BM's Boggy Adventure & BG Pix! Updated 8/30/'25!

[Boggy Man]

My August 8'th, 2019 Adventure, Part 1!

Well, after months and months of waiting in anticipation, I finally went on my first adventure of the season on Thursday, August 8'th!!!! It has been an unusual year so far, with July heat in May and June, and June rains in July (which helped keep the forest fire situation watered down), but after a return to heat for early August, I finally waited long enough! It was going to be in the mid 30's (mid 90's) to the latter part of the week, but with the possibility of thunderstorms at the end of the week and the weekend, with rain and cooler temperatures. So, I had to take advantage of the conditions while they were ideal!

It was a chance for me to finally test out my new bicycle seat suspension, called the Thudbuster LT, to see if it will prevent my neck pain from getting worse, something that has been a major hamper for my adventures in recent years (the bumpy coasting downhill on the gravel roads really rattled my neck)!

Since it was such a long time since my last exposure to voracious bottomless quagmire, my plan was to have a personal stimulating sink first, before mushing up the surface of the mud into a gooey, quivering, gelatinous mess, which will *REALLY* come to life for my subsequent struggles after lunch, including for my first video(s) of the season!

That morning, to try and reduce any irritations my activities could result in, I took an anti-inflammatory I had recently renewed my prescription for - Arthrotec, which consists of Diclofenac (the anti-inflammatory) and Misoprostol (which protects my stomach). My dad, complaining about the bumpy road hurting his truck, once again dropped me off up Crescent Road, a short distance from my turnoff to my special area. Before he left, he gave me his new runners because he figured my rubber boots were too cumbersome. I had found rubbers were my general footwear of choice for working outside, because they didn't hurt my ankles the way work boots did, and my hiking shoes were falling apart. I was concerned about getting them wet, since they were new. I just hoped that by now the meadows would be mostly high and dry so that it wouldn't be a problem.

After he left, I first headed further up Crescent Road to check out a couple of ponds to the south of the road to get an idea of general water levels. Before that point, I was happy not to see any signs of cattle, but as soon as I headed up Crescent Road towards those ponds, there were signs that cattle had passed through. When the first pond came into sight, it was full of water, but then, it was usually quite full. When I reached the second pond by the road, it was low, but any mud there was totally overgrown with grass. Nothing worth taking pictures of there, so I headed back to the turnoff to my Crescent Road pond.

On the sideroad, there were more cattle tracks and droppings, making me a bit more concerned. I didn't want any cattle in my area! Just as I got close to the side-trail leading to north of the north side of the pond, I suddenly remembered to turn around to go back to where the road passed the east pond (my pond was the west one) to see if my sinking spot was visible from the road still. Staring as much as I could between the trees from the road, I couldn't see the circle of branches I had put around my sinking spot! The bushes in between the east and west ponds have finally grown enough to hide it from view! I continued back up the sideroad, hoping that cattle had trampled a new path around the fallen tree blocking the side trail to the north of the north side of my pond. When I reached it, sure enough, I was delighted to see a new trail around the north side of the fallen tree! It was such a pain last year hiding my bike in the woods further up the sideroad! I continued on up the road, since I always liked to make certain no one had driven further up the road, to come back when I was sinking. I glanced at some clay in some ruts in the road, and when I got a little past there, I realized that I didn't have to check the road for anyone on it, because the bushes finally hid my sinking spot from view! So, I only went as far as the south side of another boggy pond to the north before turning back.

I walked my bike down the new cattle path, breaking some dead tree branches from some adjacent trees by the new path on the way down so they didn't scratch me or my eyes. Then, back on the regular side trail, I parked my bike in its usual spot north of some trees, noticing how tall the vegetation was in the clearing there, meaning no cattle had grazed there at all! There was no sign of any cattle in the area, which made me happy! I applied sunscreen, switched memory cards in my camera, gathered my things (had to remove my socks because of seeds sticking to them), and was on my way!

