS: the rope was around the waist on the 'pickin can".

Thanks Bob! I will change the text to waist.

I had a terrible night sleeping. I tossed and turned all night for some reason.


Guy
 

woodjin

Piney
Nov 8, 2004
4,358
340
Near Mt. Misery
What was great about this hike, in my opinion, was the mix we witnessed of human impact on the pines and very wild "virgin" woods. There was a large section that is very well protected by a river, and private land along the outskirts. The result was an old cedar swamp with almost no signs of human impact at all.

Here is Bob toward the end of the hike
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Some swamp pics:
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Here is Tome (Oji) standing next to and upturned Maple. to put it in perspective...Tom is about 6'
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Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,984
8,737
Good thing that water level was up or I would have had to delete that photo of Bob :D

Thanks Jeff for the photo's!

Guy
 

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,678
2,593
60
millville nj
www.youtube.com
Beetle Porn,painted turtle ,black racer and Bob nekked,looks like you guys had a wild trip.just coming off a 4 to 12 shift i knew i wouldn't be able to handle it.
Guy don't try any macro shots with them racers,their temperment is worse then a garter and being bigger they pack a little better bite:)
Al
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,984
8,737
Jeff,

I hope you did not delete that photo because of what I wrote. I was joking.

Guy
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,693
4,864
Pines; Bamber area
It was a real good trip, though somewhat dangerous due to the weather. We came out okay though. Weather for our big trip is consistently in the upper 80’s despite being in the low to upper 70’s on most days before and after the trip each year! It is just dumb bad luck we have.

Our plan.
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Guy and Tom checking out the murky slough that had unseen dangers lurking below. Note that Tom is “testing the waters”. This is the stuff little kids nightmares are made of.
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A quiet, well groomed trail. This trail struck me as quite lovely, and quintessentially South Jersey Pine Barren.
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Juncus effuses
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No matter what we do, we can’t keep Jeff out of the water. We said, “c’mon Jeff, let’s go”. Jeff said “No, make me!” Check out his defiant stance. We’re not taking him next time….little brat.
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One Duck
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One really lovely backwater bog along the jewel of the Pine Barrens; Oswego River.
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One Goose
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This area down around PBX camp had some very old channels. I think it was wet many years ago, like the Big Swamp near Atsion is today.
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A real enchanted fairyland in an old oxbow cedar swamp. This particular cedar swamp was very uniform and cool on this hot day. It was (as most cedar swamps are) a real pleasure to walk in. If you want to see it, head towards Peacetown.
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Deep in, by PBX Camp. We saw no human sign in here. None whatsoever.
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Paul and Scott near a very nice cedar swamp on the other side, by the waypoint “alternate”.
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Big woods, let’s keep them for our children (at least those that want to see them)!
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Hewey

Piney
Mar 10, 2005
1,042
110
Pinewald, NJ
It was a real good trip minus the heat. We tried to stick to the wet areas as much as we could where it was cooler then in the blast furnace like uplands.

The after party was a good time also with good food , drink and company. It was a great day capped off with a ride home through the woods at midnight.

The PBX crew running the edge of canal.
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The Oswego.
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Jeff climbing a blowdown.
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Maples and Moss.
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Bob on the edge of the Oswego.
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A Beaver Lodge.
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A nice cedar swamp.
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Jeff chillin' out.
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Murky.
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A higher vantage point.
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Chris
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
5,064
3,341
Pestletown, N.J.
We really had a great one here. The terrain was friendly, the heat made it a challenge.

I would agree with Jeff that it was very interesting to see the contrasts bewtween the large scale agricultural uses of the pines and the untouched, wild resources of the pines located just a few yards into the woods.

The vistas that opened to us around each bend of the trip made it one of the top PBX hikes in recent memory.
Here are a few pics.

Our fearful leader.
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A visitor plucked from the wet river's edge by Jeff who sat with Paul and I through lunch.
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A windblown stump along the river's edge.
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A vista looking upstream.
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And finally a neat old school bus. Used for transporting migrant laborers on a blueberry farm many years ago. A little Googling is pointing towards 1949 Ford vintage. A key tag indicated that it was used in the Washington Township, Burlington County School System in 1958 and was known as bus number 62.
Any old time residents out there that may have ridden this ? Maybe Turtle could ask around her neighborhood.
It would be amzing to find a local who rode this bus to school in 1958.
 

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
5,064
3,341
Pestletown, N.J.
Sorry I couldn't make it to the afterparty. Things are a little crazy at home right now.

The heat would have done me in on the hike.

Sorry you couldn't make it Ben. The food was killer and the wine was flowing copiously.
Frighteningly, Bob showed no restraint and was getting to the "I love you man ! " stage when I left at 10:30 p.m.
:)

We certainly owe a lot to you and this website.
Without you and what you have done, I would not have met this great group of people who share a mutual obsession with the pines and all things wild.
Thanks.

Scott.
 
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