Wharton State Forest, 7/13-15/2007

7/13-15/2007: I passed by Buttonwood Hill several times in my car before actually finding the entrance close to midnight on Friday. Although some people had already gone to bed, I joined a lively bunch around the campfire.

On Saturday morning after breakfast, Evelyn, Sarah, Dave, Frank and I drove down the road to Bel Haven Canoes and Kayaks. We rented two double kayaks and one single (I paddled solo) and took a two-hour trip down the Mullica River. I liked the early part of the journey best, where the river is narrow and winding. Towards the end, the river becomes much broader, there are more boats and jet skis, and a strong headwind.

Returning to the campsite, I was famished and built a charcoal fire for my sweet potato and salmon. Then the sand flies came around. I put on my sweatshirt (it was over 80 degrees), but the flies were still swarming us. So Walter and I escaped by walking down the sand road in the back of the site for about 1.5 miles. Towards the end of the walk, we found bushes with dozens of ripe blueberries. Yum!

On Saturday night, after enjoying the campfire, we noticed a few stars twinkling through the hazy sky. That convinced Frank to go across the road to Crowley’s Landing and set up his telescope. We were able to see Jupiter and four of its moons! And while looking for the Big Dipper, we saw a shooting star!

I packed it in early on Sunday and left around 11:30 AM. Fortunately, someone else took the Campers’ Group equipment and I didn’t have to wait for everyone to break camp.

David Levner