I guess what brings the the most peace is the Wharton Tract section of the Jersey Pines.  Vetryan is familiar with it.  It's a 122,880 acre protected Pine forest with hundreds of miles of dirt trails and many gorgeous cedar water rivers.  It's rich in history and wildlife.  And it's the home of the Jersey Devil.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharton_State_Forest
   When I was a baby and toddler Dad would take us back there in his 48 Willy's Jeep. When I was a child my family would picnic at Greenbank on the bank of the Mullica River.  In the mid 60s Dad bought a 16' runabout.  We eventually knew every square inch of the Mullica from Atco right through Great Bay and into the Atlantic.  When I got my license I began to learn the trail system in of all things a 69 Ford LTD sedan.  It was not the best woods vehicle but I made due.  In 1976 I bought my first 4X, a Jeep CJ5.  At that point I really began to learn the Wharton Tract and surrounding area.  I bought a bunch of topo maps (this was well before the days of GPS) and they were helpful but I developed my own system for learning the trails by heart.  I would buy a case of beer and a full tank of gas then as I consumed the beer set out to get as lost as humanly possible.  It's a big area with an almost endless maze of dirt roads, some more passable than others, so you can get REALLY lost.  After very many such trips I learned the entire area pretty much by heart. It took a few years.
     Those cedar water rivers like the Batsto, Mullica, Wading, Bass, Oswego, etc. hold some mighty Northern Chain Pickerel.  They are an excellent game fish on light tackle and they get mighty big back there.  I once landed and released one that I'm sure was the world record but that's another story. 
    And the whole place smells wonderful.  It has it's own special vibe like some places do.  Spooky as hell at night and gorgeous by day. I love the Pines and particularly the Wharton Tract section.  in fact I'm  overdue for a boonie ride.

Man I love just watching my kids. Just last night my littlest took her first steps. The joy and excitement on her face when she saw us all clapping was amazing. This past spring I taught my 8 year to sling and there was that same magic on her face. Besides my kids I’ve really become addicted to slingshots. Mostly I shoot frameless and have enough latex to supply’s small army. Coming back to this site is a great joy as well.

vetryan15 wrote on Dec 5^th, 2020 at 3:42am:


The Pines were the perfect place to scare dates.  Once I took a pretty blonde, Susan Huff, night boonie riding.  I brought the traditional bottle of wine.  Maybe there was some weed... I don't remember.  Anyway, after driving way back to nowhere we parked and had some wine, smooching, and scary Piney stories.  It was a routine that was well practiced.  I would always end the stories with the ominous warning "What every happens, stay in the car."  As those words left my mouth right on cue a Screech Owl that was roosted right behind my CJ5 cut loose with the most blood curdling cry you could imagine.  It was hilarious.  That owl scared her out of her mind!  "OMG!! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"  "You really don't want to know."  Yes, I could be an ass.

I miss walking the mountains of Southern Utah. I never thought I would feel so connected to a location as I grew to that one. If it meant I could live there, make a great living and have my family near me I would walk there barefoot starting right now.

I still have day dreams 12 years later of spending all day walking the mountains. Watching an Elk walk by me not more than 20 meters away. Finding an endless variety of new mushrooms and slinging stones whenever I found them. Sitting near a tree when a flock of turkeys walked by.

So many good memories. I suppose this isn't quite a little thing but it's something that would bring me a great deal of joy and contentment for little to no money.