Thank you all

“I have never posted before so take it easy on me please. I just finished a 50 mile 5 day trip with the Scouts for the "50 Miler" award and want to thank you all for the site and the information that made the trip fun and safe. We were able to stay warm, fed and even fend off two drunk and wild "pineys" the first night. I am grateful to the person who posted the idea of boiling water and putting it in a Nalgene in the sleeping bag. That made a world of difference to my wife one cold 30 degree night. Bless you all and may the Great Spirit cushion your steps along the trail. =^..^=”

“ahh! i love a warm nalgene!”

“I liked that idea too.”

“YeeHAA!! Another New Jerseyan! Welcome Big Raccoon! Hope you can join a group hike with us one day.”

“better than a cold nalgene that's for sure - one question however - how do you fit a condom over a nalgene ?”

“why?

nevermind! we don't want to hear it!”

“'Coon, that was quite a project, finding worthwhile information on this board!

Glad you did though, and glad you had a good time on your trip.

Welcome.”

“Note to self:

NEVER accept a drink of water from HOI no matter how thirsty I am.”

“LOL, that does sound like S&M, doesn't it? Guess HOI likes the rough stuff.

But a Nalgene? OUCH!”

“Welcome Big Racoon!

You from Jersey? I'm from Jersey.

I'm planning on taking my 4 year old for her first overnight backpack and thought the Pine Barrens would be nice easy terrain for her. Where did you hike and where can I find out about trails in the area?

Would you believe I've lived here all my life and have never hiked in those million acres?”

“sorry about that - my dark side was tickled by the "i love a warm nalgene!" statement and came up with the image of a wide mouth nalgene filled with warm water with a condom stretched over the mouth of the nalgene - then my mind boggled and could not image getting the condom over the nalgene - thus the question above.”

“Rad, did we get in a fight this week? I guess that would explain the Nalgene logo embedded in my forehead.”

“Violin, check my profile, my email address is now there. We started at the ranger station near Ong's Hat, north end of Batona trail. Ok to leave your car there, we had no problems. You will need a permit to camp, and right now no ground fires. Proceed South to Pakim Pond, nice rest area, bathrooms, shelters etc. Six more miles south to the group camp site, not sure the name but will look it up. Nice place, heated bathrooms, hot showers. I will warn you that was the place we encountered two jerks at 1 AM possibly trying to steal our packs. Guess that could happen anywhere you go though. No other problems south of there. The trail is mostly hard packed forest, well marked and not difficult at all. If you go south of the group site you will pass fences and backyards going through a neighborhood. No problems with the folks we met there. If you get the chance check out Apple Pie Hill fire tower. You can go up the tower and from one side see the Philly skyline, the other the Atlantic City towers. Try to avoid summer months as the tick population was booming last July near Batsto. Let me know how you make out.”

“By the way, I mean THIS part of the trail is hard packed forrest, south of there you will encounter loose sand trails, about a mile of highway/trail and some real narrow somewhat overgrown trail south of Batsto Village. Didn't want to mislead you.”

“Welcome Big Rac!”

“Hey it's a Rac attack!! Cool!!!

Rac, I was born and raised in Jersey but moved to TX 2 years ago. I will have to look you and Violin up when I visit our corporate office in Warren County.

Glad to have you!!”

“Hold on there now TX, you haven't had him yet, lol :{}”

“Thank you all for the welcome. =^..^=”

“I thought I didn't like Violin, but if you're taking a 4 yr old backpacking, you're o.k.!

I would like to thank you all for getting me jazzed about my trip to New Mexico this afternoon. I visit this site more often before a hiking trip. See y'all next week! Na-na-na-na-na-na-na!”

“Didn't like Violin? Huh? And why would that be? Everyone has a rare lapse in judgement, let's try to be a little more relaxed, buddies.”

“Do you kno Miss AmyGee?
That looks like her kittykitty...
Is it a kittykitty? Or is it a ratcoon mebbe? Are you a ratcoon? Ratcoons are perty good I gess.

I hope we can go walkin in the woods some times to gether.”

