JokerJersey
05-26-2009, 09:49
Trip Report - Memorial Day Weekend '09
Location - Wharton State Forest : Atsion to Batsto
Trail - Mullica River Trail
Conditions - Sunny/Overcast : Low 60's evening / Mid 80's daytime
Trail Length - 9.5 Miles
Pack weight - 25 lbs
Difficulty - Easy/Moderate (Sugar Sand)
Duration - 3 day/2 night
Cost - $45 including food costs
Overview - This was the initial trip for myself and my girlfriend moving away from car camping into self-contained backpacking/hiking. Wanted to keep the distance down to allow for mistakes and to keep the learning curve down somewhat. Kept it close to home to allow for easy evac in case of misfortune or missed expectations.
Day 1 - Dropped car at Batsto Visitors Center. Toured Visitor Center historical attractions and musuem. Shuttled to Atsion Ranger Station. Purchased permit for Goshen's Pond and Mullica River primitive sites ($2/night per person).
Set up camp at Goshen's Pond. Site has 1 hand pump for potable water and 3 pit privies. Hiked around camp for an hour, made dinner, relaxed at camp for the rest of the day. Spotted a fair amount of wildlife to include: red-bellied turtles, water fowl, toads, and a mating pair of red-tailed hawks. Whip-poor-will were out in full force over the course of the evening, making for a lovely evening song to fall asleep to when mixed with the many frog calls. Total distance hiked - ~1-1.5 miles.
Day 2 - Woke up early, spent a nice leisurely morning having breakfast, prepping packs, tearing down the site, and planning the day. Left Goshen's Pond at about 11am. Hiked to Atsion Ranger Station (~2 miles). Had lunch in the open field under the shade of a few large oaks. Started down the Mullica Trail at about 12:30pm. Hiked down the Mullica River Trail (yellow blazed). Filtered water at river access point. Stopped at Beaver Pond / Quaker Bridge Trail split for break. Recent fire damage was evident in a large number of areas around and near the trail. Some of the burns made interesting trunk patterns in the mix of pitch/short pine and oak that line the trail. Trail was well maintained and very clearly marked. If you didn't see a blaze every 100-200 feet, you weren't on the trail anymore. Trail surface was a mix of hard packed leaf litter and loam to short stretches of sugar sand ranging from 100 yards to .5 miles. Arrived at Mullica River primitive site at 4pm. Stripped down to shorts to cool off in the river.
Mullica River site has 1 hand pump for water, 3 pit privies, and is only accessible via hiking and canoeing. Motor vehicles are NOT permitted, though at least one group ignored that completely to drop gear and boogie before rangers were called. Site is directly on the Mullica River, allowing for dips in the shallow river and launching/landing points for canoers.
Met a number of interesting folks. Bob (Buddha) and Larry (Short-shorts) were nudist canoers who were out doing thier normal weekend portage/paddle from Batsto to Lower Forges to Mullica River to Batsto loop. They are also trail volunteers and long-time locals who look out for the campers, hikers, and canoers in the area. Spent an hour or more talking to them, with Larry trying to convince us to give up the idea of thruhiking and instead become nudist canoers. We discussed the merits of the Pocket Rocket stoves and the Dragonfly stove, which is better for making pancakes, pack weights, and canoeing gear. All in all, very nice guys but the whole time, I really wished Larry would put on longer shorts. I have no problems with people exercising personal freedom in the woods, but I've already passed Health class and did not need a refresher course in male anatomy.
Another group ignored the no motor vehicles signs to drop a ridiculous amount of gear at the site to include a full-sized Jolly Roger flag that they hung near the site. They were loud, rowdy, disrepectful, and completely ignorant of the woods. They maintained a roughly 6' tall fire for hours and partied well into the night. At around 1:30am, they got a rousing "Shut the **** up!" from me which went completely unheeded. Woke up the next morning to find one of the group members passed out on the ground in the middle of the trail wearing only a pair of pants. Pictures to follow once developed.
