I found a new place to go Outlanding! It’s a bit of a drive from where I am (about an hour and 45 minutes), but it’s BIG and has all sorts of trails of all different types and best of all… it’s legal to go there!
Of course, I’m talking about the Pine Barrens here in New Jersey. I went down there to explore it, and found out that the area is literally criss-crossed with dirt roads and assorted trails that can be navigated by various types of off-road and soft-road vehicles. So of course, I dove in and went exploring!
I’ve added a set of photos to my Flickr page with pictures from the trip, but here are a few choice samples.
This is the first road I went down. I think it must’ve been a fire road, because along the left there were many ditches dug in the ground - probably to contain a forest fire.
As you can see, the ground had been previously scorched by fire. But I’ve read that this is a natural part of the growth of the forest, so I guess it’s not too bad. Still, it was weird to see.
The Keithmobile was really in its element out here. The roads were rough, but not too rough. Perfect for a soft-roader like the Outlander.
At one point, I did come across some rather tricky bits - some sand that had been shaped into very steep hills and bumps and ditches. But the Keithmobile powered through it just fine, although I’m sure I scraped some sand into the front grille. After a while, the trail became too technical for me - which is just another way of saying that it suddenly became very hard! I fully admit and realize that the Keithmobile isn’t built for serious hard-core off-roading, but that’s OK. I just turned around and tried a different trail. I was just glad that the soft sand didn’t bog me down - I was worried for a minute there! Soft sand can be dangerous - it’s easy to get stuck, and I don’t have the right tires for driving in soft sand (big tires with bead-locks so you can let out the air to make them soft so they drive better on soft sand).
This stretch of road reminded me very strongly of the dirt roads in the Australian Outback. I’d actually driven on such roads on a place called Kangaroo Island years back - although on Kangaroo Island, the road was full of holes! Still, it was fun.
The pine barrens are surprisingly… flat. Seriously, go look at a topographical map of the area. It’s very, very flat. So I couldn’t get a good picture of the area - I tried holding the camera up over my head, but all you could see was more pine trees. But I guess that’s the point, isn’t it?
Anyway, those are just some of the better pictures from my collection. I didn’t take that many, because I went alone - next time I’ll have to bring Amanda so she can be my co-pilot.
I should mention, if you don’t have a good head on your shoulders, it’s very easy to get lost out there - there are literally miles and miles of trails, and no signs. And since it’s so flat, you can’t get above the trees to get your bearings. If you have a GPS unit, I recommend bringing it. If you don’t (like me), bring someone who can take notes of the turns you make so you can find your way back. Or, just trust in your own sense of direction (as I did).
Rest assured, I’ll go back there again! It was a blast!!
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If you like this then please subscribe to the Amazing, but yes, this is in fact only the 2nd Scoutlanding report. Anyway, here’s my results from today’s adventure:
If you turn onto the road for Fitchburg High School (the new building) and follow it down a ways, you’ll come to a fork in the road. The left-hand fork is a dead-end, but if you bear right and go about 1000 feet, you’ll come across a path on your left that is wide open (no gate, no signs). There’s a stream not too far down, and also some signs that warn of a cross-country cable buried in the vicinity - these signs have the AT&T logo on them. Interesting, huh? I didn’t go beyond the stream, because I was just Scoutlanding - but I probably could’ve made it a ways beyond. However, it’s never wise to go Outlanding alone, so this trail will have to wait for another time.
Following that same road and bearing left when you come to the next intersection or two will bring you by a road called “Telephone Road.” This dirt road is a dead-end, but it has more of those AT&T signs at the end, and probably connects with the other end of the previously mentioned trail.
Going further down this road (again, bear left at any 3-way intersections) may bring you past a road that says “Road closed to thru traffic.” Ignore this sign - the road is quite open; though it does turn to dirt for a good portion of the way. Following this road to its end will bring you out onto Rindge Road.
Not bad for a short Scoutlanding trip, eh?
