My September 9'th, 2026 Adventure, Part 2, The Conclusion (Click Here For The Beginning With More Pix)!I then returned to my sideroad shortly after 1 pm, happy that the sun was shining brightly at around its peak of the day!
I walked my bike down the sidetrail and dropped it off in its usual spot. I can't remember if I took my bag of things for any videos I might make. I headed back to my bog, noticing that the grassy meadow west of the pond that I usually took to get to my bog and always used during my air-drying due to it being higher and drier and not uneven (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/W2UVoZ6aShazntWB8 ) was full of cattle!
So, I had to go to the pond side of the patchy line of alders and continue through the grassy meadow there, since I didn't want to chase the cattle towards my bog!
I noticed one white cow drinking water ahead of me, but it moved back to the others as I passed by. I got undressed in my usual spot, but placed my things off to the east side of where I usually put things, because I was worried that cattle might walk over it. I was now ready for my first (delayed) sink of the day!
Typically, what would happen to my bog this time of year is that there would be a cold layer of mud sandwiched between the warmer top freshly solar-heated layer and the lower seasonally-heated stuff that cooled down with depth, and I wondered if that was the case this day.
I walked over to the south side of my bog, choosing that location, since I didn't disturb it last time, which meant that it would be thicker on top. After bouncing on the grass a few times to make it undulate, and building up the anticipation, I finally took the fateful leap forward, getting immediately gulped down to my waist in the soft mire that started to blow farts, the thicker surface cracking and bending downward around me!
I did notice that while the top layer was thicker than below, it also felt a bit soft on top, a sign of the less baking by the sun at this time of year. I loved the feel of it cushioning my lower body, and slowly sucking me down deeper!
I struggled, first without pressing down too hard on the surface around me, before eventually putting more pressure on my forearms and hands, the thicker surface of the undulating ooze giving way and sucking them under into its soft embrace! I continued to struggle, pushing down and pretending to be unable to push myself up, and with the mid-day sun out, I let the hungry mire suck me down a little deeper this time, to my upper chest, inches away from my armpits!
Seeing the surface undulating around and in front of me, imagining that it was inescapable, and that soon I was going to be sucked completely under the surface, my stimulation built up to the exploding point!
After that, my body temperature suddenly felt like it had suddenly dropped. But, it still wasn't too bad. I just continued to enjoy the feel of the mire, and felt the doughy morass pass gas along my body to the surface, where it farted out, although sometimes it did so silently. Just as I had expected, I could feel a cold layer just below the warmer surface, but whenever I came into contact with it, after a while it would warm up to me, something I loved when the mud was thick!
I watched a frog appear on the north side of the bog, which eventually took off to the east and then vanished in the grass to the north. While I was enjoying my sink, I was suddenly disappointed to see the sun vanish, with my shadow disappearing completely, making things feel cooler again!
So, the high cloud thickened up, obscuring the sun, and looking at the sky, much of the blue sky with patches of thin cirrus clouds was now full of thicker clouds!
But, I still continued to savour the experience, and slowly began to work myself up higher, and then eventually back a little at a time, with the bog passing even more bubbles of swamp gas along my body to fart at the surface, often starting at my feet! As I slowly worked my way backward towards the shore, I had been eyeing a red dragonfly that had been stuck in the mud to the right of me, on the east side, just barely within reach. Once I was high enough, I reached over, picked it up and threw it into the grass east of the bog, where it would be free. I continued to enjoy the mud, smoothing the surface in front of me, moving mud that was bunching up behind me to the front, or to any lower spots around me, and work myself further back until I was able to finally push my hands down on the grass to lift myself high enough to sit down on the grass on the south side of the bog, where muddy water oozed out of the floating mat. I then worked my left leg out, scraping the mud off the leg and foot back into the bog and resting it on the grass pointing west, and then worked out my right leg, scraping the mud off it into the bog as well, and then smoothing out the surface. It was now time to clean up!
I headed to the pond, where I picked an open spot with yellow waterlily rhizomes that I could sit on, with the water up to my lower chest. I swished away the sediment-clouded cooler water to try replacing it with warmer clearer water from in front. I rubbed my skin vigorously to get the residue off, and once again didn't feel like using "Nature's Scrub-Brush" to clean my back, opting to do it all with my hands. I then knelt on the rhizome to clean lower down and then stood up on the rhizome and grass to finish the cleanup. I was happy that the water was warmer than earlier, but still a little cool. However, it felt as if it was warmer than the air, although it might have had to do with wet skin exposed to evaporation above the water, which felt cooler in the air.
I headed onto the meadow away from the pond to air dry, and while doing that, I heard a crash nearby, and looked to the west, and saw a dead alder laying on the ground with an adjacent bush shaking. It must have just fallen, and perhaps might be a good candidate for an addition to my "cage".
