Barnegat Bay, New Jersey

Barnegat Bay in New Jersey

Another dream post.  Last night’s dreams were another in a series of dreams in which the events of the dream occur in the same location I’m sleeping in.  For example, three days ago just before leaving for New Jersey I was sleeping in a Chippewa style wigwam which is pretty much what I call home these days.  In this dream several friends had stopped over to check out my new home in the woods.  It was a pleasant enough dream with everybody laughing and their faces lit up by the full moon.  When I woke up everything looked exactly like it had in my dreams minus the visiting friends. It was in fact a very positive dream and put at ease some of the doubts I’ve been having lately about the whole idea of living in a primitive shelter.  Unfortunately last night’s dreams along the Jersey shore were not quite as reassuring.

I arrived in New Jersey to attend Tom Browns Tracker Survival School.  The classes are held in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.  Ironically enough it is rather difficult to find a place to camp out around the Pine Barrens.  The only access into the Pine Barrens is through treacherous unpaved bumpy roads, if you don’t have a four wheel drive vehicle     attempting to drive into the Pine Barrens would be an exceedingly bad idea.

Barnegat Lighthouse

I decided to cruse the Jersey shore and see if I could find a place on the beach to crash.  I drove to Surf City and headed north until I reached Barnegat Lighthouse State park.  Mid September is the beginning of the end of the tourist season.  I arrived in Barnegat around 9:30 pm and, as expected and much to my delight most of the Jersey shore – a bustling beach side party all the way down the cost to Atlantic City during the summer months – was deserted except for a few late night visitors to the lighthouse, mostly tourists and fishermen.    The gates to the parking area close at 10.  I decided to stop in the only open bar, unwind from my drive and kill some time until the lighthouse gates closed.

I left the bar around 11:45 pm and headed to the Barnegat Lighthouse.  By this time the parking lot gates were closed so I grabbed my sleeping roll (a Field and Stream ground pad – which incidentally I think are just as good if not better and about $10 cheaper them the Termarest brand ground pads, my sleeping bag, and my military issue Gortex sleeping bag cover).  I found a relatively well concealed spot on the beach near a sand dune in the shadows of some beach vegetation.   The sound of ocean waves and crickets quickly sent me into a deep sleep.

It must have been 5:30 am when I woke up.  I had been dreaming that a group of people and myself were building a shelter on the beach.  The beach in my dreams was the exact same beach I was sleeping on.  We needed this shelter not for protection from the elements but from some kind of evil supernatural force.  Somehow me and a girl in my dream had been left out side of the protection of the sacred shelter and were sitting on the beach.  Next thing I know I’m alone and being stalked by a supernatural evil being, it was approaching and was going to murder me.  I could hear footsteps in the sand coming closer and closer when just as it approached I woke up.

After I waking up, before I lifted my head to look around, I thought I heard the same foot steps approaching in the sand.  Looking around, nothing was there only some vegetation near where I was sleeping whispering in the ocean breezes.   Not sure if what I heard in my dream was in fact a person approaching or just the breeze trough the leaves had me freaked out to say the least,  fearing for my life I became aware of just how vulnerable I was on that isolated beach.

Aaron Wolf at Barnegat Bay

I’m certainly not the first nomadic drifter sleeping on the beach.  Perfect place for a predatory humans to find vulnerable pray, in this case vulnerable human pray with yuppie camping gear, cash, and car keys stuffed in their shoes.  I felt like the whole plan that led me here was incredibly naive.  I should have hidden stuff in my car better; any thief walking by my car would have seen my over priced cell phone on the seat and instantly broken in.

One of Tom Browns key survival teachings is to observe animals and always be asking yourself the sacred question: “what is this teaching me?”  Although this deserted beach on the outskirts of a deserted beach town at night, under the clear skies and shooting stars at dawn was beautiful, tranquil, and seemingly peaceful upon my first approach, like all of nature there is inherit danger.  I asked myself, what would animals do to sleep safely on the beach and what is this teaching me?

As I scanned the beach for my approaching attacker it hit me like a tsunami, get deep in the shadows like every other animal does, there is safety in the shadows.   Although I was fairly well hidden I should have slept right under the beach vegetation, inside the shadows not just near them.   The thought had crossed my mind earlier as I laid out my sleeping bag however being tiered and tempted to sleep by the sounds of the ocean and the clear sky above I had convinced myself that the camouflage sleeping bag cover would be dark enough and blend in with the surrounding shadows.  When I woke up with the moon lighting up the sand, my eyes adapted to the dark by several hours of sleep it was instantly and completely obvious in a common sense kind of way just how much better canceled I would be if I were directly in the shadows.

Barnegat Bay Sunrise

Soon the sun was rising.  Looking around in the early day light it was easy to find far better places to hideaway for the night less than 50 feet from where I was.  In my impatience to get a good night’s sleep I picked an okay spot but where personal safety is concerned it’s always better to take the time to look around.  Fortunately everything worked out for the best and I had a great night sleeping on Barnegat Beach.