I noticed that the meadow was spongy with water quite far from the edge of the pond, which had me concerned, since that was something that I normally encountered in early summer, when my bog would be submerged, and it was August! But, when I reached my bog surrounded by tall alder sticks to keep animals out, I was excited to see that the entire bog was exposed above the water, except for some water around the grassy fringes, especially on the eastern side! I was also happy to see that there weren't too many weeds invading the bog, an easy job to take care of! I snapped a pic of the bog surrounded by the sticks:

2019 08 08 1A Crescent.jpg

After removing the sticks from around the bog and stacking them in the sedge grass meadow near an alder, I walked counterclockwise around the bog snapping more pix, the grassy ground sagging and quaking around me because it was floating on water and mud:

2019 08 08 1B Crescent.jpg

2019 08 08 1C Crescent.jpg

2019 08 08 1D Crescent.jpg

2019 08 08 1E Crescent.jpg

To Be Continued...

[Boggy Man]

My August 8'th, 2019 Adventure, Part 2 (Click Here For The Beginning With More Pix)!

2019 08 08 1F Crescent.jpg

In the past, I would have started with a dramatic video of me plunging into the undisturbed surface of the bog. But, as I mentioned before, I wanted to start with a personal sink, without any submergence, since it was still a little early and I wanted things to warm up more before getting my head wet. So, I got undressed, but kept my glasses on, since I wasn't going under. Standing on the west side, I focused on targeting the middle, since it looked the thickest. I just hoped it wasn't going to be just a thin layer of mud floating on a layer of water. After waiting from some frogs that jumped onto the surface to move away, I finally took the fateful leap into the center of the bog!

As soon as my feet struck the "innocent-looking" surface, the quagmire instantly gulped me down past my waist! It was nice and thick and gooey, and heavenly, since I had waited almost a year for this! I struggled in the voracious ooze, which slowly sucked me down deeper, farting out swamp gas around me as if it had previously consumed a large meal of beans! I mushed the surface around me into a really nice goo, pushing weeds under the surface as I struggled, but feeling like I was straining my (left?) shoulder. It was soooo wonderful, it hugging more and more of my body as I struggled, its slowly rising surface heaving, hissing, farting and undulating around me! I finally struggled more vigorously in the sticky gulping goo, steadily sinking deeper and deeper, until I experienced the "big release" as the quaking and heaving surface rose up to my armpits!

Now, it was time to mush up the rest of the surface of the mire, pushing the plants under to make the surface bare again, so nothing would be growing there to take things over, and making the surface the same consistency as the stuff below so that nothing would dampen the movements of the mire for my next sinks! However, during my stimulating struggle, I became concerned about water from the surrounding grass to the west of me oozing in behind me over top of the mud! I tried mixing it into the mud, but couldn't get rid of it! I worked my way around the bog clockwise, mushing up the surface, and pushing the plants and decaying pieces of sod (likely a large source of the swamp gas) under, finding lots more water not only moving in from the sides, also some bubbling up from below the treacherous quagmire, along with the extensive swamp gas! As I moved around the bog, I was leaving a trail of surface water in my wake! I tried to mix it into the mud, but to no avail! Bringing up mud to the surface to mix with the water was also bringing up weeds I had pushed under, which I had to push under again! I believed that all the swamp gas I was releasing was lowering the level of the surface of the mud below the water level, meaning the mud was probably exposed initially because it was so bloated with gas, in addition to the pockets of water underneath the mud! After the water started covering the mud, the farting had turned into plain bubbling. I didn't work on the eastern finger on the southeast side, because it seemed watery, and partially flooded to begin with, and was off the main patch of mire anyways. Once the surface of the bog was entirely mushed up and things mixed/stirred to some extent, it was almost entirely covered in water, except for some bits of mud sticking up in the eastern center!

All the movement of my legs through the cold mud with its resistance was taking its toll, with my legs feeling some discomfort for some time, especially from the top of my feet up past my ankles, the start of the dreaded leg cramps! When I dragged myself out of the flooded sucking quagmire, the cramps got worse, with me in total pain with cramps in several muscles in my legs! I had trouble finding any comfortable position, laying down on the grass, rolling, walking, extremely anxious for those painful cramps to go away so I could clean myself off in the water before the mud started to dry! Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the leg cramps eased, allowing me to finally clean myself off! I sat down on the floating part of the meadow containing vegetation such as small rushes by the water's edge, which sunk below the water under my weight and cleaned myself off, moving further away from the edge to where the floating meadow didn't sink under the water as much so that I could lay back to scrub my back on the weeds, which took care of any mud residue stuck to parts of my back I couldn't reach. I moved back closer to the water's edge, finished cleaning off, removed some bloodthirsty leaches from my skin before they had a chance to feed, and air dried off. I took some pix of the water covered bog, disappointed that it was no longer in any condition for a good submersion sink later on, making me kinda wish that I had made a dramatic submersion video first thing after all.

