Pine Barons

Jamie and Charlie at the base of the Carranza Memorial
(Click on any image to see a larger version)

Today the boys and I ventured into the Pine Barrens for a second time.

We left suburban Philadelphia and headed towards the Pine Barrens by taking State Route 70 east. At the Red Lion Circle, we took U.S. Route 206 south, stopping at a gas station for snacks and drinks just south of the circle. A short distance down the road was the fork for Carranza Road, which would take us straight to our first destination.

The Carranza Memorial is a 12-foot-tall stone monument in the Wharton State Forest. It marks the site where Captain Emilio Carranza Rodriguez, a famous Mexican aviator and national hero, was killed when his plane crashed on July 12, 1928.

Text from the sign in front of the monument:

"This monument commemorates the legacy and tragic accident of Captain Emilio Carranza Rodriguez, a Mexican aviator. Born in Ramos Arízpe, Coahuila, Mexico, Carranza was returning from a goodwill mission on a nonstop flight from New York to Mexico City when he crashed here during a thunderstorm. His goodwill mission marked the longest flight flown by a Mexican Aviator up until that time. Though his accomplishments earned him the nickname the 'Lindbergh of Mexico,' he was most often regarded among Americans and Mexicans alike as a messenger of peace, goodwill and friendship between the two nations.

"The children of Mexico saved their pennies to quarry stone from Coahuila, Mexico for the construction of the monument in 1931. Each block represents a state of the Republic of Mexico.

"The American Legion Post 11 erected the monument with a pledge to keep his ideals alive. Each year they honor him with a ceremony on the second Saturday in July.

"The Aztec eagle is a symbol of Mexican identity, pride, leadership and dignity. The descending eagle and set of footprints mark Carranza's tragic descent and final 'walk' on earth. The arrow on the reverse side symbolizes flight into the air - perpetual endurance of his dream."

Charlie put three pennies on the monument. (Well, technically he put eight pennies on the monument - there were five there already, and he was in the process of pocketing them when I gave him three new ones to put up there).

About a quarter of a mile down the road from the monument, the abandoned Central Railroad of New Jersey meets the edges of Carranza Road, which from this point on is no longer paved. There are no rails across the road, they were probably ripped out long ago. Judging by the number of trees growing between the railroad ties, it doesn't look like any trains have been this way in many years, either.

Carranza Road continues in a southeasterly direction, going deeper into the Wharton State Forest. At some point the name of the road supposedly changes to East Sandy Ridge Road. One of the challenges of navigating through the sandy one-lane roads in the Pine Barrens is that few of them are marked. I guess that's one way of keeping the trip exciting: knowing that at any moment you could be hopelessly lost.

A few more miles into the state forest, the road (still unpaved) passes through an area called Sandy Ridge, although there is hardly any rise in elevation at all. We leave Tabernacle Township and enter Washington Township, but of course there is no sign alerting us to this. Soon there is a break in the trees, and the road crosses a body of water that I believe is called the Shane Branch. This is a more open area, and from the bridge you can see several low-lying cranberry bogs. FYI, New Jersey is third in the nation in the production of cranberries. There are cranberry bogs are all over South Jersey, especially in the Pine Barrens.

And it was precisely the business of growing cranberries, and a pioneering spirit, that brought people to the small hamlet of Friendship, located within plain view from the Shane Branch bridge, and at the intersection with Friendship Speedwell Road. Friendship is one of several ghost towns dotted across the Pine Barrens. There's not much to look at above ground. I counted three former structures, their crude, stone basement walls still intact. Right at that moment, three Jeeps came out of the woods on Friendship Speedwell Road; they were a 4x4 club, and they stopped to look at the ghost town's buildings too. I didn't see any children tagging along for the ride, but I did see some wives. I must admit that it was a little comforting to know that other people were in the area.

While the railroad, the cranberry bogs and the ghost town were all very interesting, none of them were our second objective for the afternoon. That destination was the curiously-named Jemima Mount, a pair of hills located deep in the forest. (Jemima Mount eluded me on my last trip to the Pine Barrens on October 28. We were probably within two miles of the twin peaks when we drove over the Quaker Bridge, but we didn't know which unmarked road would bring us there. We eventually turned back to Atsion, another ghost town in the area).

Unfortunately, the second attempt to reach Jemima Mount also failed. We headed south along East Sandy Ridge Road. We crossed another body of water, more than likely Tulpehocken Creek. I took a right turn that I assumed was Hawkins Road, but it could have been Washington Speedwell Road. About a mile down, I made another right turn, assuming that I was now on Washington Road. Instead, it looks like I had turned onto Tuckerton Road, and drove right by Jemima Mount.

We did manage to get out of the state forest, and wound up back on Carranza Road, on a paved section about a mile before the monument. We started heading back towards home, but took a slight detour and returned to the fire watch tower on Apple Pie Hill for a second time. From the top of the tower, I snapped a few shots of the forest canopy below, and also tried to get some pictures of the skylines of both Philadelphia and Atlantic City using our new camera. Apple Pie Hill is interesting in that it is almost equidistant from both A.C. and Philly; both cities are about 30 miles away. Unfortunately, the glare from the sun kept me from getting a good Philly skyline shot.

The boys were amazingly well behaved throughout the day, and it looked like they enjoyed watching Daddy kick the Jeep into 4WD and get it all muddy. Their reward? Dinner at Chick-fil-A, and a good half hour running around on the indoor playground. Of course, I was a good boy too. My reward? Spending the day with my boys ...

... and seeing things like this: