NJ>Pine Barrens>Lower Forge>5/5/18 Me and Joey

**SilvrSurfr** · 05-06-2018, 20:54

Man, am I exhausted. It's tough being old and out of shape and having a young beagle like Joey dragging you through the Pine Barrens.

My packing, as usual, took forever. Around noon, JmBoh contacted me and said he would be joining me and Joey. I was lucky to hit the road by 2:30 pm, but it was doubtful I was going to get to the Atsion office to pick up my permit. JmBoh got there around 3:45 pm and picked up my permit for me. I got to Atsion right at 4 pm, and it drizzled off and on as we hiked in, but not enough for humans or dog to put on rain gear.

Since I am out of shape and having an issue with my right transverse arch, we took plenty of breaks and somehow stretched a 5.75 mile hike into 3.25 hours. I had to carry Joey across Quaker Bridge, since it's a metal grid bridge that he can't walk on. We got to camp around 7:15 pm, set up the hammocks, and it started drizzling again. JmBoh retired to under his tarp to cook up a dehydrated meal, while Joey and I each had a hamburger cooked on my Emberlit EL Mini titanium wood stove (4.5 ounces). After dinner the rain stopped so JmBoh made a nice fire - there was plenty of blown down wood from the wet snowstorm in April. We enjoyed a few libations, then hit the hay. Surprisingly, the Weather Channel actually got it right this time - they predicted overnight lows of 55* F and that's exactly what we got.

Man, did I sleep good with beagle Joey sleeping on my chest. At 40 lbs., he is the perfect hammock companion. He slept through the night, but at 5:45 am, he aroused and wanted to get out of the hammock. I had to take him for a walk, he relieved himself, and JmBoh was up and about by the time we got back to camp. At one point, I took my eye off Joey (who was not on his leash), and he took off. He laughed at me as he ran away. I finally caught him trying to enter a fellow camper's tent. Lesson learned (again): never let a young beagle off the leash!

Joey was looking forward to breakfast - I brought bacon, and two out of the three eggs I brought survived the hike in. I had cowboy coffee with fresh ground Booskerdoo coffee.

Here's Joey waiting for the bacon and eggs to be finished. This was about the only time he barked - the anticipation was killing him.

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Joey's egg cooking on the Emberlit EL Mini titanium stove, with bacon ready to be served alongside it.

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Joey about to feast on bacon and eggs. Finally!

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Joey had some dry food to top off the bacon and eggs.

We packed up and I persuaded JmBoh to head north to the railroad tracks on a trail that wasn't on any maps. I guess he's read a few of my trip reports and knew that I get lost on occasion, so he was not feeling very confident that we were going in the right direction. We stopped multiple times to check Google, but service was spotty. I assured him that going north, we had to hit the railroad tracks sometime and it would be just about impossible to get lost. At the railroad tracks, JmBoh even stopped some four-wheel drivers to ask "Where the heck are we?" They had a map app called maprika and assured us we were only a couple of miles from Atsion. However, by that time we had already called Ratdog, who said he would come get us. Ratdog picked us up a half hour later near the intersection of Tuckerton and High Crossing Road.

Ratdog brought his pint-sized rescue dog Radar, who always wants to prove to Joey he's the dominant dog. Joey was patient with the little runt at first, but eventually had to let Radar know: Hey, I'm a 40 lb. beagle and you're a pipsqueak!

Ratdog took us on a tour of the back roads in Wharton State Forest, and eventually we got back to Atsion. We decided to head to Christine's House of Kingfish Barbecue for lunch.

https://www.facebook.com/Christines-...C-61300031171/

I had a pulled pork sandwich and potato salad (very tangy with just the right amount of vinegar), and beagle Joey got his own little portion of pulled pork (no barbecue sauce). JmBoh and Ratdog had the beef brisket sandwich with potato salad and mac and cheese, and Ratdog also got some pork ribs (he even gave Joey a taste). JmBoh sprang for my meal, and free food always tastes better. Good eating! Leftovers were packed up and we all headed home. JmBoh even grabbed an order of potato salad for the road!

I was so bloated from lunch that I had a hard time staying awake on the drive home. Joey slept like a log, once again exhausted after his third hike in the Pine Barrens. I think he loves the Pine Barrens as much as I do!

Many thanks to JmBoh for the company, and Ratdog for the ride to Atsion. It was a nice little get-away to the Pine Barrens, before the weather gets hot. Joey is looking forward to his next adventure!