2019 08 08 1G Crescent.jpg

2019 08 08 1H Crescent.jpg

I got dressed, returned to my bike, grabbed my lunch, and while eating Pizza Pops (Boggy Man's official adventure snack), this time Pepperoni & bacon, walked to the other boggy pond to the north. I hiked around the ring of sphagnum bog (it consists of a deeper center pond with a ring of sphagnum bog around it, with broken pieces of pond around that). I took some pix of exposed mud there, which was likely a layer of peat mud floating on top of water:

2019 08 08 1I Pond North Of Crescent.jpg

2019 08 08 1J Pond North Of Crescent.jpg

To Be Continued...

[Boggy Man]

My August 8'th, 2019 Adventure, Part 3 (Click Here For The Beginning With More Pix)!

2019 08 08 1K Pond North Of Crescent.jpg

2019 08 08 1L Pond North Of Crescent.jpg

I then headed back, stopping at the wet clay in one of the ruts in the road to probe with a stick, finding it only around a inch deep, although the cow hoof prints looked somewhat deeper. Back at my pond, I headed to the south end to the place that had shallow clay in a rocky spring area, finding that everything was submerged there as well thanks to the high water. I still took a picture of that spot because of the algae on the surface looked kinda mucky:

2019 08 08 1M Crescent.jpg

I then headed back to my sinking spot, trying to take a path through the alders to see if I could avoid walking through the water that had soaked the new shoes, although I had no choice towards the end.

When I reached my sinking area, I stripped, once again leaving my glasses on because I wasn't going to submerge, and got back into my mostly flooded bog. I started to play and struggle in the thicker spots, with some of the mud sticking up out of the water where it bunched up in front of me, but was loose and watery behind me, which I would occasionally remedy by pulling more mud towards me there. I loved the feel of the mud, which was still bubbling some swamp gas, even though there was some water on top. I fooled around with struggling for a while until I finally had another "release" . I then loosened the mud all over to eliminate the high spot in the middle, with more swamp gas bubbling up, as well as some more water. After a while, the top several feet of mud was fairly loose and easier to walk through, even in the middle, with thicker gooier stuff down around my feet. I couldn't eliminate all the water on top, but it seemed as though the layer of water covering the surface of the mud was slightly shallower than before, the level of the submerged surface was more even, and the mud's viscosity was evened out a bit more between the middle of the bog and the sides.

But, once again, moving my legs through the cold mud and its resistance had caused discomfort in my legs again, and when I got out, I was once again seized with leg cramps, making it painful to wipe the sticky mud off my legs back into the bog! I tried sitting down on the floating part of the meadow at the pond's edge to clean up regardless, but the cramps were just too painful. Relatively warmer water on my legs didn't help! I had to get up and head to more solid ground, but couldn't find any comfortable position to sit/lay down in, and the cramps were just not going away, even with the hot sun shining on them! Finally, I found that walking steadily through the meadow towards the north end and back finally eased my cramps. Once I felt better, I returned to the quaky floating part of the meadow adjacent to the pond to finish my cleanup, surprised that no leeches had found me this time! I then took some more pictures of the water-covered bog, this time with some mud exposed around the edge where I had dragged myself up out of the bog:

2019 08 08 1N Crescent.jpg

2019 08 08 1O Crescent.jpg

To Be Concluded...

[Boggy Man]

My August 8'th, 2019 Adventure, Part 4, The Conclusion (Click Here For The Beginning With More Pix)!

