Quicksand Fans

Same place as last week. The mud in the area is warming and is actually about waist-deep in places...feathery, light and peaty. I have yet to get out deep to the cattail beds, though.

Unfortunately for sinking clips, it's got all this water on top!

Right now, though, my current filming project is not specifically a sinking one. It was a very warm day, too, and I tell ya, this bog felt wonderful! A very satisfying day all in all.

And the place has one thing in its favor...I really, truly, honestly do not expect to see another human out at this site...ever. It's actually about a city block's worth of distance from a trail but, to get exactly here, I go around a hill that's covered with thick underbrush and I hike through marshes from grass island to grass island...and these islands are sitting in duckweed-covered water about knee-deep.

This is a pretty effective deterrent to the passers-by.

Have a vidcap collage from what was shot today.

Nessie

I'll have to say it again - Wow! What an interesting looking bog. Is this an extensive area, where it may be deeper out farther? Looks fantastic even as it is. You could film an awesome dramatic sinking scene here.

jack c wrote:I'll have to say it again - Wow! What an interesting looking bog. Is this an extensive area, where it may be deeper out farther? Looks fantastic even as it is. You could film an awesome dramatic sinking scene here.

It's pretty big, yes. What I would like to do is crawl way out onto that marsh grass you see behind me. I am standing in a wet area, and there is some mud underneath the water, and that marsh grass behind me is a very humongous floating sedge mat.

It is gonna be a real pain to get a camera out there, though. I did some crawling around on the floating sedge mats nearer the shore and it feels pretty awesome (boinging ground with muddy slush beneath) but I really needed both hands to navigate. Sacrificing one hand to drag the camera isn't gonna work very well. I can't figure out how to get out there and stay clean either. I can still film a sinking but I'd be already wet and muddy just from crawling my way out there, and the camera itself may not have much in the way of stable ground.

It is mighty cold a couple feet down out there too. Could be, it's spring-fed. Which would explain why it's so nice and fresh.

It's plenty warm close to shore, though.

It will take quite a bit of experimentation. It's gorgeous out there, though.

If you're wondering where the camera is, it is sitting on a tripod which has bendable wire legs that are wrapped around the top of a stump that is on solid ground.

Nessie

Now that is a picture of contentment! Thanks for the images, Nessie. I find them very soothing...

My own pit is shaping up nicely too. I've visited it twice since I last reported on it... first time it was almost too dry on top, a foot and a half thick rubbery crust atop the looser stuff. Real struggle to get it to work, plus the deer flies were meaner this time around... and brought friends! I was chased out by a dozen particularly vicious ones before I could get cleaned up... fortunately, I was able to sneak home.

Thursday was better for Visit #3. Some rain and slightly cooler weather kept the deer flies away - plus it is almost the end of their season around these parts - and the mud was nice and gloppy.

One more trip, and I would have gone out as many times as I dfd all last year... and the prime sinking season is just getting going.

Here's hoping your bog keeps treating you nice... and remains welcoming.

Do you have a back-pack arrangement with the camera and tripod that would allow you to free both your hands for such a challenging location to get to? Even if the combo were wrapped in a big garbage bag in a back-pack, it might work. That would free up both your hands for crawling - a bit of work for sure, but might be worth it in this magnificent location.

Again, SE Pennsylvania pales in comparison to such locations. Good luck.

It is nice to see others enjoying their sinks, and a good bog is definitely the essence of happiness, and Nessie, you definitely look like you are in your element!

Believe it or not, I am still waiting for my first sink. I let one nice hot day go by recently because they were forecasting to be more of them in a row, and I wanted to give things a chance to dry out from the rain and the water/mud to heat up a little. But, after that one day, it rained, and we were back to the unsettled weather that has been plaguing us since April 1'st. By this time last year, I had gone on six adventures, and the previous year, five! But, things will change, with some serious summer sunshine and heat beginning early this week (high 20's ˚C Tuesday to the low to mid 30's˚C after that, or the low 80's ˚F Tuesday to the high 80's to mid 90's ˚F later in the week), with no end in sight! If things go the way I hope they do, my first bikeride of the season just might be my first vertical submersion of the season as well! I can't wait to see the state of my bogs and start the sinking!

Nessie, perhaps you should invest in one of those pelican cases for transporting cameras through water/wet places. Then, you can reach the floating island and the camera will be safe!

jack c wrote:Do you have a back-pack arrangement with the camera and tripod that would allow you to free both your hands for such a challenging location to get to?

Actually, I have never used a backpack as I find something about them irritating. This may have to change for this particular site, though. Maybe just a little one, lightly packed, won't make me want to claw it off my back when my back sweats on it. They are cheap enough at thrift stores. It would make it easier to navigate the way in through the marsh.

It won't solve the problem of getting to the deep sedge mats, though, since if the camera's in my backpack, I'll still have to get it out and find a place to put it...and that place may not actually exist!

Guess I won't know 'til I explore more. Meanwhile, back to sumac-land to bag the sure thing...

Nessie

Boggy Man wrote:Believe it or not, I am still waiting for my first sink.

What? YOU???

(Nessie reaches for emoticons, which she rarely uses)



I guess it's true that no one year is exactly like another. We all have bad days and even bad years.

Geesh, though, I know that you need your mudpits! I hope you get out there soon!

Nessie

PM2K wrote:Now that is a picture of contentment! Thanks for the images, Nessie. I find them very soothing...

It was soothing. Very relaxing. I had all day to play out there and it was so warm and sunny that everything about it felt nice.

Thursday was better for Visit #3. Some rain and slightly cooler weather kept the deer flies away - plus it is almost the end of their season around these parts - and the mud was nice and gloppy.

It's been a bad year for bugs and flies for me. I got dive-bombed today. The mosquitoes around here love it when the sun won't come out and DEET only goes so far.

And I got the ultra-tough stuff too.

Sounds like it's rough going for you but...you're winning!

Nessie

Nessie, that shot of you in that filmy "goddess dress" or whatever it actually is, is awesome. The first image that popped into my mind was "The Lady of the Lake."

Now, if you should happen across a 6th century Romano-British sword in your bog, don't just toss it at the first guy that comes along. It is MINE, and I will come in person to the middle of your bogs to claim it. You just have to wear that white dress thing when you hand it to me, 'k?