muddypup wrote:hey guys and gals, looking for any info on some good sinking spots around Edmonton, AB. even areas of interest would be handy as i have had no luck recently in locating anything. any help would be greatly appreciated!
The good spots are outside of Edmonton. For starters, I know of quicksand in Elk Island National Park, east of Edmonton. However, you would have to search for places, with cleanup areas, that are out of sight of any trails. The Hayburger Trail passes by the edge of at least one (very visible) area with quicksand (soapholes or quicksand springs), although it is technically quickclay. Here is a video of one guy who got too close to a soft spot (last 1/3 of video is a replay without music):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VMMMoBJjTsI believe this is the meadow, with the quicksand on the extension on the northeast side, bordering the west side of the trail(damn, Google HAD to update the maps with winter imagery
):
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.6150828,-112.8515301,464m/data=!3m1!1e3Exploration could yield similar places in meadows that are away from trails.
I only had the opportunity to visit the park once, and as luck would have it, there just HAD to be a forest fire in that exact area, I believe the previous season, and the Hayburger Trail and an adjacent trail were closed, with legal penalties for anyone trying to access that area, since the burned out area was hazardous to the public (falling trees), and they regularly patrolled that area. They had a court document making it illegal to access the area, posted in an info area. I wound up exploring other areas, but recent storms had flooded everything under 1 to 2 feet or more of water (I believe one of the storms had resulted in a waterfall of water pouring into West Edmonton Mall).
I have had luck exploring areas around Edson, finding quicksand that was even over waist deep in places along Wolf Creek, south of the highway. I didn't have much luck with the oxbow lakes in this map, but the creek had quicksand in places shown on that map:
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5628112,-116.2231614,1859m/data=!3m1!1e3I have never checked this spot out, but it looks intriguing, due to the wrinkles as if the ground is slowly being spread apart:
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5646974,-116.1835827,930m/data=!3m1!1e3As does this spot, especially since it looks like it is spring-fed, due to a tiny stream leaving it to the northwest, but none entering it:
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4789309,-116.2925957,466m/data=!3m1!1e3The adjacent stream to the northwest and boggy area to the north and east and northeast look interesting as well:
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4828862,-116.2991966,1863m/data=!3m1!1e3Further to the west, I found an area where two pipeline corridors meet, and at that junction, is a bog that is bouncy from a layer of sticks under the peat mud, with some spots missing the layer of sticks, where you can sink yourself under! There is a "Pipeline Abandonment" sign in the middle of the bog, meaning that the pipeline must have been abandoned there for some reason, possibly unstable(soft) ground?
The decomposing sticks in that bog really make it bubbly! Try to avoid the gravel pit, since it is private property, and you could get in trouble if caught (no mud there anyways):
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5532549,-116.7220214,232m/data=!3m1!1e3Nearby, to the northeast, the boggy area looks interesting, and I wish I had explored it when I was there:
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5564815,-116.7157571,465m/data=!3m1!1e3The nearby stream looks interesting in spots, and you can see two obvious, and perhaps more, mud (likely clay) bars exposed:
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5545886,-116.7082791,465m/data=!3m1!1e3On the northeast part of the first sharp bend in the stream, is a large clay mud bar of unknown depth. It looked intriguing, and had some low dips in it with algae, as if some things sunk into it. I never tried it out because of its proximity to the highway, although if I kept myself low enough, I might have been out of sight of the traffic. It just might be more hidden now, if the willows to the north have continued to grow:
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5612201,-116.7402422,232m/data=!3m1!1e3There is a much larger mudbar on the east side of the stream on the north side of the highway, but there is nothing to hide it from view of the traffic.
This area looks very intriguing, especially where the pipeline corridor goes through the marshy, boggy area! The white areas intrigue me, both inside and outside (left/west of) the pipeline corridor, as does the other wrinkles in the wetlands, and features of the pond:
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.5294232,-116.6348355,1861m/data=!3m1!1e3Generally, there are countless areas like these to explore, some which are even closer to Edmonton. The pipeline corridors that run through boggy areas could offer great potential due to the ground being dug up and refilled, but not completely packed. Streams, creeks and rivers could have mud/quicksand bars/banks, and you just have to find places that aren't populated (one corner of the McLeod River had a huge mudbank on its eastern shore, but was just in view of residence(s) on the opposite shoreline further to the west). The wrinkled bogs look like super slow slumping, and perhaps some might harbor deep quagmire, while others, multiple cleanup spots. Look for places where streams seem to appear from out of nowhere, since the water is likely to be coming out of the ground.
I hope that this helps, and I wish you luck in exploring this season, and perhaps you could report back your findings!