2019 08 08 1P Crescent.jpg

I air-dried, got dressed in my shorts/t-shirt, and replaced most of the alder sticks around the bog, even though the meadow around much of the bog was floating on mud/water to the point that I would doubt any cattle would venture that far out. I then took one last picture of the bog with its barrier of sticks:

2019 08 08 1Q Crescent.jpg

I gathered my things together, switched memory cards in my camera, and headed back to my bike. I took a picture of a mushroom nearby, just to the south of where I had my bike laying:

2019 08 08 1R Mushroom.jpg

As I headed out on my bike, I didn't get the camera ready in time (had to delete an older photo that had been already saved to computer) to take a picture of a grouse which soon vanished into the grass. As I headed down the road, I noticed that my bike brakes were making a funny sound, and discovered that my front brake wasn't working! But, at least my rear brake was working, and I made it back down the hill, to be picked up by my dad in the valley.

It was a day that started rather promising , but then quickly turned out to be a bit disappointing. I had really hoped that the mud would stay really nice and thick after the surface was mushed up and the plants pushed under, but that wasn't the case. I couldn't even take a picture of how the mud looked all mushed up in the west center before the water crept over it. But then, there are other pictures of the mud from other years posted in this thread that show its gooeyness, as well as videos from other adventures in my other thread. In order for the mud to be exposed again, we would have had to have another week or so of hot dry weather, but we had thundershowers move in a couple days after, followed by a day of rain, which would have raised the water levels by around half an inch, setting things even further back! The cool wet July we had delayed the water level drop, making conditions now what they should have been in early July, a time when dry stretches of weather would have exposed things nicely and made it perfect for August! With long periods of high water, it seemed as though the mud rose more in the center, pulling away from the sides to make it thicker in the middle and thinner on the edges. But, it seems that when it contains more water, it produces a lot more swamp gas, which likely helped bloat it to make it higher as well. I have in the past experienced other places where there was so much swamp gas farting out, that the areas got covered with water once enough of the gas was released (mud pit in a forest south of Big Bar Lake, BC, and a boggy patch in a "pipeline abandonment" area west of Edson, Alberta).

One of the times (second?) I approached my bike from the east through the grass and weeds to the north of the pond, I didn't see a log hidden with a short stubby branch sticking out, which left a long scratch on my left ankle, which bled a little. I was happy to see that my neck pain didn't really get worse, so perhaps the Thudbuster LT worked! But, I never had any submergences, which would have put some stress on my neck, and even if the sink was done carefully, then perhaps the movement of my head in the water during cleanup would have stressed my neck out. On the other hand, after the initial onset of my neck sensitivity, whenever I had no submergence sinks during the outings, my neck pain still got worse, unlike this time! I will have to see how things go in the future. My legs were sore for days afterwards because of the leg cramps, especially the top front of my ankles.

After doing some online searching, I think that the mushroom I took a picture of may be a Scaly Hedgehog mushroom (Sarcodon imbricatus), which is an edible mushroom that some sources claim to be tasty, but others claim to be bitter (I think I will stick to Shaggy Manes, Morels, and Fairy Rings).

I think my next outing will be to *FINALLY* check out some new areas that I had my eyes on for the past several years, but was reluctant to explore due to them being so far away and more and more injuries popping up in different parts of my body. I just hope I can convince my dad to take me most of the way, since it is an area way past the turnoff to Crescent Road where he has been taking me so far these past several years.

[mud_dreamer]

Nice read and photos Boggy Man. Thanks for sharing. So I am not the only one troubled with too much rain. That's consoling.
The good news is that it forced me to look elsewhere and that has payed off handsomely.

I have you to credit for helping me to remember to go easy on my body. Last time out I tweaked my knee by rotating a little too far while stuck. That signaled to me that it was quitting time because that injury has caused me to need a cane or crutches for a half a day until the NSAID's kick in.

I am very glad to hear that your neck is doing better. I doubt that I will ever go under here so maybe that problem will never bother me. The mud here is so thick that I estimate that being vertical and just arm pit deep would be game over. I have been adding water to loosen the mud but it does not seem to make much of a difference. I think that the lower levels just squeeze the water upwards. I maybe just need to keep working it which is quite a workout.

Again, thank you
mud_dreamer

[Lintime Sinker]

Where are the videos ?

[Boggy Man]

Where are the videos ?

As I mentioned in my adventure description, I couldn't make one because the bog flooded over after I had worked it the first time that day. But, I am hoping for another adventure some time next week, and perhaps this time I might be able to create a video. I hope. Fingers crossed.

