Dan's Papers - April 11, 2008 - Take a hike with Ken Kindler

When you walk between the newly installed bollard (vertical post) and the repaired rail at the "elbow" in Pleasure Drive, notice the wide denuded LIPA ROW, with the huge metal towers and wires overhead to the left. The narrow spit of woods between the Paumanok Path and the ROW is filled with ATV caused scars. Recently the State DOT, and LIPA began restoring and augmenting their protective barriers in this area. They are working in cooperation with the State Central Pine Barrens Commission to help assure the success of the ATV Damage Mitigation Project. It's expected that this will push illegal ATV use out of our sensitive natural open space. I look forward to walking on these trails when they are restored, and listening to the tish-tish and buzz of inner woods birds here once again.

The first thing you notice when entering these woods is the rolling knob and kettle terrain as the trail takes you from high knobs with expansive views, to the rims of deep kettle ponds. In many places, oak worm and gypsy moth have decimated the oak, allowing pine and brush to thrive. In places, there are grass and sedge meadows. The trail from Pleasure Drive to Sears Pond is in serious need of maintenance and blazing. An Eagle Scout candidate, Forrest Gayer, will be filing a group activity permit with County Parks to lead a trained crew of scout maintainers through here soon.

Fox dens are cut into the sides of ravines caused by ATVs. The trail meanders through Maple Swamp with its diversely populated series of small ponds to the left and shallow pine needle covered kettles to the right. In close succession, you cut across several north/south running woods roads. The trail now begins to angle towards Birch Creek. Water is visible through the bare branches and a hard right turn leads south. The creek can be seen to the left.

When you reach Owl Pond, you will see a white and blue Paumanok Path emblem on a tree at a "T" intersection. A yellow owl blazed trail leads to the Spinney Road parking area from here. Following the white painted rectangles of the PP east, the trail travels for a short distance along a picturesque stream and swampland that feed into Birch Creek, then through some wetlands and over a brook forded by a couple of logs. Sunlight shimmers off of the evergreen leaves of the inkberry bushes.

The trail is a little muddy here for a short distance, but the sheep laurel, wintergreen, and various mosses along the trail's sides will cheer you up. The path is being encroached by brush for the next quarter mile, but it's passable. Soon the trail climbs to higher ground, where it is dry and its tread is covered by a spongy duff of pine needles. The trees here are mostly pitch pine with some oak. The trail cuts across Spinney Rd. Note the "Hiking Only" signs and the forbidding "No Unauthorized Trespass" County Parks sign. The County does allow hiking on its trails, so don't let these signs discourage you from walking them. Nearing Sears Pond, a yellow owl trail forks to the left. It heads around the north end of Sears Pond and meets back up with the PP on the other side; this trail gives some excellent views of the pond. Turn right and follow the PP around the southern portion of the pond. The trail rises up a ridge along one deep kettle hole and then ascends a steep slope with water bars down into another kettle hole that reaches below the water table. This kettle pond is known as Sears Pond. As you approach the southern tip of the pond, you can see water through the naked branches on the left side of the trail. The trail reaches another "T" intersection, this is where the PP intersects the Black Owl Loop, a trail marked with plastic diamond shaped black owls on a white background. The PP follows the lower part of this loop through Sears Bellows County Park. The upper segment of this loop runs through Hubbard Creek County Park. Here the trail is marked with black owl blazes along with the white PP rectangles. Follow a recent re-route that moved the path to higher, dryer ground. A trail spur to the left offers a better view of Sears Pond. In the next article, we continue our walk eastward to Red Creek Park; out of the Core, and onto the road.