NJ>Mullica River>4/14-415 Paddle & Hike

[Ratdog]

Now the story could end here with a simple, “we hiked out” but nature took it’s course and I ain’t gonna lie, we were dog tired and did some big dog napping.







A couple folks wandered by but then, after hearing some half hearted woofing , enough to make me look up and what do I see? Crazy many pulling two wagons at the same time, a mile down a sandy, sugar sandy, trail.

So after discussions of “leave it here for the canoes”, “leave it here when they get hungry someone will go and get it”, yeah mightysmurf was gonna keep pulling like Babe the blue ox...must be a blue thing. We dragged the stuff the rest of the way into camp and were met by tTF and gang. Shortly there after the canoes arrived.



GBD here with tTF, effensmurfy and fishkiller. Looks like serious talk, might have involved getting out of the chair, not sure. That and clearly we like purple. SS’s royal hang set behind tTF.







Sent from my hammock using whatever had a signal.

[Ratdog]

Still had some time and energy so Radar and I hiked off towards Batsto in search of the bane of all lethargic mosquitoes, SilvrSurfer.

The Iceman cometh.


Some were too busy taking ownership of one million acres of forest, a single tree at a time to notice...at first.


But then, maybe it was a change in the wind, maybe a “whoooo budddddy” in the distance but Radar was off...


The greeting


Then back to camp.

We hung out for a bit but it was close to supper time and Radar’s dog food was a mile away in the truck so we hit the trail again, hiking out with a sherpa team to grab a few last items.

The day, the heat, the lack of lunch, walking around in sneakers instead of my boots, switched daypacks at the last minute and didn’t have everything I wanted, for some reason had just this week removed my wool and wool poncho from the truck, temps were going to drop, wind was supposed to pick up, rain starts later and I’m in 80° hiking gear.

Time to take 5, grab some grub, check the truck for gear and decide if we’re gonna hike a mile back into camp and hang out for the evening, eat some steak and pull a late night hike out later.

Grabbed my kickstarter critter CR2 stove stand, my squidmark homage alcohol stove from a beard wax tin, my new docooler flimsy titanium foil windscreen and commence to heating up some MH chicken rib meat. Got all that rolling, fed and watered the dog, replenished some electrolytes and woofed down that chicken.

We chilled out for 30 mins, let that protein go to work restoring some energy and then I felt it. That little burn on your foot. Yeah, my tail sneakers which needed new insoles end of last season, dang sugar sand got in there and started working up a blister. Well we slow rolled it back to camp in time for dinner prep.

Had grabbed a chair out of the truck, a shirt jac and we were good as the temps dropped 20°, then 30° with the wind picking up. Converted my hammock into a windbreak wrapped around the chair because I forgot my foil tubes.

Caught a little slack about providing wet firewood again, hey it was in the round until we spilt it an hour ago. Always holds a little more moisture that way, just gotta dice it up a little smaller. Without a tracker in sight, a Condor was pressed into service, fire stoked, food cooked, meat and veggies consumed and the usual campfire story telling.

The evening wound down with after midnight brats right around midnight. Guessing temps were in the low 50s, high 40s at this point, wind was gusting to 20-25 easy at this point and the pup and I still had a mile hike out to the truck and the at least 30 mins before we would see pavement.

Said our goodbyes, packed up and hiked out by the sleeping ground pounders and the odd hammocker or two at the other sites.

The hike out was something special. See it was a moonless night with a clear starlight night, right up until the clouds rolled with the front. So now it was dark, really dark for this area and getting cold, windy and yep a half mile out of camp we heard the yotes. We saw about 6-7 deer on the way out with the big boy holding down on the islands between the river banks and does and yearlings off deeper in the forest. The coyotes were always in the distance but we enjoyed our walk out made a little longer by time of day, gimpin a little and being a little tight after hanging in camp for a few hours.

So Radar and I thank JimBoh for his share of the grub and the gang for hosting us. We had an excellent day.



Sent from my hammock using whatever had a signal.

[SilvrSurfr]

The bane of all lethargic mosquitoes? Did you see a mosquito? I saw a lot of gnats but no mosquitoes. Glad I left my bugnet at home!

I only saw one tick - crawling up my arm like he just didn't care.

[Ratdog]

The bane of all lethargic mosquitoes? Did you see a mosquito? I saw a lot of gnats but no mosquitoes. Glad I left my bugnet at home!

I only saw one tick - crawling up my arm like he just didn't care.

I figure you’re not quick enough to be the bane of non lethargic mosquitoes anymore.

Radar had 1 tick , I had 1 tick. Not bad considering he was in the brush, on the ground and rolling in the grass.

No skeeters. Few small hatches here and there of something. Mostly on the trail every once in a while. Smushed a dozen of them on my head but no bites. Nah it was a beautiful day, sunny, warm, bugless and the green stuff just starting to pop.