[Boggy Man]

My September 6'th, 2019 Adventure, Part 1!

After looking forward to taking advantage of more of the hotter summery weather in August, things fell apart rather quickly. After moving my next adventure date a couple of times due to various forms of inconvenience, followed by lack of transportation (my nephew needed the truck for a week when my brother's truck had an overheating problem), my dad wound up in the hospital for a week before eventually receiving an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) implant after dehydration in the corn field and hot sun caused his heartrate to rise to over 200 beats per minute (a shock by the specialist quickly got it back to normal). The specialist said that not many people can survive that heartrate if it went on too long! He can't drive for 6 months (I guess they want to wait that long to make certain he won't have any more of those episodes), and has other limitations as well. But apart from his health scare, an angiogram showed that his heart is in excellent condition for an 80-year-old, with no new damage, just decades old blockage from his heart attack decades ago! We are glad he is still with us and doing well!

Previously, when my dad was not able to drive, I would bike up into the mountains on my own, but that was before all my pains/sensitivities started up, especially in my knees, and even back then, when my dad was recovering from a broken collar bone and concussion from a fall back in 2011, I had leg pain (fibular head pain) starting up after several bikerides, that caused longer wait times between outings (Arthrotec anti-inflammatory wound up helping me with my last couple outings that year). But now, fortunately, my brother, who works hard with his wife farming and filling orders for their produce, was kind enough to give me a lift up into the mountains! But it wasn't very convenient for either of us (weatherwise for me, and work-wise for him) until Friday, September 6'th, the second-last day of hot weather, with the next day to have thunderstorms late in the day!

So, on Friday, September 6'th, he picked me up in his truck after 8:30 am, slightly later than planned, due to him having to fill a last minute order. I was concerned about the overcast skies (altostratus/altocumulus), with rain on the radar imagery moving north of the BC/Washington border(remnants of thunderstorms firing up in Oregon the previous day), but not coming any closer. But, forecasts predicted it would all move off to the east in the afternoon, so I was very hopeful. My brother dropped me off some time around 10:15 am, at the same place on Crescent Road my dad usually dropped me off, a short distance from my "destination" , and I was on my way! Finally!

Since it was cool due to the longer nights and the fact that the sun wasn't coming out for several hours, I wore a thin sweater and a hooded jacket to keep me as warm as possible. I was concerned about cattle in my area, and there were tracks and droppings on the road and sideroad. On the sideroad, I walked my bike along one stretch to see what parts of my sinking/cleanup area was visible from the road, finding that from the small glimpses of the meadow from the road, it was hard to tell how close to my sinking spot it was. I continued on to the entrance to my area, where I walked my bike down the new path around the fallen trees, moving a rock out of the path, before continuing on walking my bike down the sidetrail. In the more open area of higher ground, separated from the pond and surrounding meadow to the south by a small forest of alders, the vegetation had been partially trampled down in numerous patterns, with cow droppings here and there, but so far no sign of any cattle. But, as it turned out, there was one large cow dropping right in the shaded spot where I usually dropped off my bike and got my things out, so I had to drop it off at an adjacent shaded spot just before (east of) that spot. I noticed that there was no sign of the mushroom in my other spot, either having been eaten or shriveled up or decayed. I was concerned about thunderstorms Tuesday night (quite a light show) leaving a puddle on the surface of the mud, but I kept my fingers crossed. I got my things together, swapped memory cards in my camera, and was on my way to finally observe the state of the voracious quagmire that was going to finally swallow me whole !

On my way, I was happy to see that the water levels were definitely lower, which seemed promising! There were still no signs of any cattle, either! I put my things down in the shade of some alders, and went to check out the state of the treacherous muck! Looking at it, while the mud was no longer underwater, I was a bit disappointed to see that there WAS a puddle in the center of it, something I was concerned about, and hoping not to see. I wanted it to be a nice flat stretch of water-free ground, but it looked like the rain Tuesday night was enough for the puddle to last for more than two days. But, it was quite small, and could be easily eliminated! I took an initial picture of the bog surrounded by the alder sticks I use to prevent animals from accessing the hazardous ground:

2019 09 06 2A Crescent.jpg

With my shoes off, I removed the sticks, stacking them in the meadow further inland, and then took photos of the bog from various directions:

2019 09 06 2B Crescent.jpg

2019 09 06 2C Crescent.jpg

2019 09 06 2D Crescent.jpg

2019 09 06 2E Crescent.jpg

To Be Continued...

