Scenes along the way

I have been riding my local trails for years and often wondered if there were some hidden trails back in the woods that hunters might have used. The other night during a ride I noticed a new entry point that a quad rider had taken. I hadn’t been on the bike that long and thought that I had time for a little discovery. The section of forest is privately owned and at one time had a chain link fence wrapped around roughly 400 acres of cedar swamps and pine forests. The fence has since mysteriously fallen to the ground in spots allowing anyone entry.
So I ventured in and followed the beaten path when I started to notice a pattern of reflectors stuck in some trees that guided someone deep into the forest. This is a common thing to notice as hunters use the woods in NJ November to late January…the dark months of the year. If you’ve ridden at night during those months you will find reflectors lighting up a path to their tree stands.

As I made my way into the woods I started to notice signs that someone has been back there and fairly often. Small cedars were chopped down to be used to help cross some wet spots and what appears to be the skeleton of a tipi for what could be a shelter for a hunter?

Tipi skeleton

On the opposite side of this tipi was a series of cedar trees through a low lying are allowing people to venture further into the cedar swamp.

Cedar trail

This area still seems to show me something I haven’t discovered yet. I can’t wait to go back and follow that trail further to see what else lies ahead.