My July 28'th Adventure, Conclusion (Click Here For The Beginning With More Pix)!Back at my sinking spot, I took some photos of my mushed-up patch of quagmire. Wouldn't you just love to jump into that?
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I got all prepared. I had my swim goggles on my forehead, and my breathing hose handy for underbog breathing, something I was looking forward to doing for a long time. From the west side, I jumped into the middle, landing chest deep in the doughy muck. I just struggled continuously, and slowly let the bog claim me more and more. When it rose to around the bottom of my nose, I lingered and struggled there for a while, before deciding to get out, and do the submergence with the hose on camera.
So, I worked myself out, cleaned my hands, put on my junk shorts which were cleaned and drying on an alder branch, and remounted my camera back onto the Gorillapod, which I re-wrapped its tentacles around the stick on the south side of the bog. I pointed the camera down to the spot beside my breathing hose in the southwestern part of the bog, and got the area zoomed in and roughly centered. I was a bit concerned about the battery indicator, because it went from 3 bars to only one, making me wonder if I had enough battery power to shoot the video.
I started to wonder if I was going to regret wasting valuable battery power watching the first video while drying off (and while inadvertently feeding a leech).
I just hoped for the best.
I clicked the record button, made a final adjustment to the camera, and then jumped in from the west side. When I landed, up to my chest, the mire was farting like crazy around me briefly. I was trembling a bit because I had been out of the mud all wet in the dry air, and the evaporation really sucked the heat out. I knew that once I was back in the mud, and had the moisture no longer evaporating from my skin/hair, I would feel warmer.
I slowly sunk deeper, and then put my swim goggles on, and finally the breathing hose in my mouth. But, before going under, I had to take the breathing hose out, and spit out dirt and debris from my mouth that had accumulated inside the hose from the past couple of years of non-use. I shook the hose and re-inserted it back in my mouth, and pulled myself under, and started bubbling away!
Some dirt from the hose still got in my mouth, but not much to be a problem. I inhaled through the hose while exhaling through my nose, with it initially making a hissing or rushing sound, and I could see brief flashes of light when I exhaled, from the conduit of air extending to the close surface briefly. When I got deeper, it stayed dark, and my exhaled air became more of a "phlup phlup phlup" sound, with occasionally a steady rushing sound. I sunk myself down deeper and deeper, gradually ending up close to "wrist deep" (that is, the mud was up to my wrists when held above my head). I could have gone deeper, but breathing was slightly more uncomfortable, but I could have handled it, since I would get accustomed to it after a while. The big concern was that when I was at "wrist deep", my lower abs were starting to feel sore (I could even feel my pulse in my lower abs), and I was worrying about straining them too much if I went deeper (they have been giving me enough problems for the past 11 months as it is).
So, I stayed at around wrist deep, my escaping breath going "phlup, phlup, phlup" up to the surface, able to keep my eyes open because of the swim goggles, my breathing hose the only thing keeping me alive staying submerged for so long and at that depth! I raised my hands to the surface and retracted them, swaying and bouncing beneath the surface, feeling the mud move with/against me when I moved, totally swallowed by soft thick muck, loving every moment of it!
It had been soooo long since I had experienced that!
It was bog heaven!
After enjoying my underbog experience for a while, I began to feel the beginnings of a headache, which was a signal that perhaps I should call it quits. I figured that I had enough on video, anyways.
I just hoped that the wind didn't interfere with the recorded sound, not to mention whether the battery lasted long enough for my entire underbog session!
So, I began to slowly work myself up higher and higher, feeling pressure easing more and more, until my exhaled breath was no longer going "phlup, phlup, phlup", but instead became more of a steady hissing or rushing sound. My head still felt like it was under mud, but I could see some occasional light facing forward. My head was just coated in a thick layer of mud. I worked myself up a bit higher, removed the hose from my mouth, and cleared the mud off my head. I worked myself up higher and higher, removed my swim goggles and tossed them in the grass. I finally crawled to the grass on the west side, and pulled myself out of the mire, wiping it off my skin back into the bog as I went. I then cleaned my hands in some water, and went to stop the recording, but noticed the screen looked dark. I pressed the record button to stop the recording, but nothing happened. Then, I realized that the camera was already off!
When I tried turning it back on, it gave me a warning that there was no battery power left, and then turned off again!
The batteries ran out before I had finished making the video of my breathing tube submersion!
