It's Like Red, But Not Quite... (TR)

“Ok, so at 5:30 AM on Saturday morning, my alarm clock goes off, and I'm soo tempted to just roll over and just go back to bed. But I got up anyway, and soon, I was off to meet BackSlacker and TechNTrek down at Batsto. I got there just at 7:30 all ready to go, only to find out we had forgotten all about permits. Oops.

So we had to wait until 9 AM for the office to open, and get our permits. Fortunately, we found out that it was only about 10 miles from Rte 532 to Lower Forge, so the trek was still very doable with daylight to spare.

We got our permit, and shuttled a car up to Rte 532, and soon were off on the Batona trail. The packed, level sandy path let us carry a fairly aggressive pace, and we soon came to the highest point in southern NJ: Apple Pie Hill (Elev 205 ft). The hill featured a fire tower with a spectacular view of an ocean of pine trees in all directions, including the Philadelphia skyline off to the west, and the Atlantic City skyline off to the southeast.

Unfortunately, the area was also accessible by car, and as a result, completely trashed with garbage, litter, and all other kinds of debris. I gotta tell ya, I was almost looking for the crying Indian. It really provided a paradox to the spectacular views from the tower itself.

We left Apple Pie Hill, and continued south on the pink blazes that were the Batona Trail. The trail was packed sand, no rocks, and pretty much a tunnel of pines and the dense under-scrub. We passed a cedar bog along the way, which provided some nice shade, and the fresh smell of the cedar trees. Very cool. We also passed something that looked like a mini-lair, a bit too complex-looking to be built by an animal, but way too impractical for human use. Could it have been the work of the Jersey Devil?

Soon, we got to the Batona campsite, and completely lost the trail there, as it kinda cut through the middle, and a CAP training group was camped right on it. So after a bit, with the help of some passers by, we regained the trail and made our way to the Carranza Memorial, dedicated to Emilio Carranza, a Mexican pilot that crashed his plane there in 1928 while attempting to deliver some sort of message of peace (I have no idea what though). We stopped there for lunch, and it was turning out to be a really nice day, unseasonably warm for this time of the year, but still appreciated.

After lunch, we continued down the Batona Trail, now with our destination for the night on mind: Lower Forge campsite. There really wasn't much along this strech of trail, other than the pine tunnel that is typcial of the area.

Eventually, we made our way to Lower Forge with plenty of daylight to spare. We gathered some firewood, filtered water out of the coffee-brown Batsto River, set up camp, and got a fire going. I gotta tell you, the abundant dry pine needles all over the forest floor made for an excellent firestarter (as well as an excellent bed later on). After eating supper, we sat around the fire to enjoy the evening's festivities before turning in right around midnight.

Oddly enough, just as it was getting dark (think the last glows of twilight), an elderly couple came by and asked us if we knew where the iron forge was. They also had absolutely no gear on them (no lamps, anything) and appeared completely lost. Now, I would imagine that there once (like, say, 200 years ago) may have been a forge somewhere around there (hence the name Lower Forge), but I don't remember reading about any kind of historical preservation of a forge in that area. The couple seemed to just walk off into the woods too, where there was no trail or anything, and it was pretty much dark now. We haven't seen them since. [Insert X-Files theme here]

TO BE CONTINUED...”

“Aviator captain Emilio Carranza, inspired by the transatlantic flight of Charles Lindbergh and looking to bring a similar national accomplishment to his homeland of Mexico, had a plan. He planned to fly nonstop from New York to Mexico City.

On July 13, 1928, the whole world held their breath as Emilio began his epic journey from an airfield in New York. An hour later, he was busy crashing in the Pine Barrens. But every year, on July 13th, an entourage from the Mexican consulate in New York trudges out to the monument and has a little ceremony for Emilio, perhaps the most unsung (at least in English) of all Sky Kings.


Nice beginning to your TR. I hope nothing happened to the older couple. Thanks for sharing.”

