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Hiking – Geocaching the NJ Pine Barrens

elgecko

I've got a magic window!
Every year I take a canoe trip to the Pine Barrens. This year is no different. In July I’ll be heading there with several other people to paddle around the area to see the CP’s and all the other nature that is all around.
I geocache and do find a few caches when out at this time, but many of the caches are deep in the forest which is accessible by the sand roads. Many of the spots on these sand roads look like giant traps for vehicles. My vehicle certainly would become victim to one of these traps.

Sand-Road.jpg


So how to get these deep located caches… hike it!

My work was closed down May 26-29. Looks like May 26-28 would be a good time to take a hike in the Pine Barrens for some caches.

So first thing I had to do was pack up all the gear I would need for my outing.

I need a place to sleep.

sleep.jpg


Some cloths.

cloths.jpg


Food and stove.

food.jpg


Water.

water.jpg


Hygiene.

bath.jpg


First aide, signal mirror, other useful items.

tools.jpg


A place to stash all this stuff into.

Pack.jpg


pack1.jpg


Because of space limitations, more than weight, the small 4 meg camera went on this trip.
 
Let’s head off into the great wilderness of the Pine Barrens.

moving.jpg


Just some pics I took along the way.

lichen.jpg


Yep that’s rain spots all over the sign. Drizzled most of Tuesday.

sign1.jpg


trail-bridge.jpg


trail.jpg


woods.jpg


wilderness-site.jpg


You can tell where forest fires have blacked the trunks of some trees.

Burnt.jpg


woods1.jpg


Pine-Barrens-trail.jpg
 
Pine-Barrens-woods.jpg


River.jpg


beaver-dam.jpg


bog.jpg


canoes.jpg


Oh look, it’s me and I’ve found a cache in the woods.

Me-cache.jpg


Some camp pics.

camp.jpg


Hammock without the rain-fly on.

hammock-no-fly.jpg


Camp-Fire.jpg


I want to eat the next day so every night the food gets hung in a tree.
Also I do not want anything that goes bump in the night to wonder into my camp area, so the food is 150-200’ away from the site.

Hanging-Food.jpg
 
Many areas in the Pine Barrens I have no cell service. So How do I let the wife know I’m OK so she does not worry? This handy dandy device called Spot.

spot.jpg


Here’s a map of the hike I did.
Red trail was day 1 – 13.3 miles
Green trail was day 2 – 7.7 miles
Purple trail was day 3 – 4.5 miles back to the car.

3-day-Hike-Map.jpg


I almost forgot…. I saw some carnivorous plants!

Purp.jpg


filiformis.jpg


intermedia.jpg


rotundifolia.jpg


rotundifolia1.jpg
 
nice photos, thats quite the hike you did there lol.
too bad you got rained on for some of it.
Completely different compared to the site i visited the other day up here in WA....just shows the diversity lol.
 
hhahaah nice photos....and hardcore equipment I might add.

Might have posted this before, but I grew up in Jersey myself and took a few trips in the pine barrens when I was in middle and high school. Never camped overnight before so didn't bring any equipment (didn't have any to begin with) except for a can of OFF. And YES, my friend and I did get our car stuck in those sands near a dried up lake. With no cell phone at the time and miles away from the highway, we dug and dug and tried to put flat pieces of trash we found lying around underneath the tires, but to no avail. Finally, some older kids happened to stop by (to do some underage drinking, probably) and with their help, we managed to push the car out. It was pretty memorable but I damaged my car's axle and had to junk it within a few months. Pretty memorable experience.

Definitely wanna head back one day...
 
What do you use for protection.....against the Jersey Devil?!?!?!
 
Who woulda thunk New Jersey would have such beauty!? Wish I could be there, but Buffalo is way too far away.
 
That hammock/tent combo is a really cool idea. How well does it work? It looks really simple to set-up, and probably gets the job done, while being lightweight. Really nice pics too, I love seeing CPs in the wild. And who would have thought that something so nice could have come out of New Jersey!?
 