Dennis and his daughter Jennifer were out with a number of college friends for a Memorial Day weekend canoeing trip. One of the first times I've seen someone using a claw hammer to break up firewood. The kids mostly milled around while Dennis spent the time talking about his many outdoor trips and dispensing advice about anything and everything. As a whole, the group was calm, well-mannered, and kept to themselves.
There were a number of other groups out there to include a large extended family of about 10-15 with quite a few children, another group of college students out for the weekend, and a 3rd group who paddled in by canoe carrying about 140 lbs of firewood with them along with another 60 lbs of gear and equipment. I was actually surprised thier canoes would float with as much stuff as they had crammed into them.
Total Distance Hiked - ~7.5 miles (5.5 miles on Mullica Trail, 2 miles from Goshen's Pond to Atsion Station/trail head)
Day 3 - Woke up at around 7:30am. The Jolly Roger crew had finally passed out from exhaustion at 6am when the sun came up. Made breakfast, talked more with Buddha and Short-shorts, tore down camp, packed up, and walked out of Mullica River campsite at around 9am.
Hiked remaining distance of Mullica River trail to Batsto by 11:15am. Stopped every .5 miles to hydrate as we have not had the money to equip our packs with hydration bladders.
Trail Note - Constable's Bridge, crossing the Mullica River, was washed out due to erosion and winter storms. The trail is detoured at Constables Bridge away from the original course to follow Batsto Lake Road. The bridge looked fairly stable when we came upon it and I expect it will reopen to hikers soon. Evidence of labor was scattered around the area, with old bridge beams, guard rails, and the like lying off to one side of the trail. The detoured trial is also VERY clearly marked, but has the disadvantage of following one of the main sand roads. There is at least one stretch of sugar sand that lasts close to a mile, making for a bit tougher hiking.
Picked up the car again at the Batsto Visitor's Center, spent about 20 minutes touring some of the historical buildings to include the sawmill, the carpenter's shop, and a single family restored dwelling.
Distance hiked: ~5 miles (4 miles on Mullica River Trail, 1 mile to Visitor's Center)
Total Distance - ~12.5-13 miles
Location - Wharton State Forest : Atsion to Batsto
Trail - Mullica River Trail
Conditions - Sunny/Overcast : Low 60's evening / Mid 80's daytime
Trail Length - 9.5 Miles
Pack weight - 25 lbs
Difficulty - Easy/Moderate (Sugar Sand)
Duration - 3 day/2 night
Cost - $45 including food costs
Overview - This was the initial trip for myself and my girlfriend moving away from car camping into self-contained backpacking/hiking. Wanted to keep the distance down to allow for mistakes and to keep the learning curve down somewhat. Kept it close to home to allow for easy evac in case of misfortune or missed expectations.
Day 1 - Dropped car at Batsto Visitors Center. Toured Visitor Center historical attractions and musuem. Shuttled to Atsion Ranger Station. Purchased permit for Goshen's Pond and Mullica River primitive sites ($2/night per person).
Set up camp at Goshen's Pond. Site has 1 hand pump for potable water and 3 pit privies. Hiked around camp for an hour, made dinner, relaxed at camp for the rest of the day. Spotted a fair amount of wildlife to include: red-bellied turtles, water fowl, toads, and a mating pair of red-tailed hawks. Whip-poor-will were out in full force over the course of the evening, making for a lovely evening song to fall asleep to when mixed with the many frog calls. Total distance hiked - ~1-1.5 miles.
Day 2 - Woke up early, spent a nice leisurely morning having breakfast, prepping packs, tearing down the site, and planning the day. Left Goshen's Pond at about 11am. Hiked to Atsion Ranger Station (~2 miles). Had lunch in the open field under the shade of a few large oaks. Started down the Mullica Trail at about 12:30pm. Hiked down the Mullica River Trail (yellow blazed). Filtered water at river access point. Stopped at Beaver Pond / Quaker Bridge Trail split for break. Recent fire damage was evident in a large number of areas around and near the trail. Some of the burns made interesting trunk patterns in the mix of pitch/short pine and oak that line the trail. Trail was well maintained and very clearly marked. If you didn't see a blaze every 100-200 feet, you weren't on the trail anymore. Trail surface was a mix of hard packed leaf litter and loam to short stretches of sugar sand ranging from 100 yards to .5 miles. Arrived at Mullica River primitive site at 4pm. Stripped down to shorts to cool off in the river.
