Quicksand Fans

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bart1997 wrote:
Just wanted to warn the other experienced personnel here to never loose caution!

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This is very good advice no matter what your experience level.

Robert

That was a facinating story!

Wearing waders probably doesn't make it any easier to get out.

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Bart
that always comes to my mind about not being able to get out but somehow Im finding myself a lot more daring for some strange reason. I think Ive found a pit that Im about to explore and it looks very inviting. The pit I,ve been using has dried out too much and is rendered useless for the time being, sad to see that happen. The peat pits in the area I live at are nice but not any deeper than knee deep and that,s disappointing but what I enjoy about the peat pits is that the cleanup is a lot easier.
The spot ive discovered is adjacent to a lake and its a huge muskeg bog, that stuff is the toughest to handle, its very thick mud and the depth is unknown, I walked near the edge and threw a rock in and it splatted,then threw another bigger rock in and the pit seem to bounce a bit, after this I took a 5 foot long branch and placed it in and it took the whole thing...Wow I thought, Im not sure how Im going to handle this yet, there isn,t a tree nearby to tie a rope to for safety and this spot is not liquidy at all, I keep worrying that if I just jump in, I,ll sink right up to my shoulders and that would totally freak me out, Im strong but not a strong swimmer...caught between a pit and a soft spot.

Not yet...no problems at all yet...

(Nessie does math)

And I've managed to average at least once a week from May to early November...let's say, four times a month, for about seven months, and seven times four is 28 times per year.

This year is kind of bad. I've averaged more sinkings per week in years gone by, although my sinking season used to be much shorter than it is now.

But seeing as I've only now had my first intruder (although not while actually IN a mudpit), I'm never going to say that a thing can never happen.

I also wear waders during cold weather but I think mine are different. If I remember correctly, Bart, you do wear the booted kind?

Mine have no boots and they're so light, they're like a second skin. They never come close to getting stuck in anything.

Nessie

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I once was in some really thick, heavy, thigh-deep mud where my feet eventually came together and would not come out. Just a simple, muddy area quite a distance above the water level of a farmer's playa lake. In lifting my feet, I could feel each foot rise a certain distance before coming to a complete stop, probably due to the suction or vacuum below latching onto them. Grabbing and pulling on a leg achieved nothing. Actually resorted to calling for help after several long minutes of trying to get out.

Figuring no one was going to hear me anytime soon, I let a cool, calm head prevail, assessed the situation, and resorted to digging out the heavy mud from around one leg in an attempt to free it. After several minutes I was able to reach my foot, grab it with both hands, and eventually pulled it free with some effort. Propping it upon firmer mud, I was able to lift and eventually free the other leg and foot. It was quite the exercise, I actually felt I would never do something like this again, and a week later I was already searching for another mud hole to sink in.

I wear no waders when sinking, just a t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. Quite frankly, I want to feel the mud along my skin, and waders, pants, or anything else that would act as a barrier between my skin and the mud are undesireable. And, quite frankly, I consider being stuck as part of the adventure... I want to feel the mud grip and hold onto my feet and legs... after all, the idea of sinking in quicksand or deep mud is incomplete if there's no challenge of getting in then getting out.

I guess I don't actually worry about getting out, but I also ensure that I'm in a situation that won't turn completely disasterous if things don't work out as planned, and I make sure I've got some mechanism available to assist if the situation becomes more challenging than expected.

So, yes, been there, done that, got the muddy t-shirt... in fact, I even gave one of those muddy t-shirts away to a special partner and friend during a weekend of sinking.

Hey Folks
went on a hiking trip this morning and decided to try out the muskeg bog,but treaded carefully and didn,t quite go in too far as I briefly got stuck,trying to build up my nerve so I crawled in on all fours, sounds silly but my arms got quickly buried and was actually touching my chin, I really have to find a different technique and a new approach on this, I,m not quite ready to jump in as I,m sure I will be chest deep immediately, may sound exciting but definately risky as this stuff is super thick, I,ll try and get pics next time