  • #10
And who would have thought that something so nice could have come out of New Jersey!?

I thought the exact same thing back then. When I first saw CPs in the wild, I was in Acadia, Maine and imagine my amazement when I found out they also existed (in huge numbers) right close to home. As bad of an image Jersey presents of itself, actually 2/3 of it is still "natural" with the Pine Barrens being a huge chunk of that. All the industrial stuff is near the northeast coastline (where I lived closer to). Go south past that and it's much more cleaner....farms and pine groves and cedar swamps, etc.
 
  • #11
I've been lucky to get one trip to the Pine Barrens and it's worth going there for sure!

Steve...is that hammock comfortable for sleeping? And how did you get your food up so high in that tree?

The photos are awesome...loved the 'dews. How can anyone not be awed by those jewels.

Congrats on the cache find. For all that hike it should have been a big, fat ammo can. :D

Thanks for all these photos...they were great. Made me feel like I was there. (Loved the one when you started out walking...lol. I feel really tired now.)
 
  • #12
This made me think of the Monsterquest I saw yesterday on History Channel. Has anyone ever heard of the New Jersey Devil? Tradition has it living somewhere in the NJ Pine Barrens and it is supposedly a terror. Pretty sure Elgecko didn't run into it, as I am sure he would have told us :)
 
  • #14
Glad everyone enjoyed the pictures.

SirKristoff,
It was a very light drizzle most of the day so it was not bad.

SpyCspider,
There is a group of us going out in July, come on out.
http://www.terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117551

USMCSKI,
I'd use Carnivorous plants, to protect myself from the Jersey Devil!

PlantAKiss,
I've used the Hammock on 2 outings so far. It is very comfortable to sleep in.

I attach my Leatherman Wave to the rope and then throw it up over a tree limb. Hope the knot never fails. Who knows where the Leatherman would end up. LOL

As for caching I found 23 total while hiking over the 3 days. I was disappointed with this number. My plan was to hike to Goshen Pond to spend the first night. It was getting late and my arch / heel on my one foot was hurting. So I stopped 1 mile before Goshen Pond at Atsion to spend the night. The next day after walking a few steps it was hurting again. So instead of finding a bunch of caches on the way to the next campsite, I bypassed many of them that where over a 1/4 or more miles away because of my foot. There was a bunch around the Goshen Pond area. I guess I'll try to find a little time when I'm out in July to grab some more that are near Atsion.
 
  • #15
Awesome pics! I want to go to the pine barrens one day. I want to see some purps and wild dews, but most importantly, I hear they have a fungus growing ant species in the tribe Attini. Its apparently the most northern species of fungus growers. Nice pics!
 
  • #16
heheh yea the elusive Jersey Devil. I didn't find out about that legend till I was older or else I probably would not have gone as a kid. Actually no, for CPs I would've still gone. =P

Sorry can't take up the offer to join ya guys--I'll definitely be down here in TX doing a school rotation during that time. Have fun and watch out for ticks!
 
  • #17
I hope you don't have plantar fasciitis (like me) or your are in for some pain. Oh...and what is a leatherman? (I have a need to be able to do something like that, is why I'm asking.)
 
  • #18
I hope you don't have plantar fasciitis (like me) or your are in for some pain. Oh...and what is a leatherman? (I have a need to be able to do something like that, is why I'm asking.)
I do not think I have that. The foot feels about back to normal today. First time I ever had that pain.
I may need new hiking shoes. I've had this pair a long time. Some places state you should get new shoes every year.

The Leatherman is a multi tool I carry.
My food line has a carabiner on the end so I can attach my food bag to it. I just attach the Leatherman for the weight so I can throw the line over the tree branch, so you do not have to have a Leatherman to get the rope up there. Anything, a rock etc, attached on the end of the rope so it has the weight to give it a toss, should do the trick.
 
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