[Boggy Man]

My September 6'th, 2019 Adventure, Part 2 (Click Here For The Beginning With More Pix)!

I had originally planned on first making a video of a dramatic sink where I break through the undisturbed surface. But, due to the water on top, I decided on having a personal sink instead, to be followed by mixing the water into the muck. I stripped down and put on a swim cap and goggles to keep mud out of my hair, ears and eyes, something that is now more important than ever because I need my mom to give me eyedrops for (suspected) glaucoma every night (I can't seem to do it myself), and I can't have her spot a single speck of mud on my face/eyes! Also, it makes cleanup faster and easier, keeping mud out of my ears as well, and keeps my hair dry, which makes me warm up faster. I also decided to scoop up water from the pond into a pail that I had kept there for transferring mud to my sinking spot on occasion for topping up. I wanted to see if I could clean my head off with it more quickly and easily without having to go to the edge of the pond. It was starting to warm up slightly, but was still cool, with the sun behind the clouds. Still, I was feeling warm, and was now ready for my first sink of the day!

After inspecting the bog for the widest area of bare mud between the outer edge of the bog and the puddle, I decided on the middle/southern half of the west side, since that area was quivering slightly less than the other parts when I walked around the outside of the bog, meaning that it was the thickest. From the west side, I stepped onto the flat bare wet ground, facing south, getting quickly gulped down to around my chest in the soft, gelatinous ooze! I continued to struggle, with swamp gas farting here and there, slowly settling down deeper and deeper into the muck! When the suffocating mire sucked over my mouth and nose and climbed to the bottom of my goggles, I had a very nice release! I then dragged myself out of the hungry mire onto the grass on the west side, pushing mud off my body back into the bog, especially the thicker stuff around my legs and feet. I then tried to clean my head with the water in the pail first, but it was not enough. I still had to go to the edge of the pond, where I had to bend over and rub and splash my lower head with water, resting my left hand on the rhizome of a yellow waterlily/spatterdock (Nuphar polysepala) for support. I only needed to clean my head and neck, since I wasn't finished with the bog yet. I then plunged back into the bog to mix in the water, mushing up things nicely. The grass I had missed last time was mostly vanished, which was a relief. I stirred the mud up into the water, and pushed the water into the mud, until all that was left was some very sloppy mud on the surface of the slightly thicker stuff, with a tiny bit of water here and there. I then worked myself to the northern edge of the bog, dragged myself out onto the grass on the north side, and pushed the mud off my body back into the bog, mostly thicker stuff that was clinging around my legs. I then returned to the edge of the pond to clean up, sitting on the floating part of the meadow that sunk under the water from my weight. Laying down, I scrubbed my back and front on the weed carpet to remove the mud better, shivering furiously and almost hyperventilating from the chilly water not receiving any heat from the sun yet because of the cloudy skies! I splashed water on my back and front to wash away the loosened mud, and cleaned the lower part of my body. I then air dried, got dressed, and put on a sweater and jacket to speed my warming up. I took photos of the freshly churned up patch of gulping mire:

2019 09 06 2F Crescent.jpg

2019 09 06 2G Crescent.jpg

2019 09 06 2H Crescent.jpg

Still leaving my shoes off because of wet feet, I headed back to my bike to have lunch, snacking on a couple of pizza pops while walking barefoot down the sideroad (wished I had my shoes on after all). I passed the clay ruts, the mud in which was cracked, had cattle prints, and had a tiny bit of water in them, mostly the outer east one. I was tempted to step into the inch or so or less of clay, but it would look suspicious leaving footprints in it, and was likely not worth it. I headed further up the road, to the other pond with a ring of sphagnum bog, noticing that to the south of the pond, the boggy stream area between the dam and the road had what looked like a boggy area exposed, but it was likely moss. It might have still been interesting to snap a picture of it, but I had left my camera back at my sinking spot. Heading further up the road, I decided not to head to that pond, because I didn't feel like walking through the margin of forest with broken rocks beside the road there with bare feet, and I wasn't going to be heading too much further, anyways. I noticed some ripe thimbleberries on the east (pond) side of the road, which I snacked on, along with my pizza pops. I then turned around, noticing the clouds finally thinning, with the sun slowly coming out, starting to make things warmer! I still felt a bit chilled, especially my legs, wondering if wearing shoes would have warmed them up faster. I then returned to my bike, and then back to my sinking area, noticing how the high overcast was thinning out, with the sun finally starting to come out more, but a patch of broken altocumulus was still covering it up, although it too was slowly thinning and moving off to the east. Finally warming up, I was ready for my next sink, a full submergence, on video! Finally!

