Batsto River

Kelly and I decided to go canoe in the Pine Barrens again for the day. Alex met us there and we all piled into one canoe. We put in at Batsto Lake and began our journey upriver. You would think with a lake, you could just cut right across up to the river, but we still had to paddle narrow passageways through the big clumps of bayonet rush covering the lake. We also paddled over lots of swaying rush, which looked very pretty as it moved with the water.

The Pine Barrens have a very unique ecosystem, which I knew before, although I didn’t know too many details. Alex knows tons of details so we learned a lot as we paddled along. Everything from the acidity of the water to the many carnivorous plants it supports. We saw lots of wildlife: several painted turtles, many dragonflies, and even one blue heron. There were also gelatinous clumps of what I assume to be fish or frog eggs floating all over.

We stopped for a picnic on a little beach after a couple of miles, spent about an hour there, and then much more quickly returned downriver.

What a gorgeous afternoon! We did not get brambled even once, unlike last time, and we ended the afternoon with blueberry milkshakes from the Blueberry Capital of the World.