“Uh-oh, puppy wants to check out the kitty or coon. Do you ever hike in the northeast, sarabelle? We don't all throw skar quishy things at puppies, you know. Sometimes we throw scooby snacks.”

“Shhhhh, not so loud my dog will hear you. She knows what those are.”

“I been to Pencil Savannah befor and the nother time to. I been walkin in the woods ther but I did not sleep in the woods.

Me and my daddy and PatchyGee and Miss AmyGee went walkin in the snew in the woods. My daddy had slow shoes on his feet and Miss AmyGee had on skids. It was a fun walk in the woods and snew. There was deers but I did not run after them.

The nother time me and my daddy and the nother man and Murphy went walkin in the woods byside the Dewalare River. It was a fun walk to but Murphy smelled my butt and wanted seks the HOLE DAY! but I was not whorny.”

“Thanks Big Racoon. Do you know if there is any primitive camping in the Pine Barrens? I have a hot shower and heated bathroom at home.

I'm so crushed that toejam misjudged me. Thanks for sticking up for me Splash, we Garden Staters have to look out for each other, you know.”

“Violin, Yes the other three sites along the trail are primitive sites. They have outhouses and water pumps except for Lower Forge that does not have a pump but you are next to the Mullica river and can pump some of that famous iron tasting cedar water. I only mentioned the bathrooms etc. because we were so suprised to find them there. For the record, I did not use them, I preferred to keep my 5 day old uh.... well, you know. Funny thing I learned. When everybody in the group smells bad, nobody notices. Must cancel each other out? Thought the trail was about the easiest for a 4 year old to attempt. Contact numbers for maps etc are Lebanon St. Forest 609-726-1191 and Wharton St. Forest 609-561-0024.”

“Hot showers sound good to me! But I guess Violin wants to show the 4 year old how the purists go backpacking. But why look a gift horse in the mouth? (where did that expression come from?)”

“Splash, Did I mention the washer and dryer? Not sure about the gift horse thing, maybe that big hollow wood horse?

Sarabelle, i be a rakkoon fer sure, donnt draws ta goods on this thing, tail keeps twitchin and gettin in the way. =^..^=”

“"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

Before buying a horse, a buyer would typically check the health of a horse's teeth.”

“Actually, the teeth are mainly used to judge the age of a horse.”

“They grow continuously. The longer and more angled they are, the older the horse. That's also where the expression "long in the tooth" comes from.”

“I knew there was some reason for it.”

“Thanks a lot for the info Big Racoon. I'll have to print this thread for future reference.

The 4 year old loves the woods and actually hiked 4 miles of a 6 mile dayhike when she was only 2. The last trip I took, she saw me packing and asked "do I need my own sleeping bag?" It broke my heart to explain she wasn't going on this one. My wife said she was sad the whole time I was gone and kept drawing pictures of me alone on a mountain. If we're going overnight, she'll have to carry a small pack - it just wouldn't be right otherwise - so I'm looking for easy terrain.


On the origin of the expression there Normie, horses have gum lines that recede with age. Hence older horses have longer teeth than young horses.

To "look a horse in the mouth" is to examine the horse's mouth closely to determine its age (and therefore its usefulness and/or worth). To immediately judge a gift based on its worth or usefulness rather than the "thought" behind it is considered rude, and ungrateful (it is a gift after all, and didn't cost the receiver anything).

The phrase is apparently quite old, a Latin version of it appeared in a work by St. Jerome in 420 AD, and it also exists in many languages. An Early english version (1510 AD) appears in John Standbridge's "Vulgari Standbrigi": "A gyuen hors may not (be) loked in the tethe."

Any others?”

“Violin, why yes, I do have a question. Who said "all the world is mad except for me and thee and at times I think thou art....."”

“Someone Shakespeare made up?”

“Umm... Big Racoon?”

“Sweep.. sweep.... sweep those boring FAVORITE threads out of the way..”

“I just want to say thank you to all the TT'ers that sent me stickers!

They are all on my car and I hope to get more!

Thank you so much!

8)”