Pine Barrens Hike, 1/1/14

Carranza Memorial to Apple Pie Hill

(Before starting today's trip report, it occurred to me after I posted yesterday's "year in review" that there's another reason I got out for fewer hikes last year - my access to my own car is severely limited. With young adults here working, I can't just take my car and go for the day - it has to be carefully coordinated, and often just doesn't work. That's how it has to be for now. Anyway, on to today.)

Introduction
A few of us had talked about the possibility of a hike over Christmas week, and New Year's Day turned out to be the day. I love the idea of starting the new year with a good hike. John suggested a Pine Barrens hike, and that sounded great to me. I've been interested in the Pine Barrens ever since reading John McPhee's classic book, and I've done a couple of good hikes there - the most recent one being over Christmas week two years ago. My trip report follows.

7:58am
I'm in the parking lot of the Broomall Wawa with a coffee and a breakfast sandwich. John should be here shortly, and we'll drive to Tim's house together. The temp is around the freezing mark and won't get much warmer, but it's supposed to be sunny and clear - so that's good hiking weather. John has a hiked picked out that's about 8 miles, so that's approximately 3 hours of hiking - not too long to actually be outside. (i.e., we won't be out in the cold all day.)

10:24am

We're starting our hike from the Carranza Memorial, near Tabernacle, NJ, in the Wharton State Forest. We picked up Tim and Joe with no problem, and had an easy ride over the Walt Whitman into Jersey. The Carranza Memorial is an interesting landmark. Emilio Carranza was an early aviator, called the Mexican Lindbergh, and he crashed and was killed near here in 1928.

Our hike plan is very simple - we'll follow the pink-blazed Batona Trail northeast for about 4 miles to Apple Pie Hill - the high point of the Pine Barrens (this hike exactly.) Of course, that's not saying much, as the whole pineland region is flat as a table. The top of the hill is 209 feet above sea level.

It's still cold, but there's no wind to speak of. I'm starting out in hiking pants (with no long-johns underneath - possibly something I'll regret), and layers on top - a long-sleeve polypro base layer, a light flannel shirt, a fleece vest, and my Gore-tex rain jacket as a windbreaker. I'll probably shed at least one layer when I start to move. I'm wearing light gloves and a baseball cap (I have a wool toque in my pack, but I don't think I'll need it.)

Tim and Joe took a few group pics at the Memorial (hopefully I'll get copies of any good ones). Away we go.

11:25am
We just stopped for a pee break (I love being a guy), and I looked at my phone GPS and noted we've been out for one hour and have gone 2.5 miles. It's a very pleasant day for a hike. The trail through the pines is very pretty, and the sky is bright blue above the trees. The trail was not too well-defined in a few places when we first started out, but there were always pink blazes to keep us right - and then the trail was much better defined once we got into the woods. The trail has passed close by cedar swamps in a couple of places, and there's a thin layer of ice on the water. John has led the way for most of our hike, and I've brought up the rear. My legs feel great, and it feels so good to be outside and moving. I haven't removed any layers, but I have unzipped both my jacket and my vest and taken my gloves off.

12:03pm

Apple Pie Hill. As expected, this is a mighty small hill - but it is the highest point around. My GPS says we covered 4.19 miles. There's a 60' tall fire tower here which you can climb - and which John is currently ascending. Even from the ground you can see a *long* way, and it's pines as far as the eye can see.

12:31pm
That was a nice break. John and Joe went to the top of the tower immediately. I knew I wasn't going to the top, but I went partway up. Tim said he was going partway, but ended up going all the way up. I'm sure the view was great, but those kinds of heights aren't my thing. The view was fine from halfway up (or maybe a little less. :-)) I then came back down and had my PB&J and a Gatorade. Now that I've stopped moving, I'm cold again, and have zipped everything back up.

Judging from the pumpkin carcasses, someone's had a good time tossing them off the tower.

We're packed up and ready to go. We'll re-trace our steps back to the car.

2:07pm

We're back at the car. The return hike was uneventful. I led for most of the way back, and it seemed to me that the trail was better marked coming back than it was going out. Or maybe I was just paying better attention, as I was in the lead. My legs (specifically my hip joints) started to feel a little sore on the second half of the return trip - nothing serious, just my body reminding me that we haven't done many 8-mile days recently. I think we're all pleased with our hike.

Postscript
The day worked out perfectly. I really needed this. It felt *so* good to be outside and moving. I love the Pine Barrens and hope to do more hiking there. It's beautiful, and so very flat, with trails covered with pine needles. I'm pretty sure that in heaven all the hiking trails are covered in pine needles.

I was dressed appropriately and had no trouble. My legs were a little cold, but not uncomfortably so. A lightweight pair of long-johns might have helped...or might have made me too warm.

Tim mentioned that his New Year's resolution is to get out hiking one day per month. That sounds good to me.

Total Distance: 8.29 miles
Elapsed Time: 3:07 (hiking time, I paused the GPS while we were at the tower)