NJ>Paddling Mullica River>4/24/14

[SilvrSurfr]

My 22-year-old son Vanilla Pudge is coming home from college - we're gonna paddle the Mullica starting at Atsion - camp at Mullica River campsite, then paddle on to the landing past Batsto Village (I forget the name). First time paddling the Mullica - I look forward to it!

[njredneck]

Have fun. Wish I could join you but work sucks right now.

[mrcheviot]

That does sound fun, will be off to MAHHA this weekend though..

[natureboy68]

Sounds awesome! I'm nursing Achilles tendon surgery, so not me! How are you shuttling? Just leaving cars at put in/take out?

[Ratdog]

Sounds awesome! I'm nursing Achilles tendon surgery, so not me! How are you shuttling? Just leaving cars at put in/take out?

Is there any other way?

[natureboy68]

Is there any other way?

Thought maybe the local canoe livery would provide shuttles...I guess cars at end and beginning is the way to go...

[Ratdog]

I don't know for certain if Adam's Canoe Rentals provides a shuttle service.
They are right at Atsion and I'll wager they pick up the canoes in Batsto. Their website says to call for arrangements so I'm thinking something can always be worked out.

Mick's Canoe Rental just outside Chatsworth does run shuttles, a lot of them. I am always seeing their buses in the woods. Their website has bunches of info for trip planning and general guidance.

Rates are a little stiff imho but fuel costs and liability insurance no doubt take their toll. Our last trip would have cost $400-$500 in rental fees had we rented so the bring your own option is very attractive. Get a hold of a local sherpa and drop your car at the take out point is the way to go. HF.net has been known to have a few sherpas hanging about.

[SilvrSurfr]

I'm going out totally half-cocked on this affair. I haven't packed at all. I made some new whoopie slings, sorted through the gear, placed it in piles, but not much else.

My son has been sleeping pretty much every hour since he got back from college, he occasionally wakes to eat or attend to bodily functions. He expects me to pack his food, hammock, quilts, everything. He doesn't even have clothes - socks, underwear or even shoes. I really don't mind doing it for him - just cracks me up to see his attitude.

My wife asked him at dinner: Why would you want to paddle down a river and camp in the woods? She's a city slicker.

I imagine my son is thinking:

1) Dad always lays a guilt trip on me about how he was the product of a broken home and he didn't even have a father to go camping with - and how I'm an ungrateful pig if I don't take advantage of the father-son time my father proffers.
2) The less time around Mom, the better. She always has a darned to-do list that ruins my time home from college.
3) The Pine Barrens are pretty cool, and they're cooler when you're paddling.
4) Cell phone reception okay, so I'll have some access to social media.
5) It's great when somebody does all the packing and planning - kind of like, If This Is Tuesday, I Must be In Belgium!

[SilvrSurfr]

Just think - in about 24 hours I'll be paddling smack-dab in the middle of 1.1 million acres of piney wilderness, cruising along in some of the purest waters in all the world. Hard to believe you could find that in New Jersey.

[silentorpheus]

I'd love to join, if I weren't down in sunny Florida, sitting on a beach all day. I know, life is tough.

Enjoy the pines, and say hi to Mullica for me.