Saw some lizards, turtles, deer but no skeeters.

Good stuff.

[GreatBigDave]

I had a great time and I am still sore.

Saturday was spectacular, sunny and warm - not at all the weather I had worried about. I had the privilege of riding in the bow of electbc's canoe. This was my first time paddling the Mullica and it is nice. The upper section is generally a winding narrow track through the forest, often less than a canoe legnth wide, opening to marshy areas where it's sometimes hard to find the current. We saw turtles, a goose on a nest right by the river who looked unhappy about our presence, a family of geese with goslings, and the largest beaver lodge I've ever seen whose construction included a 4x4 post. There were other people out there with us: on the water, on the trail, and on a beach. Plenty of water, I suspect that the placement of the gage down stream of several inflows may give an innacurate picture of the upper river especially if the Atsion Lake level is low.

The view of the forest from the river is beautiful, dominated by Pine, Cedar, and flowering Red Maple. The water in the river is the color of tea and filled with a forest of Pine, Cedar, and flowering Red Maple. It seemed that every turn revealed the next blowdown and the reckoning of how to get by it. It was exhausting for me, mentally and physically but electbc and the other paddlers in front of us picked a path through it all. I don't recall getting out of the boat before we reached the campsite. I learned alot that day about paddling and finding the way through, over, around, and under the obstacles. I assume it was the March storms that filled the water with trees and I am grateful for the clearing work that provided some of the paths we found.

At Mullica River Camp I grabbed my bags and wobbly legged up the beach to greet the hikers. I found a spot in the back without dead branches overhead and set up my camp; I really love the Lazy Slug Tube. Sitting down in my XLC to test my setup I felt I might just fall asleep. I resisted, got up, put up my tarp and got busy yapping and doing mostly nothing. NJRedneck catered another fantastic camp dinner with sous-chef SilentOrpheus. Through the evening campers left the fire returning with additonal layers as the chill of night chased away the warmth of the day. I wasn't really hungry by the time the Midnight Brats were ready but I am not the type to pass on wurst. Slept for three hours then up to water a tree; the wind had really picked up and I spent the next two hours listening to the gusts move through the forest. It pushed my tarp against my hammock and set me rocking. A couple more hours of sleep and it was time to get up and pack up. A couple cups of fine french press coffee and NJRedneck's spicy sausage, egg, and cheese sammich and it was time to leave camp.

Sunday was nothing like Satuday. Temps in the forties with constant mist occasionally turning to light rain. The blowdowns were bigger, clumped together, and often impassable. I learned I could limbo under trees too low to duck under although I remain quite uncomfortable with it. I felt more confident in my paddling and navigation. We were the lead boat almost all day stopping several times to let the group catch up. Often when the river would open up I felt electbc push us forward, I'd try to follow his lead - that boat feels fast. Saw lots of fish splahing near the banks, didn't realize it was fish frolic - Thanks JeepinPete. As I ducked under the last blowdown of the day the hood of my raincoat got caught on a branch. I didn't know what had grabbed me by the throat and yanked me toward the back of the boat but I did know I couldn't breathe. I felt a moment of panic but electbc told me I'd caught my hood. Pulled the boat a bit upstream, unhooked my hood, got the rest of the boat through, and then back at it for the short bit remaining. Treated myself at the end with a dark chocolate Reese's - mmmm.

Thanks electbc for a spot in your canoe, your patience, and your lessons. I learned alot and I believe I'm a better paddler than I was Saturday morning. Thanks to NJRedneck for putting this trip together and catering for the crowd - excellent as always. And thanks to every one else for sherpa, food, and fellowship.

I had a blast and I am grateful.

[SilvrSurfr]

I'm tempted to go paddling this weekend. Flood stage of 3.25 ft. and 290 cfs. Anybody game?

This ain't normal for this time of year.

https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=real&r=nj&w=map

[electbc]

On the Mullica? Interesting level for sure. Hopefully they cleared some more, otherwise you will encounter some trees which we just barely squeezed under, blocking your path.

[electbc]

Not much for writing trip reports here, but last weekend was a blast. Weather was almost too hot on Saturday. Saturday night was excellent sleeping weather.
Good food, thanks for cooking Mike and Jeremiah.
Good Company.
Great Big paddling partner Dave leading the way down the narrow twisting Mullica. We will have to do it again sometime.

[GreatBigDave]

I'm tempted to go paddling this weekend. Flood stage of 3.25 ft. and 290 cfs. Anybody game?

This ain't normal for this time of year.

https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=real&r=nj&w=map

Did you go?
How was it?

[SilvrSurfr]

Did you go?
How was it?

I stayed home and did gardening.