No, this isn’t some strange perversion of “Disney on Ice,” it’s truly Outlanding… on ice! Yesterday I called up Tom and we went Outlanding together… found some fun, fun trails, and even discovered a deep-space radar & radio tracking facility run by the MIT labs! I’ll post some pictures of it later; they had some huge antennas there! We saw them from a distance while Outlanding, and we decided to “find” them. What a crazy drive!
The best part, though, was when we went up to New Hampshire and drove around on this huge frozen lake. Now, in Massachusetts it’s illegal to do that, but in New Hampshire - well, “live free or die” kinda sums up a lot about New Hampshire, huh? It was SO cool!!! There were big, BIG trucks parked out on the ice where people were ice fishing; I mean like F-250’s… and there were about 10 snowmobiles racing across the ice on this “road” that someone had literally plowed across the ice! Tom had gone there the night before, and drilled down with a 24″ drill bit, and he didn’t strike water, so the ice was AT LEAST that thick… and you only need 12″ for it to be safe to drive on. Needless to say, I wasn’t worried that my measly 3800 lb Outlander would break ice that was supporting 5000+ lb trucks! We had a BLAST… doing donuts, trying to do an axial spin (came close, might have even done it at one point, it’s harder to do than you might think), and racing across the ice at 50 MPH… which FEELS a hell of a lot faster! Whee! The Keithmobile held up wonderfully, and with my crappy (for winter, anyway) All-Season radials, we were slippin’ & slidin’ every which way. It was TOTALLY coooool.
Of course, all of this fun was slightly hampered by the fact that I DO have a cold at the moment; which sucks, I must say. It’s mostly a cough … but it’s got that “tickle” in the back of your throat that makes you want to cough, even though it doesn’t do any good. It’s awful. And my head is a bit stuffed up too, which makes me a little groggy, but with some Dayquil and plenty of water, I’m OK enough. Still, I try to take it easy.
I did get a chance to try some skid tactics on the ice - the perfect place, since there’s nothing to run into, and it’s plenty slippery! Man, you REALLY have to move your hands FAST on the wheel to recover from a skid! But, at least now that I’ve done it a few times, I feel more confident about handling it. The hardest thing to do is not over-steer, but AWD makes it a little easier. The car just “wants” to go in a straight line!
After that adventure, Tom & I stopped at the IHOP up off of 495, past Lowell, which I had wanted to find for some time. I wasn’t feeling well at this point (it had been several hours since I took my Dayquil, and I was due to take some more), but a couple of glasses of cranberry juice and some food helped give me the energy I needed to get home. I gotta give Tom mad props for coming out with me yesterday; getting out of the house and doing some wild & crazy things was exactly what I needed. Aren’t friends great?
After getting home, I swallowed some pills, grabbed my Finding Nemo DVD and headed down to my mom’s house, where I was expected for dinner. After I got there, who should show up but PJ! So we watched Finding Nemo with my mom, and eventually just got some subs from Harry’s Pizza in Northbridge for dinner. We’re so lazy! It was fun, and I ended up staying there pretty late, but I got home and felt OK, took some Nyquil, watched a little TV (to let it get to work) and then went to bed.
This morning I discovered (after waking up at 9am - early for a weekend) that my friend Jim had called yesterday while I was out. Oops! Sorry Jim!
Today is going to be a quiet day; I’ve got to do the grocery shopping for the week, and get my car washed while it’s still “relatively” warm out. After that, I’ve gotta come home and do the bills which have been piling up all week - can’t get behind in them! Ah well…
On a side note, while I was out yesterday, I got 6 voice mails from work, 2 tickets, and a couple of LiveHelp messages. WTF?? Do people think we’re open on Saturdays or something? Do they need to file their court papers on Sunday before the superbowl or something? I just don’t get it. I’ll deal with THEM later…
Well, that’s all for now. As I said, I’ll post some of the pictures I took later on, but for now, I’ve gotta get down to the car wash. My poor car!! It’s so dirty!!
Adios,
-Keithius