Wharton Loop – Mullica River Trail/Beaver Pond-Quaker Bridge Trail/Wilderness Connector Loop – Wharton State Forest, Shamong,  Burlington County, NJ Distance – 9.9 miles total Type – Lollipop trail Difficulty: 2 of 10

Website – http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/wharton.html Open – Sunrise to Sunset.

Terrain – Forest and swamp Surface – Sand

Trailheads – 39°44’30.37″N,  74°43’33.55″W (next to Atsion Ranger Station)

So one of my many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many interests that I fake knowing something about is architecture.  And my favorite style of architecture by FAR is “mid-20th century futuristic space architecture.”  I absolute adore the crazy stuff that people dreamed up at that time.  It was the height of the space race, and people around the world looked forward to a time of robots and flying cars.

Crazy.

So crazy.

But this idea of buildings of the future went way further than just giant [...]

Batona Trail Batsto to Ongs Hat 3 days – 34 miles

Back in November, Skunk, Danny, Pat, and I went for a little three day, 34 mile stroll on the Batona Trail.

(Note: This is more adventure log and not so much trail info.  For trail info, go to https://southjerseytrails.org/batonatrail/)

Three of us managed to get off on Friday (sorry Danny), so we met at Batsto and, after getting our permits, headed off down the Batona.  The first few miles flew and we walked through the areas that burned in the forest fire a few summers back.

The first bit of really [...]

Sleeper Branch Trail – Marilyn Beard Trailhead – Wharton State Park – Waterford, Camden County, NJ Distance – Listed at 5.4 miles on the new map, but this DEFINITELY does not include mandatory backtracking.  Actual hike is 8.2 miles total according to the old map and me walking the trail. Type – Lollipop Difficulty:  5 of 10 (puddles, flooding, missing trail markers)

Website – Wharton State Forest Open – Sunrise to Sunset.

Terrain – Woods and swamp Surface – Sand

Trailheads –  39°45’12.40″N,  74°51’50.62″W

Directions – located at the end of the paved section of Burnt Mill Road [...]