A View of Pemberton Lake

  As I made my way back from Long Beach Island two weeks ago, I was looking for a place to take a few pictures.  I wanted to get pictures somewhere in the interior of New Jersey, along the way between there and here.  Since a good part of the drive is through the vast Pine Barrens, I wanted to get some shots there, along Route 72.  I could have pulled over, but I felt safer if I could find a place to park and leave the car for a few minutes, so I passed through the 20 miles of pinelands.  As I went from 72 to Magnolia Road at the Four Mile Circle, I remembered the large lake along Magnolia Road, and I thought that would be a good place to get some pictures of a natural area.

  As usual, the weather was hot and sticky on the way home.  Once I got out of the car and made my way to the small clearing to take the pictures, I was reminded that the insects are abundant at this time of year, especially near lakes and rivers.  I heard the mosquitoes, and felt one or two ants on me as I tried to shoot the pictures.  It was best to just get in and get out.  So I was back in my car and on my way in about three minutes, and not long after that was over the bridge and back in Pennsylvania.

  I’m not very familiar with the town of Pemberton itself.  The route I take to the shore bypasses it.  It sits on the edge of the Pine Barrens, and also near Fort Dix, which together with Maguire Air Force Base and the Lakehurst Naval Base occupy a good stretch of Burlington and Ocean Counties.  Although this area has seen its share of development, there is still a good amount of farm land nearby, and along with it several roadside farm markets.

    With its proximity to the Pine Barrens, the Pemberton Lake area has some of that region’s folklore attached to it.  A few miles down Magnolia Road, toward the Four Mile Circle, it merges with Ong’s Hat Road.  Supposedly, a man named Jacob Ong threw his hat in the air, and it landed hanging on a pine tree branch, somewhere in the vicinity of where that road now sits.  For a general idea of the people and folklore of the Pine Barrens, I would recommend The Pine Barrens by John McPhee.  Just keep in mind that this book was published in 1968, and the culture of the people there may have changed drastically since then, although the region has remained mostly rural.    

  I hope to get back to that area sometime, because I do want to take some more pictures of the Pine Barrens.  My goal would be to take them from the top of Apple Pie Hill, the highest point in the Pine Barrens, with the vast forest of pines below.  Right now, I’m glad I have these pictures to post here.