[Journal entry for May 3, 2014; Batsto River, New Jersey Pine Barrens] My friend Lee Reiser organized this kayak trip on the Batsto River in Wharton State Forest in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Lee, Tony, Agota (Aggie) Fejes and I attended. We met up at Batsto Village, a historic restoration off of Route 542, just south of Batsto Lake. The launch that is just west of the Village was to be our take out point, for our plan was to drive Batsto River Road (really an unimproved jeep track) north to Quaker Bridge. However, we found the road to be impassible, owing to deep puddles, some twenty feet across, and sections of loose sand. So we modified our plan to both launch and take out on Batsto Lake. It was about 10 AM by the time we were on the water and underway. The day was partly cloudy, but with occasional intervals of clear sky. I paddled a borrowed Old Town Otter XT plastic kayak, a little pumpkin seed-shaped boat that handles well in narrow channels. I used an old racing paddle – not really fitting for such a wide boat, but I am used to it.

Batsto Lake is an impoundment created by a dam on the Batsto River. The highway runs over the dam. We could see the spillway as we drove across. It was roaring; the river was definitely running very high. I paddled down to the dam as I waited for the others to launch. An old wooden house, with unpainted clapboards, sits on or near it, surrounded by picturesque trees. Except for the dam, the shores of the lake are surrounded by tall evergreen trees, mostly Pitch Pine and Atlantic White Cedar. After everyone had launched, we headed up this long and narrow lake and entered the Batsto River. The current was strong, perhaps as fast as two miles per hour in places and the level was very high. All the lowlands were under water, forming a labyrinth of pools and channels. We had to study the river closely, looking for the fastest currents, to keep to the main channel. Even so, we had to backtrack a few times, when we entered a backwater by mistake.

The flood plain of the river is a few hundred yards wide. The river meanders through Cedar Swamps, Red Maple swamps and marshlands, all confined to the lowlands. The edges of the flood plain are well-defined by a sandy bank, twenty feet high in places, atop which Pitch Pines grow. Batsto River Road follows the western edge. The Red Maples have already bloomed and sport clusters of bright red polynoses, but have yet to lead out. We spot several turtles sunning themselves on logs, some with shells as much as eighteen inches long. We spot many birds, including purple martins, woodpeckers and catbirds, and a few bird nests, hidden away in bushes overhanging the river. Oddly, we sight one little brown bat fluttering over the river surface, too.

We make steady progress upstream. After about ninety minutes of paddling, we pull over to the western upland for a break. The section of the road looks pretty bad here, too. We rest, rehydrate and then continue upstream. After an hour or so, we meet another group of canoeists, who are having lunch on the western upland. They launched from Quaker Bridge and took about forty-five minutes, paddling with the current, to reach this spot. We continue on until we reach a pullout on the eastern upland, at a point where Batona Trail (blazed in red) is close to the river. We decide to make this point, which is about seven miles from the launch on Batsto Lake and four miles south of Quaker Bridge, our end point. We carry the boats ashore, climb up to the level surface of the upland, and have lunch there. The area is peaceful, except for a few buzzing yellow jackets and occasion sound of a vehicle on Batsto River Road, on the opposite shore. I explore the area. The soil is sandy and yellow mostly in color, though the uppermost layer is pure white. I suppose that the yellow color is due to a fine-grained clay mineral, which has been blown away by the wind. The vegetation is mostly high-bush Blueberry bushes beneath Pitch Pines. The Blueberries are in bloom, but haven’t yet leafed out. Ants have raised small volcano-shaped mounds on the soil, whose yellow color is in sharp contrast to the otherwise white surface. Lee has brought along several books on the rivers of the Pine Barrens; we leaf through them as we rest. A troop of Boy Scouts, wearing backpacks, walk by on the trail.

We then head back. The downstream paddle is, or course, very easy and very fast. I amuse myself by taking many small detours into ponds and through the more open swamps. The swamps are the most interesting, because of the many winding paths through the trees and because of the dimness caused by the shading of the trees above. But it is also the most dangerous, because I must be very careful to avoid strainers – tangles of trunks and branches that can trap the unwary kayaker. Lee points out several exceptionally large turtles that he has sighted.

We eventually reach the north end of the lake. Tony and I sprint our boats down the length of the lake to the launch. Once there, I borrow Tony’s canoe, a light Kevlar model made by Hornbeck Boats. I sprint it back up the lake and meet up with Lee. Unlike the Otter, this boat is reasonably fast – though a bit too wide for my racing stroke. It tracks very well – though perhaps too well for easy maneuvering in a narrow river like the Batsto.

Back at the launch, we loading our boats and said goodbye to Tony, who was heading back to New York. Lee, Aggie drove over to the town of Ocean Gate on the New Jersey coast, I had a seafood dinner at The Anchor Inn.

About five and a half hours on the water.