“I woke up in the morning, ever so lazily around 8 to find that both BackSlacker and TechNTrek were both up already. I'm always the last one up; I'm such a slacker. But I also noticed that they had a fire going, and with only like a 7-mile level hike out, there was no rush. So I proceeded to make breakfast, cleaned up, sat around, filtered some more water (can you believe I drank all 4 liters I filtered the previous night?), struck camp, sat around, and oh yeah, did I mention sitting around? Finally, we set out at almost 12 PM (how's that for slackerism?)

Now, there was another couple at Lower Forge the previous night at one of the neighboring sites, and oddly enough, we could only identify 5 different sets of tracks in soft sand path that led to and out of the Lower Forge campground. Also, the campground was a mile and a half away from the nearest possible road access. That being said, we started wondering where were the tracks of that elderly couple we saw the night before? The came in from this direction. Could it be possible that they were ghosts? I mean think about it: 1) they were looking for a forge that has been out of commission for at least 100 years, and I haven't heard of any kind of remnants of it being preserved around there, 2) they had no gear, lights, etc. and it was like the last glow of twilight, 3) they seemed a little disoriented, but not lost (like to the point they had no idea where they were), 4) there were no tracks in the soft sand you have to cross to get to Lower Forge, and 5) They just kind of wandered off into the darkening woods without lights, gear or anything.

Creepy.

Anywhoo, we walked the quarter-mile back to the Batona Trail, and it's bright pink blazes. Today's hike would take us further south on the Batona Trail down to Batsto Village, which actually is a restored Revolutionary War Era bog iron mining village.

We crossed Quaker Road, the largest of the sand roads in the forest, and stopped at the nearby Quaker Bridge over the Batsto River, which offered some nice views of the river. The river is also surrounded by cedar bogs, which provide a nice cool breeze to this once-again unseasonably warm day (it must have been in the upper 60s today, if not warmer), and that awesome smell that cedar has.

We stopped for a break along the trail where there was a little lookout over the river and some nice cedar stands. Soon we made our way back to Batsto, where TechNTrek split off (he had a 3 hour ride home), while BackSlacker and I went to retrieve his car where we started the day before. We then went stopped at the Vincetown Diner on the way back home (both of us were headed north from there) before going our separate ways.

Overall, I gotta say, I really like the Pine Barrens much more than I thought I would. While it doesn't have any dramatic mountains, the place is very unique; almost like a desert crossed with a swamp (there's two opposite ends of the spectrum for ya). The low lying areas that are close to streams, rivers, etc., are all cedar bogs, with very dense, dark cedar groves. The somewhat higher areas (not much higher -- we're talking 10s of feet here), the ground was much much drier, and together with the sand, resembled much more of a desert. Now just throw some pine trees into the mix, as the "drier" areas are all pine and oak, but totally dominated by the pines.

Interestingly enough, there were also almost no blowdowns on trail, nor did I really see any uprooted trees. I guess the topsoil layer down there is much much thicker than up in the mountains, so it's not so easy for the winds to blow over trees as it is for winds to blow over their mountain counterparts.

Overall, a great trip; I'd go back to do it again anytime. I'd also like to check out Wharton's other "backcountry" campsite: Mullica River Campsite sometime. While we did not see the Jersey Devil, I still think this trip was a success. Thanks to everyone to who came out. Rock on, little dudes.

PICTURES

PS I named this trip report title in honor of the Batona Trail, which we spent the weekend hiking. The unique thing about it is the pink blazing it has. Nowhere else have I ever seen a trail blazed in pink. Yet I have to admit, the blazes do stand out in the forest real well.

Now the million-dollar question: Who can tell me how that actually ties into the trip title (It's like red, but not quite) itself?”

“So that's what Carranza Memorial is. Thanks for clearing that up.”

“Thanks Phantom for a great trip! A very enjoyable 18 mile Hike. Partying and BS'ing 'round the camp fire after an excelent hike is one of backpacking greatest rewards. The old couple was very strange, it was almost dark, they were nowhere near a road, and we heard no vehicle drive away? We also found a jaw bone of some creature, we thought it might be one of Scorchy's newbies she always takes down there.(J/K) A great time had by all. Here are my pics.
http://community.webshots.com/album/213221403MuxmDP”

“Thanks for the finish of the TR. Sounds great-SLACKER!

About the elderly couple, if it was closer to halloween...

Thanks for the pics. Great!”