Mullica River site has 1 hand pump for water, 3 pit privies, and is only accessible via hiking and canoeing. Motor vehicles are NOT permitted, though at least one group ignored that completely to drop gear and boogie before rangers were called. Site is directly on the Mullica River, allowing for dips in the shallow river and launching/landing points for canoers.
Met a number of interesting folks. Bob (Buddha) and Larry (Short-shorts) were nudist canoers who were out doing thier normal weekend portage/paddle from Batsto to Lower Forges to Mullica River to Batsto loop. They are also trail volunteers and long-time locals who look out for the campers, hikers, and canoers in the area. Spent an hour or more talking to them, with Larry trying to convince us to give up the idea of thruhiking and instead become nudist canoers. We discussed the merits of the Pocket Rocket stoves and the Dragonfly stove, which is better for making pancakes, pack weights, and canoeing gear. All in all, very nice guys but the whole time, I really wished Larry would put on longer shorts. I have no problems with people exercising personal freedom in the woods, but I've already passed Health class and did not need a refresher course in male anatomy.
Another group ignored the no motor vehicles signs to drop a ridiculous amount of gear at the site to include a full-sized Jolly Roger flag that they hung near the site. They were loud, rowdy, disrepectful, and completely ignorant of the woods. They maintained a roughly 6' tall fire for hours and partied well into the night. At around 1:30am, they got a rousing "Shut the **** up!" from me which went completely unheeded. Woke up the next morning to find one of the group members passed out on the ground in the middle of the trail wearing only a pair of pants. Pictures to follow once developed.
Dennis and his daughter Jennifer were out with a number of college friends for a Memorial Day weekend canoeing trip. One of the first times I've seen someone using a claw hammer to break up firewood. The kids mostly milled around while Dennis spent the time talking about his many outdoor trips and dispensing advice about anything and everything. As a whole, the group was calm, well-mannered, and kept to themselves.
There were a number of other groups out there to include a large extended family of about 10-15 with quite a few children, another group of college students out for the weekend, and a 3rd group who paddled in by canoe carrying about 140 lbs of firewood with them along with another 60 lbs of gear and equipment. I was actually surprised thier canoes would float with as much stuff as they had crammed into them.
Total Distance Hiked - ~7.5 miles (5.5 miles on Mullica Trail, 2 miles from Goshen's Pond to Atsion Station/trail head)
Day 3 - Woke up at around 7:30am. The Jolly Roger crew had finally passed out from exhaustion at 6am when the sun came up. Made breakfast, talked more with Buddha and Short-shorts, tore down camp, packed up, and walked out of Mullica River campsite at around 9am.
Hiked remaining distance of Mullica River trail to Batsto by 11:15am. Stopped every .5 miles to hydrate as we have not had the money to equip our packs with hydration bladders.
Trail Note - Constable's Bridge, crossing the Mullica River, was washed out due to erosion and winter storms. The trail is detoured at Constables Bridge away from the original course to follow Batsto Lake Road. The bridge looked fairly stable when we came upon it and I expect it will reopen to hikers soon. Evidence of labor was scattered around the area, with old bridge beams, guard rails, and the like lying off to one side of the trail. The detoured trial is also VERY clearly marked, but has the disadvantage of following one of the main sand roads. There is at least one stretch of sugar sand that lasts close to a mile, making for a bit tougher hiking.
Picked up the car again at the Batsto Visitor's Center, spent about 20 minutes touring some of the historical buildings to include the sawmill, the carpenter's shop, and a single family restored dwelling.
Distance hiked: ~5 miles (4 miles on Mullica River Trail, 1 mile to Visitor's Center)
Total Distance - ~12.5-13 miles