Members of the University’s Outdoors Club traveled to Bass River State Forest over the weekend, where they spent three days camping, exploring, and more.
About 15 club members met on campus Friday, Sept. 19 to carpool to Tuckerton, NJ, where they would spend the following few days and nights. The trip consisted of camping, kayaking, and even some off-roading on the trails of Wharton State Forest.
“On Saturday we went to this cool water hole where we could jump off a bridge into the water or swing from the rope swing,” said Jennifer Urmston, a sophomore marine and environmental biology and policy major. “Later, we took some kayaks out on the lake. That was very peaceful.”
Urmston explained her favorite of the trip was nighttime off-roading.
“It was intense and kind of scary. We thought we were going to see the New Jersey Devil,” she said.
William Reynolds, the faculty advisor of the Outdoors Club, said the most memorable part of the trip for him was sitting around the campfire and listening to live music performed by some of the campers.
“We had five members on this trip who play guitar, drums, and ukulele,” said Reynolds.
The campsite that served as home to the club members during the three days was a part of Bass River State Forest.
“The campsite was awesome and we had great food, but there was a ridiculous amount of bees!” Urmston said.
According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, “Bass River State Forest was the first forest acquired by the state of New Jersey in 1905 for public recreation, water conservation, and wildlife and timber management.” The park is made up of 29,147 acres of trails, pine and oak forests, and water features in Burlington and Ocean counties.
The camping trip to Bass River Forest was the first of many this year for the Outdoors Club. Reynolds explained that the club has three more activities already planned for this semester, and five more planned for the spring 2015 semester will be a horseback riding trip to Pennsylvania.
“The trip was great,” Urmston said. “A lot of new members came out. It was great getting to meet them.”
This club is always welcoming new members to share adventures with.
“The Outdoors Club is the club that everyone is looking for,” said Mike Kulik, senior political science major and former club president. “We have a genuine commitment to everything adventurous and fun. Be ready for anything.”