“Just glanced over the reports and pics, and look forward to reviewing them more in depth later. Looks like a good time, glad you guys had fun. :-)”

“read your TR last night, but was too tired to post. :) Great TR.

Did you have any problems filtering the water there? I had to buy me a new filter cartridge after that trip.

Great pics too.”

“funny TR.... the barrens ARE great to sleep on.

The couple seemed to just walk off into the woods too, where there was no trail or anything, and it was pretty much dark now. We haven't seen them since.

hey, ya never know. LF campsite is supposed to be haunted.”

“Phantom had a little trouble with his, mine was fine, but mine is much newer. I pumped tap water through it when I got home. No problems.”

“Mine was pretty new, but that didn't help. I cleaned it at home, no luck. I thought it was okay until I used it on my next trip. Didn't work again. Not sure why it seamed to work at home.

Not even sure if a coffee filter would've done any good.”

“The Jersey Devil strikes again...Curses!”

“The Batsto River wasn't too bad on the filter. My cartridge is getting older (I've been using it all season without changing or cleaning it), so maybe it just needs a little cleaning.

It is a fast running river though, over lots of loose sand (as opposed to the rocks you would find in the mountains), so I would imagine the intake pics up a lot of silt, even if you float it near the top.

That said, I haven't tried to work with my filter yet though. I'll see what happens tonight...”

“Oh there you are PS, read my TR and post, dangid!! I refuse to have only 13 replies all together, prolly 10 from me alone.

j/k would've been nice though. :)
last edited: 11/08/04 6:00:06 PM”

“how was the couple dressed?”

“They were dressed kinda nice from what I remember. Dress pants and shoes, no boots. I think the man had on a wind breaker.”

“no ghosts then, or ya think they had windbreakers back then??”

“a lady from any time prior to the 20s would have been wearing a dress and if she were old even she'd be wearing a dress into the 50's. They were hikers. That is eerie though..”

“The women stayed kinda off in the back, I don't remember what she wore, but they both had very gray hair. I would say late 60's.”

“Didn't even think about that really. Many of New Jersey's trails are loaded with people just going out for a casual walk, not even hikers, per se. At first impression, I thought that it was just another couple of these "strollers". But then all things considered, I mean this area of New Jersey is just action packed with folklore, urban legends, and all sorts of other hauntings...

I gotta tell ya though, I never thought about the style of dress.
last edited: 11/08/04 8:25:50 PM”

“Are we EBANOTT worthy, or is there some sort of elevation gain or non-New Jersey requirement?”

“Whatcha ya talkin' 'bout, Willis?

I did FREAKING post on your FREAKING thread. Now go read it...”

“If you look at the Wharton map, there is a Hampton Furnace straight up the Batsto river 'bout 4 miles northwest near the railroad tracks. Could that have been what the old/odd couple were looking for???”

“Perhaps, but 4 miles is awful far from the campsite, and it still doesn't explain what they were doing so deep in the woods at dusk with no gear or lights or anything.

Eerie, indeed.”

“smootchies.... ;)”

“Ghosts or not, they were foolish to be out there at that hour.”

“We need your two cents to complete the TR. Get ta postin' will ya? :~)”

“could have been recent ghosts that were murdered there by the mafia.

the mafia dumps bodies in the PB all the time, dontcha know.
last edited: 11/09/04 3:09:33 AM”

“Yea I think I found Paulie's shoe while we were there. LOL

(Obscure Soprano Reference)”

“Ah Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!............


...I don't get it.”

“Paulie and Christopher chase a Russian guy into what is supposed to be the Pine Barrens in the snow. Paulie loses his shoe in the snow and has to walk around with one shoe. The Russian gets away.

(If I have to explain, it's not funny) geez...”

“Heh heh...”

“Bump for Tech.”

“Okay, now its time for my addition. Unfortunately I was in training, my computer was upgraded to Windows XP, then I was off on Thursday (Fed holiday), and spent most of Friday at work trying to get my computer back to a usable condition. I haven't had Internet access at home since I moved in June - too many other things with higher priority. So, bottom line, I've been mostly offline for the last week!

