bart1997 wrote:Thanks for the heads up, folks. Now i do feel a bit less weird
(And that was a major problem for me at exactly that moment!)
There are still a few problems:
- That bog is cool (in the sense of cold!). I've now learned how to wear my waterproof clothes and waders so they don't fill up with mud and turn into that muddy mess i wrote about in an earlier thread. Obviously this won't work when i would sink beyond my neck. I may try Nessies suggestion with some kind of divers-suit sometime in the future. (I do also have a pic with a girl wearing waders plus some kind of hooded suit, a may post that later when i have found it)
If the mud is thick enough, you might be able to put something on your head to keep it from getting too muddy at this time of year, since things are getting so cold. I once put a plastic bag on much of my head, and spent a fair bit of time under thick mud, breathing through a breathing tube. When I exited and removed the bag, my hair was still totally dry and clean. But, while I was under, I could feel the cold from the mud on my head because I had nothing to insulate my head under the bag. This year, I had my last underbog sink on September 9'th (videos still being worked on), and my final sink of the season on the 24th (these last 2 adventures yet to be posted). On my last day of sinking, I never went under because the mud was too cold near the surface to be in constant contact with my head, greatly diminishing my enjoyment of it, and it would have been too uncomfortable to clean up my head in the pond as well. So, I am uncertain whether you would get the full enjoyment of it at this time of year, unless you did take steps to insulate your head.
But, I found that the more clothing you put on, the more difficult it is to sink deeply in thick stuff.
- That stuff is thicker than you might think. It's not exactly like these peatholes those different studios use. When entering you instantly sink above the knee, moving around like a victim would do brings you about chest-level (armpits maybe). Then i would say, i'm good and firmly stuck with no chance to get out without my reliable pair of sticks i have carefully placed before.
Going deeper needs the assistance of my arms, then i do sink into that layer of soft stuff that is deep below the quite "firm" peat that is holding me in place.
The problem i'm describing here is: I'm not exactly popping back up by the buoyancy when I'm not moving around, because that stuff is so thick! Getting my arms above surface also first drives me a bit more in. That thing with the rope sounds okay, but the next tree is about 30 feet away
In peat, you will find that when you struggle, you will sink to anywhere between your chest/armpits and your chin, depending on how thick or thin it is. But, its density is such that you will find that you will have neutral buoyancy, meaning that if you work yourself down deeper and struggle, you will stay at that depth until you either climb back up or work yourself down deeper. Just as others have mentioned, you can try going under in stages, starting with just a little bit under, resurfacing, going down a little bit more, etc., whatever you feel comfortable with. In looser mud, you can make climbing motions to get back up to the surface. In thick mud, you can work your legs up and then wiggle/push your way back up as you straighten your legs, and then repeat. When the mud is thick, once you manage to work yourself up as high as you can, you just work yourself into a sitting position, working your legs up, leaning back, and then pull your legs out one by one, and then crawl to solid ground. In looser mud, it is much easier to move through to solid ground, getting your legs up to the surface and crawling or if the mire is very watery, even being able to walk through bottomless ooze as if you are walking through chin-deep water at a beach, using your hands to help yourself to move forward.
I also find that it helps to wear swim goggles when going under, since that keeps the mud out of your eyes. I use a pvc pipe and a shop-vac hose for extended underbog sinks. When I use the shorter pvc pipe, I can both inhale and exhale through it to get fresh air. But, when I use the long hose, I tend to inhale through the hose, and exhale through my nose, into the mud, since if I inhaled and exhaled through the hose, the carbon dioxide from my exhaled breath would accumulate in the hose, and slowly asphyxiate me. Sometimes I have in the past used nothing but a gap in the thick mud over my head to breathe through as well, sometimes moving deeper down to have it close over me, exhaling to feel the mire separate from my face briefly before hissing away and deflating, the mire pressing back against my face again, at which time I would work myself up until the mire parts and I can breathe again. Nothing like going under thick mud, but safely!
- How do you clean up after the sink? Right now i just clean my gear by entering one of the more watery and less muddy bogholes and get rid of the worst mud, but that's it. There is no source of clean water around (like a creek or something like that) After that i just put them off, pack them into my backpack and go home in my normal clothes i was wearing all the time (they may have become a bit wet, but that's all).
So, how would you deal with this place?
I tend to only sink in places that have cleanup water nearby. But, perhaps you could try and dig out an area in one of the watery bogholes to allow water to pool in it at a convenient spot. Or, you can try taking along containers of water for cleanup. Have you fully checked out the area, including using Google Earth? If you can find any source of cleanup water, even if it is a few inches deep (perhaps deeper for cleaning your head), or a log that sticks out into the middle of a bog that has water in the center, then that could be good enough. Good luck!
