Richard Stockton State College and the South Jersey Culture & History Center is sponsoring and supporting a trek across New Jersey following the original provincial boundary line first blazed in 1687. National Park Service professional and Mount Holly resident Bill Bolger is undertaking this walk as his personal way of celebrating New Jersey’s 350th anniversary. In a conversation with Bill about the proposed walk, he indicated that he views the hike as digging a virtual archaeological trench to discover the history and culture all the way across Jersey from Holgate, Long Beach Island, to the Delaware Water Gap on either side of the Keith Line.
Bill arrived on Long Beach Island on Thursday, 25 September in the rain, and stayed at the Jolly Roger Motel, which is located approximately 500 feet from the beginning of the Keith Line. He awoke to the sunlight of Friday morning and walked to the Holgate Marina at noon on Friday, where he boarded a local oysterman’s boat to transport him across the bay to Point Rose on the mainland, where the walking began in earnest.
Stepping onto shore, he met up with Stockton Alumnus Allen Crawford (Class of 1990) and a botanist friend, Bill Cahill, for a joint walk through the Pine Barrens. Mssrs. Crawford and Cahill would remain with Bill for the ensuing three days.
They entered the woods together and walked as far as West Creek, where they stayed in a campground on the edge of the salt marsh for the night, a distance of 8.7 miles.
Rising early, Bill B., Allen and Bill C. set off for a 10.2-mile walk through the Pygmy Pines forest of the West Plains.
They soon encountered the sugar sand roads so ubiquitous in the Pine Barrens. Bill carried a full pack for the times he would be bivouacking or dining along the route.
The intrepid travelers made arrangements to stay with renowned horticulturalist Bill Smith at Warren Grove on Saturday night Popularly known as Bog Man Bill, Smith holds a record for his man-made bot filled with spectacular carnivorous plants from the New Jersey Pine Barrens and other parts of the country.
On Sunday, 28 September, Bill B., Bill C. and Allen planned to hike to Old Halfway, 7.6 miles north of Bogman’s, after ordering a large breakfast at Lucille’s Country Cooking on Route 539 in Barnegat Township, Ocean County. Lucille personally blessed the Keith Line Expedition as the three hikers headed west and picked up a little-used and partially overgrown trail that is located directly on the old Province Line boundary.
By the end of Sunday, the two Bills and Allen will have hiked 26.5 miles.
This blog will continue to keep pace with Bill’s journey, so please keep checking back!
All artwork and photographs in this article courtesy of Allen Crawford ©2014, who reserves all rights to them.