11/5
I took off from work early Friday afternoon, partly because I was bored at work, and partly because I knew I had a 3 hour drive and a 4 pm deadline to reach Batsto Visitor Center to get my permit for Friday night. I arrived at 3:40, plenty of time to spare. I paid my whopping $1 for my stay at the Buttonhill drive-in site just up the road and asked about paying for Saturday night since I was there. She said there were several groups with reservations for that site that night, maybe my group already had its permit? Do I know the trip organizer's name? No. His address? No. His phone number? No. Ok, so you are going into the backcountry with a group of people you know nothing about? Sort of - I have hiked with two of them once before. I think she thought I was nuts.

Arrived at Buttonhill and was set up by 4:30. Plenty of time to scrounge up some firewood (should have brought some with my car right there, but didn't), make dinner and wait for dark to light up the fire. Settled in for a pleasant solo night by a small fire with traffic whizzing by 100 yards behind me on the road. About 10 I was just about ready to hit the sack in the peace and quiet.

Nope. A pickup and large van pulled in, circled twice and finally the van pulled up next to me: Hey, are you here with a group? Nope, I'm by myself. (Pause) You don't belong here, you DO know this is a group site, don't you? Our group is supposed to have this site. (My turn to pause) Ma'am, I have a PERMIT for this site, if you would like to see it, it's on my dashboard. (surprise) YOU DO??? Yes. (Another pause) I point out that the site is designed for 25+ people, according to the employee I got my permit from and that there is a TON of space at the other fire ring behind me. (Right next to the road, and farther from the latrine.) My take? She was pissed I had the better spot and thought I was there illegally. HA! Eat my permit beeyach. The Girl Scout group then proceeded to unload and set up for the next 2 hours. As a peace offering a father who was there to help setup came over with a large load of split firewood for my fire. Just as I was again ready to hit the sack around midnight. I accepted but only used 1 piece as I waited for the girls to quiet down.

11/6
Up at 6, quick takedown and breakfast. Double-checked my fire ring for embers. The firewood? Heck, I heat my house with a wood stove so all that good split wood went in my trunk! Not greedy, just being practical. I figured I earned the right to the wood after Mrs. Attitude's attitude.

Met the guys at 7:30 and we quickly figured out we still needed a permit. Wish I had known, I would have paid for it the night before. We did find out that the woman was mixed up last night and there were no big groups with reservations for tonight. A late start, but no big deal. We ended up with more than enough light by the time we ended up at camp that night (details the same as other reports above so I won't repeat; I really enjoyed the fast 11 miles but lost my pace the last 1/2 of the day because I had been sick for a week and a half). Found a bunch of firewood already at the site so had little to do after setting up. A good night of drinkin', talkin' and BSin' around the campfire until midnight.

11/7
Late to get up (after 7), and BackSlacker had a fire going again! Cool, never had time for a morning fire before, but a nice touch since we weren't in a rush. Got more water from the tannin-heavy river. Aqua Mira cleaned it right up. A long lazy morning and finally on the trail almost in time for lunch.

Another quick 7 miles back to the Visitor Center (I was still way off my pace, dragging). Wish I could have done lunch but I had a deadline to get home and after our extremely late start I didn't have the time. Sorry guys.

I really liked the change of pace. No rocks, no elevation changes, no roots, nice scenery. Good company. And a few signs of the Jersey Devil - maybe!”

“Bump for PS and BS...”

“What are you talkin' 'bout Tech, you kicked a$$ on Sunday. Great trip, you're gonna have to plan something in Md in the spring!”

“Well, I've done faster mileage than I did for this trip. Maybe I wasn't as slow as I felt, but you both still did wait for me a bunch!

Will do. Wish I could make the Assateague trip this weekend, but its the wife's B-Day (today) and I'm taking her out to dinner on Saturday night. Gotta keep Momma happy - Momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy! I'll figure out something for the Spring. I have already been talking about doing an extended trip (maybe 5 days) with my brother and a guy I hike with from work. Maybe I'll make it a TT trip and work it out so weekend TTers can join up for the part of the trip that is over the weekend. I've been thinking about doing the AT starting at the MD/PA line and going north.”

“Sounds cool. Take your wife somewhere nice alright!”