NJ>Lower Forge>7/12/14>1st Annual GSHDANJ Blueberry Hang

[SilvrSurfr]

Y'all got to come pick some wild blueberries and huckleberries this time of year.

This seems like the best weekend to have a quality blueberry pick, based on personal experience. However, I will rely on the reconnaissance or reconnoitering abilities of Ratdog to affirm whether my blueberry prognostications are indeed accurate.

July 12 will also be a full moon supermoon (when moon really close to earth, kemosabe).

We could also consider Mullica River campsite since you can also paddle to it.

[natureboy68]

I'm in! Definitely down to paddle, I have a canoe and two 9' kayaks...mmmmm...blueberries
FYI the full moon at perigee will be 358,258 km away! And july's full moon is called buck/thunder/hay moon!

[perrito]

I thought that trees were sparse at Lower Forge.

[silentorpheus]

I thought that trees were sparse at Lower Forge.

If you get the right sites, Lower Forge can house a handful of hammocks. However there is a limit to what numbers LF can support.

I wouldn't try and get much more than maybe 9 - 10 hammocks in there - and that's assuming you were able to get sites 4,5,6, and 7. We did 8 people for our paddle in April, using sites 4-6. That was pretty maxed out.

Sites 1-3 and 8 are pretty useless, and 9 has some trees but it's on the far end of camp.

[natureboy68]

Dang it! I have a retirement party on saturday! I can do thursday to friday??

[Ratdog]

I prefer the Mullica River campsite because I can hang next to the water and there's no dadgum bluff to hike up and down to the get to the boats.

Mullica River paddle is a more mellow paddle than the Upper Batsto and is an easy hike in if that's preferred. That campsite is also located in a Wilderness Management Area which should mean fewer folks foraging for berries. But it does have less undercover in the immediate camp area. Not sure about the walk to Batsto, haven't been on that trail in a while. Shuttle is a little easier to do for the Mullica as well.

That said, the Upper Batsto is a beautiful paddle in sections, if you can handle the non stop zig zagging. At lower water levels it's a pain to paddle. Though, we sure could do some creek maintenance if we wanted to spend 8 hours getting there.

All rambling aside. I will be out checking on berries weekly, need to free my radicals and I am very anti oxidant, dang oxidants.

[SilvrSurfr]

I thought that trees were sparse at Lower Forge.

I'm not opposed to Mullica River, which has mo' betta trees. However, to my recollection Lower Forge has a lot more blueberries.

When we hang at a wilderness campsite like Lower Forge (or Mullica River, for that matter), we usually have a lower head count since hiking or paddling is required to reach the sites (unless you're Ratdog with 4WD, an intimate knowledge of Pine Barrens backroads, and a family of sherpas).

[Ratdog]

I'm not opposed to Mullica River, which has mo' betta trees. However, to my recollection Lower Forge has a lot more blueberries.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking as well. Just wasn't sure about the walk out of Mullica towards Batsto, was thinking it might get bushy along there. But the hike from Atsion to Mullica River Campsite, not so bushy, nice walk, just not a lot of blueberries.

I do need to scout the other side of the river from Mullica River Campsite, that may hold some promise and there are a few old roads on that side.

When we hang at a wilderness campsite like Lower Forge (or Mullica River, for that matter), we usually have a lower head count since hiking or paddling is required to reach the sites (unless you're Ratdog with 4WD, an intimate knowledge of Pine Barrens backroads, and a family of sherpas).

We can sherpa into the parking area near Lower Forge. (unofficial, non sanctioned, non protected parking area) And that's about a 10 minute walk into camp. Could also paddle upstream from Quaker Bridge to get to Lower Forge, shouldn't take too long.

[Ratdog]

Among other noteworthy events, the NJ Pine Barrens is home to the first cultivated highbush blueberry. Today, New Jersey, (specifically, the Pinelands of Atlantic and Burlington Counties) though diminuitive in size, remains the second-largest producer of blueberries nationwide, behind only Michigan. NJ's 52 million pound harvest comes from only 7,600 acres, and Michigan's 83 million pound harvest comes from 16,700 acres. When one considers that that 80% of Jersey's blueberries come from Atlantic County (Hammonton area), it's easy to see why Hammonton is the "Blueberry Capital of the World!" (2006 statistics from USDA/NASS)

http://www.pineypower.com/blueberries.htm

[Black Foot]

I'd be interested in this...maybe Tinkr can come too. Like to hike in but little wary of ticks this time of year in the Pine Barrens (and everywhere else in the mid-Atlantic). Hate those little blood suckers