Cutts Bog

New Jersey, the US's most densely populated state, has a surprising amount of preserved land. And recently, for reasonably small values of 'recent', one of our state forests, the Wharton State Forest, got a little bit bigger.

And, for very small values of 'recent' I went hiking there.

A cool site that shows the preserved land in NJ is the CHANJ Web Viewer. The link will bring up a map with the Rancocas Conservancy's Friendship Creek Preserve centered. The dark green area below the newly added section of the Wharton State Forest. I live directly north of this preserve  less than four miles as the crow (or any other bird) flies. 

It was cold when I headed down to join the hike (25° F), lead by a Wharton State Forest volunteer. Eric was his name. Not doubt the cold, and the forecast for snow then freezing rain in the afternoon, the hike began at 1:00 pm, kept some people away. Twenty-five people signed up, the limit, but only ten, plus two state forest volunteers, went hiking.

The forest is typical Pine Barrens.

Pines.

More pines.

Bottles. Alas, from the 70's. Nothing to find here.

Eric leading the way. He assured us the orange vest was not because of hunters but so we could see him.

Cedars.

One participant likened this downed tree to a TSA check point. If only it would keep the off roaders out.

Alas, it seems the off roader crowd can't read. I'm not surprised, they do seem to be rather ignorant.

The yellow blazes are so called 'witness trees' marking the boundary between state forest and the Friendship Creek Preserve. There are no marked trails here. At least not yet.

The cranberry bogs for which the site is named. Long overgrown. The bogs have not been active for over fifteen years.

This would be a wonderful place to visit in the spring. Full of wildflowers and other Pinelands plants. Except that this area is overrun by the off roaders. Sad, very, very sad.

As we started back ...

.. the forecasted snow began to fall.

The old cranberry loading dock. We paused here to listen to the snow hitting the dried oak leaves. Our reverie broken by the sound of gunfire in the distance.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, .... any deer were long gone. And if you needed that many shots, well maybe you shouldn't drink so much?

There were many of these webs collecting snow. Adding one more touch of beauty to the place.

Five miles after we started, we were back where we began. We said our goodbyes, thanked Eric, and headed home to dinner and warmth (at least, that's what I did).

I'll definitely be going back.