**Tyroler Holzhacker** · 05-07-2018, 05:16

Thanks for the trip update. The Pine Barrens seem to be fairly flat. How would you rate the difficulty of your trail? Very brave of you to trust your young beagle off lead. My dog is unfixed so I definitely can’t trust him off lead, and would probably only take him on a car camping trip. He has longish hair and I’d be worried about the ticks and burrs and whatnot getting all caught up in his fur. Hope to see you in the Barrens at a later hang.

**GreatBigDave** · 05-07-2018, 06:51

Nice trip report. Joey sure is a handsome pup.

Originally Posted by Tyroler Holzhacker

... The Pine Barrens seem to be fairly flat.

Yep, flat. I hiked 5 miles on one of the loop trails near Batsto and logged a total of 131' elevation gain. On another hike from BATONA camp to Apple Pie Hill tower I logged 7.5 miles and a whopping 236' elevation gain.

How would you rate the difficulty of your trail? ...

Easy. Occasionally the sugar sand makes for difficult footing. SilvrSurfr does have a knack for ratcheting up the difficulty of his hikes so hiking with him would be a way to increase the challenge.

**georgecarr** · 05-07-2018, 07:07

I was wondering how that bbq place was. I'll have to try it.

**Ratdog** · 05-07-2018, 08:11

This was a classic.

JmBoh’s only mistake? Following ole 2 bridges, swim naked, I got one good eye SilvrSurfr.

Coming out of LF the back way it’s easy to get twisted up and hit the tracks a mile from where you intend. See the road out of camp forks at least 3 times officially and a hundred times unofficially with paths and game trails. Depending on the water level you may go the inner route but more likely hike on so that you get past the wet but miss that turn and you are on your way to High Crossing. Easy to do.

Avenza and $3 worth of maps...worth it

For purposes of the Wharton MAP plan, I took them back via Hay Rd, Bulldozer Rd and Quaker Bridge....officially.

We grabbed some BBQ and then it was time to check out some more of the new Motorized Access Plan Wharton is implementing.

Radar and I rolled to Hampton Furnace and hiked the Switch down to the Batsto Trestle. We then hiked out to LF the back way, taking a few pics to help some would be explorers in the future. (Or not as the case may be)

We spent a little time making notes of a few common mistakes and contemplated a trail marker or two, but for now, nah.

Hiking out, Radar sniffed the return trail without hesitation, pup was on a mission to get back to the truck, just glad it wasn’t sugar sand the whole way. Goofy pup went swimming in thr Batsto and then was ready to run 2 miles back. He didn’t run far dragging me behind haha. It was a great dog day.

Thinking the Blueberry hang might need to involve some orienteering, map reading and some basic land nav skills.

**Ratdog** · 05-07-2018, 10:35

Hiking the RR, the trestle over the Batsto River up ahead.

Alerting for some reason, Radar pauses and considers the route ahead.

For good reason, it is a bit of a drop. THIS is the bridge you must cross if you want to hike the back way to Lower Forge.

Forget counting bridges, there is only one bridge this size.

Sent from my hammock using whatever had a signal.

**Ratdog** · 05-07-2018, 10:45

Looking for trail markers? Would you think this is a marker? Or , “ hey, that’s odd, wonder why someone would do that...”

If you see something out of the ordinary, hanging at eye level, it is often a marker for a trail, turn, feature or something. Hunters will often hang a bit of flash, cloth, an old beer can on a branch just to mark a non obvious turn.

In this case, down off the RR bed there is a RR tie in place for crossing the brook along the RR. Best to cross there, the brook is pretty deep, ask me how I know.

Stopped a couple places on the way back, nice little spots to take a break in one of the local brooks when temps push back up over 90°.

Sent from my hammock using whatever had a signal.

**Ratdog** · 05-07-2018, 10:52

See the trail?
Pretty obvious?

Walk back 100ft and it looks like there are 10 trails, the suddenly none and really, there is only one and it is right in front of you. You barely see it because it’s an old hiking path that isn’t really used by the game, so it is not obvious if you are looking at the bushes, only when you look down, see the ground worn down and then look back up and see it.

Very easy to miss.

This trail will get you wet unless it’s a very dry part of the year, better to hike further down the RR to the little pond then go right.

Sent from my hammock using whatever had a signal.

**Ratdog** · 05-07-2018, 11:26

LF camp in lower left, bridge due north, pickup point in the NW corner.

Closer to camp with some paths shown, I’m guessing you went the right way but then hopped on a road past the duck pond or got on Mines Sprung...which means maybe you forked right after you left camp?

Either way, I think I’m going to develop some natural trail markers for out there....and point them all to High Crossing! Ha

Sent from my hammock using whatever had a signal.