To Be Continued...

[Boggy Man]

My September 6'th, 2019 Adventure, Part 3 (Click Here For The Beginning With More Pix)!

I picked up one of my alder sticks, poked it through the floating vegetation at the western section of the south side of the bog, took the Gorillapod with the camera screwed onto it, and wrapped the tentacles, some of which had been partially broken off over the years, around the stick. I picked out the spot where the action was going to occur, centered just to the left and behind a small ridge in the mud, and properly framed the area. But, just when I was almost ready to start, I suddenly realized that I needed to change the camera's regular picture setting to 16:9 to match the video's aspect ratio so that I could frame it more properly. After making the necessary adjustments, and getting ready, I started the video recording, but still wasn't certain if the area was properly framed. So, I stopped it, deleted it, and made the final adjustments to get everything just right. Here is the final view I settled on:

2019 09 06 2I Crescent.jpg

What was really frustrating, was that each time I had to make adjustments to the camera, I had to grab my glasses from my things by a clump of alder trees in order to see the screen. Each time I thought I was ready to begin, I had to return my glasses back to my things again, winding up making several trips back and forth before I got everything right. Finally, with everything all set now, I returned my glasses to my things one last time, returned and pressed the record button, and was ready to feed myself to the voracious bog on camera for the first time this year!

I did my usual "talking to myself"/"thinking out loud" monologue to set up the scene, and then plunged into the treacherous quagmire, struggling until I was eventually swallowed whole beneath the surface, struggling some more beneath the surface and then pausing and holding my breath, blowing bubbles, and then trying to pause again before resurfacing, and catching my breath. I then worked myself a little bit higher, struggled some more as the batterlike ooze sucked me back down again, and briefly relaxed with my head resting on the surface, really enjoying the experience I had waited so long for! I then took another deep breath, and let the gulping mire close over my head again, blowing some more bubbles before bringing my head back up to the surface to finally breathe again! I worked myself up a bit higher, turned around, and dragged myself out on the north side of the bog, the way I came in, pushing muck off my body back into the bog, especially from my legs, since the stuff deeper down was thicker and therefore coated my legs more thickly. I then headed towards the edge of the pond, cleaned my hands, returned to the camera, and (hopefully) stopped the recording. I was uncertain about whether it was stopped, because I had trouble seeing the screen through the muddy goggles, and without my glasses. My swim cap covering my ears also made it hard to hear the brief tone the camera made when pushing the button. I unwrapped the Gorillapod from the stick, and returned the camera, mounted on the Gorillapod, to my things. I think I might have tried sneaking a peek by lifting the goggles up, to make certain the camera was off, hoping that no mud would fall into my eye sockets.

I returned to the edge of the pond where I cleaned my head/swim cap/goggles in the water, again resting my left hand on a yellow waterlily rhizome for support. I rubbed my back on the edge of the floating meadow that sunk under the water, to help clean up, then splashing water over my back. Cleaning my front was easier, and cleanup was much more comfortable this time, thanks to the hot sun finally heating the water up. I cleaned my junk shorts inside and out, and wrung them out before hanging them, as well as my swim cap and goggles, on some alder branches to dry in the hot sun. I air-dried out, warming up much faster thanks to the sun warming the air, as well as my skin, better. While drying, I removed the alder stick that the camera/Gorillapod was previously mounted on, and returned it to the stick pile, to be returned to the edge of the bog later on. All dry, I got completely dressed to warm up faster. I took a few more photos of the bog, showing its state after the dramatic sink:

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To Be Concluded...