I
knew that I should have recharged the battery the night before, even though it looked like there was sufficient charge (it had dropped to two bars, but went back to three the day before)!
I had no idea how much of my breathing hose submergence video was recorded, if any!
I couldn't even check the recording to find out, because the camera would just give me the warning of no battery power, and then would turn off!
So, it looked like I would have to wait until I got home before finding out.
I then returned to the mud, and crawled/squirmed around on the surface again, having another stimulating horizontal struggle in the middle east part facing south, at which point I suddenly started to feel cooler. I finally worked my way to the edge, and pulled myself out, wiping all the mud off my skin back into the bog.
I headed into the water, where I cleaned off thoroughly, constantly checking for leeches. I was shivering a bit still, and while I had my head underwater to clean it, I accidentally swallowed a small mouthful of pondwater that was just teaming with all sorts of stuff if you examined it with a microscope!
I had nothing to spit out, and hoped that ingesting that water wouldn't get me sick!
I had to return to the water to clean my other things, such as my junk shorts, swim goggles, and my breathing hose, running water through it to flush out its inside, something I should have done last time I was there. I air-dried, and got dressed. When I had unwrapped the tentacles of the Gorillapod from the supporting stick one tentacle broke off!
I didn't realize I had stressed it that much! It had lost part of a tentacle several years back at the Harris Creek quicksilt slide area. Now, it has one full tentacle, one half tentacle, and one stubbier tentacle!
I don't know if it is usable anymore, but I will have to test it out some time soon.
I might have to buy another one.
I tried the camera again but it still only gave me a warning about no battery power before turning off. I couldn't even take any final parting photos of my sinking spot. But, it wasn't too different from the earlier shots, except the disturbances on the surface were different and the lighting was different (lower sun).
I put my stuff away, and just to be on the safe side, I put back a bunch of large sticks around the west, southwest and northwest sides of my bog, to be prepared for when free-range cattle return later this summer. I don't want any to fall into my bog, since the dropping water levels have made the meadow firmer around part of my bog.
I returned to my bike, put my things away, and headed for the valley, snacking on a couple of Pizza Pops and a Dipps bar on the way. My stomach felt a bit upset, but I wasn't certain if it had to do with the water I accidentally ingested, or just what I had been eating while being active.
I figured that it was just what I ate, since I have had upset stomach like that many times before.
My dad picked me up in the valley, and we headed home. As it turned out, after he dropped me off in the morning, he decided to check out a car dealership, and one thing led to another, and my mom wound up buying a brand new GMC Terrain! It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for my dad taking me up into the mountains for my bikeride!
So, the day worked out for everyone!
That night, when I finally transferred my videos and photos to my computer, I was happy to discover that the camera battery died, stopping the recording, during the latter part of me
exiting the bog!
So, all the good stuff is there, although it looked as though the camera might have shifted down slightly, with the bubbling action moving from roughly the center of the screen to the top of the screen. But, looking at the position of the hose, it looked the same, meaning that perhaps I moved further back under the mud.
I also noticed in my first video, where I was supposed to drown before the morning was over, shot during the afternoon, that when I was wearing my watch, the camera briefly caught the time displayed on the watch (1:33 pm), something I didn't think would happen! Looks like I have more editing to do.
The next day, upon inspection of my "successful" watch video, I discovered that it had contained my reflection!
So, that watch video is no longer viable. My plan was after I submerged in the video, it would cut away to the watch, showing it changing to 12 noon, with the bog bubbling a little in the background. But, another complication is that a plane was flying overhead just at the moment my submersion happened, which makes editing in the other sound clips a bit more work, since the sound of the plane can't suddenly stop.
I was happy about the way the day went, with only a few minor leg cramps, that were only brief. No ill effects from ingesting the pond water, either. But I was still eaten alive by the voracious flies, and while in the water, voracious leeches were after my blood below the surface, while the flies were biting me from above. My sink was the best yet in a long time!
But, my abdominal muscles are sore all over the place. I hope that the soreness in my upper abs goes down fast like they did last time. It is my lower abs, especially the lower right which are the most persistent. I hope that I can feel better soon enough to be able to return sooner than two weeks, because I just can't resist "the lure of the swamp"!
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Even though he complained, my dad drove me up the steep hill on Crescent Road again, and went past a spot where I said he could stop.
After the lunch was finished, I returned to my bog, only to find that it had clouded over!