You Love Canoeing? Then Visit the Pine Barrens' Mullica River
My friend Jeff E invited me last year to join him in a Sundance Outdoor Adventure Society's trip to New Jersey's Pine Barrens (also called Pinelands) but it quickly reached its group limit before we could register ourselves. This time of the year, Jeff invited me again and found out there were just 4 of us who registered for the trip.
Before we started the brief drive to Mullica River from Adams Canoe Rental, I saw a black butterfly hovering around and close by me. I was reminded of superstitious beliefs on seeing such signs, and proceeded to say my prayers. And I thought also that the number '4', which represents the total people in our tiny group, was something of a premonition, i.e., the number 4 is a sign of death for certain cultures like that of the Japanese. And I thought the dark water's foreboding; I usually won't deal with such dark-colored flowing water but decided I should have fun (as this is my present for my birthday last April).
With all those things coming in mind, I worked to keep silent while canoeing in the Mullica River. But I couldn't help myself but to shriek and laugh aloud especially from having tiny pleasures of overcoming the many hurdles in the river. On the first day, Jeff was with me, while Gene and Randy were together in the other canoe. The most memorable portion of this part of the trip was getting myself entangled in a bush full of thorns, which I realized late while I was retrieving Randy's paddle that he unintentionally left and stuck in the bush while he and Gene were traversing that tricky part of the river.
I barely managed to take as many pictures as I wanted; I soon realized my camera's dying on me because of its weak batteries. And also, I was worrying the canoe may capsize anytime while we're rowing in that river that has so many unseen obstructions, with logs in the dark brown water looking the most treacherous to my eyes. I think we must have rowed for at least 4 hours the first day, until we reached camp, where we soon set up our selves, the tents, and all other stuff, while boyscouts and other visitors were also doing their thing. And we still managed to swim a bit in the river, with it being cold, before it got more colder as the sun started to set in.
As we soon found out we had all the time to spend for the rest of the evening, we had a wonderful time chatting, laughing, and learning about each other's endeavors and respective past histories. I knew I heard mini-stories about moving on, too. I love recalling many memories while watching the bonfire that we lit-up as soon as it was turning dark, using the bag of dried firewood Gene brought with him. The whole place looked serene to me (or probably it was due to my exhaustion from canoeing). Dinner was awesome as we shared what we brought with us in this trip, and I enjoyed the quinoa grain based-salad that Gene made.
Next day's breakfast included hot coffee, which Gene prepared, using a kettle and a portable stove he brought. And we also had oats (Gene used a different, smaller variety of oats). And we were soon set to continue the next half of the canoeing trip, which I understand makes the balance of this 15-mile trip. This time the river's wider and the obstructions were more manageable. I remember seeing 3 bridges that we had to go under to pass through. Except for a picture of one of the bridges, no other pictures were taken during this part of the trip.
We're done before lunch time and had all the time to spare to enjoy lunch somewhere along the highway back to NYC. I highly recommend this trip to others; they just have to make sure they pack light as much as possible. And wish the river's higher so there will have lesser chances of meeting obstructions tossed along the way by venerable Mother Nature.
Before we started the brief drive to Mullica River from Adams Canoe Rental, I saw a black butterfly hovering around and close by me. I was reminded of superstitious beliefs on seeing such signs, and proceeded to say my prayers. And I thought also that the number '4', which represents the total people in our tiny group, was something of a premonition, i.e., the number 4 is a sign of death for certain cultures like that of the Japanese. And I thought the dark water's foreboding; I usually won't deal with such dark-colored flowing water but decided I should have fun (as this is my present for my birthday last April).
With all those things coming in mind, I worked to keep silent while canoeing in the Mullica River. But I couldn't help myself but to shriek and laugh aloud especially from having tiny pleasures of overcoming the many hurdles in the river. On the first day, Jeff was with me, while Gene and Randy were together in the other canoe. The most memorable portion of this part of the trip was getting myself entangled in a bush full of thorns, which I realized late while I was retrieving Randy's paddle that he unintentionally left and stuck in the bush while he and Gene were traversing that tricky part of the river.
I barely managed to take as many pictures as I wanted; I soon realized my camera's dying on me because of its weak batteries. And also, I was worrying the canoe may capsize anytime while we're rowing in that river that has so many unseen obstructions, with logs in the dark brown water looking the most treacherous to my eyes. I think we must have rowed for at least 4 hours the first day, until we reached camp, where we soon set up our selves, the tents, and all other stuff, while boyscouts and other visitors were also doing their thing. And we still managed to swim a bit in the river, with it being cold, before it got more colder as the sun started to set in.
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| Jeff E, with Gene & Randy in the background |
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| smiling me, given my exhaustion from canoeing, huh! |
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| bonfire of the vanities? Randy & Gene, with Jeff E shown, too, in the setting darkness in the campsite |
As we soon found out we had all the time to spend for the rest of the evening, we had a wonderful time chatting, laughing, and learning about each other's endeavors and respective past histories. I knew I heard mini-stories about moving on, too. I love recalling many memories while watching the bonfire that we lit-up as soon as it was turning dark, using the bag of dried firewood Gene brought with him. The whole place looked serene to me (or probably it was due to my exhaustion from canoeing). Dinner was awesome as we shared what we brought with us in this trip, and I enjoyed the quinoa grain based-salad that Gene made.
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| gratefully waiting as coffee's being brewed and the rest of the breakfast to be shared |
Next day's breakfast included hot coffee, which Gene prepared, using a kettle and a portable stove he brought. And we also had oats (Gene used a different, smaller variety of oats). And we were soon set to continue the next half of the canoeing trip, which I understand makes the balance of this 15-mile trip. This time the river's wider and the obstructions were more manageable. I remember seeing 3 bridges that we had to go under to pass through. Except for a picture of one of the bridges, no other pictures were taken during this part of the trip.
We're done before lunch time and had all the time to spare to enjoy lunch somewhere along the highway back to NYC. I highly recommend this trip to others; they just have to make sure they pack light as much as possible. And wish the river's higher so there will have lesser chances of meeting obstructions tossed along the way by venerable Mother Nature.
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