I finished the drying, got dressed, including into my hoodie, grabbed my camera, and starting at 2:49 pm, took a few more photos of the bog after my first sinking session of the day:
2026 09 09 4H Crescent.jpg
2026 09 09 4I Crescent.jpg
2026 09 09 4J Crescent.jpg
2026 09 09 4K Crescent.jpg
Now, I needed to do some hiking around while waiting to warm up. Taking a bottle of Gatorade, I headed up the sideroad, and decided to check out the sideroad that I had dropped my bike off on a couple of adventures ago (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VorPAYrSDSL1QCkn6 ), when I explored the mudflats on the north part of the ring bog pond (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6oygHNJ79Z8D8fD87 ). It was just east of the overgrown sideroad (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/qyXHJ7Pej2FSYtNd8 ) that did a loop that returned to the main sideroad west of the ring bog pond (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/rsikDDvKe2oaWk5g7 ). Once again, as I passed the water-filled ruts, frogs jumped in. The southwest side of the ring bog pond, where there were cattle prints in the black mud on the southwest shoreline, looked like the water was higher, because the cattle prints were submerged (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4iTESV4bTFeapi1A6 ). I continued on, finally reaching the turnoff, and proceeded to follow the tracks, eventually finding a slightly wider opening (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Lnb8G5QNmnRoRQ1t8 ) where it turned into a single animal trail through the woods. I followed it until it emerged into a small clearing with a rock outcropping with a few patches of lichen mounds here and there (I believe it was perhaps this clearing:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/M4PduNZKQiRmsy7x7 ). I was almost expecting it to be the clearing above one of the large meadows that would be to the west (thought it might be this one:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4BMs47BU2DXTGjFG9 ), but looked like forest to the west, and the clearing wasn't that extensive. I figured I was too far east.
After I approached the north end, I turned around and headed back.
When I got back to the main sideroad, I decided to try and head further up it, past the clearcut (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cLjQATzCSHajxpc56 ), since I never did reach the end. But, when I finally got to where it turned north (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/NVU4sZqVX3h3kfC36 ), a little short of where I had once before reached before turning around, I realized that it was getting a bit late, and if I was going to get another sink in, I better turn back. I was finally over my chills, and was looking forward to having one last sink of the season!
As I headed back, I knew that with the cloudy skies, it would still be too cool to have a submergence sink, but during the walk, had been brainstorming about a possible idea for a video involving a sinking and self-rescue scenario.
I was reviewing it over and over in my head, when all of a sudden, I heard the sound of a motorbike approaching!
I moved to the side, and he stopped and we chatted. He was checking out a number of trails, and was looking for a certain snowshoe trail that was marked. He had his phone mounted on his bike handlebars, with a gps display. He continued on down the road from which I was coming back from, and I figured that he would soon hit a deadend, since that northward stretch appeared to end in a small clearing with no further road (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/kMD9qvHLCnGPjbHJA ).
So, I took my time walking back, expecting him to be heading back and passing me at any time. I didn't want to go sinking until I knew he had left the sideroad, but I made it back to my sidetrail to the north of the pond, and still no sign of him! I returned to my bog, and all was quiet. I had been wondering if perhaps the road did go further than it looked, or if perhaps he ran into a problem that delayed his return.
So much time had passed, that I couldn't wait any longer. I had to get my last sink of the season in!
It was getting a bit late, with no time to prepare for any video, and it was also at the time when my bog was shaded off by the trees to the west, that is, if the sun was out, which it wasn't because of the overcast skies. It felt just barely nice enough to sink, so I knew that I would have to limit the depth of my sink to lower than my chest. So, I got undressed and was ready to begin!
This time, I chose the southwest section of the bog, where it was further away from the mushy surface on the north side. I stood on the southwest side of the patch of treacherous ground, and after letting the anticipation build, I finally took the fateful leap, instantaneously getting myself "cushioned" up to my waist in the doughy morass!
Once again, I struggled a bit without breaking the surface with my arms, noticing that it felt a bit softer there. I then eventually pushed my arms down into it and struggled, but each time I got past my belly button, I would work myself up higher, because it felt cooler than before. I struggled vigorously, imagining that I was going to be sucked under the surface, until my stimulation once again exploded!
I lingered and struggled for a bit more, always working myself back up again to be around belly button deep, wishing that I could have gone deeper, but the lack of sun and heat spoiled that. I loved the feel of the bog passing gas along my body and farting at the surface again, and wished I could stay in it longer. But, it was getting late, so I had to start working myself backwards towards the floating meadow, moving mud from behind me to in front of me, and smoothing the surface out in front of me. I kept on working myself back until I was finally able to press down on the grass behind me with my hands, and lift myself up higher, the surface of the doughy mire peeling away from my body as I worked myself up higher. I then had to push more mud from behind me to in front of me some more and smooth it out. Whenever I let go of the grass, I could feel myself slowly getting sucked back down, before I pushed down on the grass again. Finally, I was able to work myself high enough to sit back on the grass, and then worked my legs and feet out, scraping the mud off them and back into the bog, which I then smoothed out. My final sinking session of the season was now over!
Now, it was time to get cleaned up, and I returned to the same spot with the yellow waterlily rhizomes as before and sat down, and repeated the same cleanup as before, noticing how the water, which at first felt cool but got used to it, felt warmer than the air. As I got closer to the bottom of my cleanup, I saw a white cow walking down my path towards my bog!
I quickly headed over there, with it only around 6 to 7 feet away from my "cage" before it turned around and left as I approached. I then returned to finish the cleanup, before heading to the part of the grassy meadow away from the pond, beyond a patchy line of alders, where it was drier. That white cow was in the meadow with a white calf, and they took off when I arrived there to air-dry. But, without sun and not much wind, it took a bit longer to dry off. However, partways or mostways through the drying, I suddenly heard the sound of a motorbike!
He was coming back the same way he entered!
I wondered what took him so long? I quickly hid behind one clump of alders, and noticed that he had stopped. Then, after a minute, he started off again, and was gone. I hoped that he didn't see me!
I then finished my drying off, got dressed, grabbed my camera, and starting at 5:51 pm, took some more photos of the bog after my second and final sinking session:
2026 09 09 4L Crescent.jpg
2026 09 09 4M Crescent.jpg
2026 09 09 4N Crescent.jpg
2026 09 09 4O Crescent.jpg
I then headed over to where the dead alder had freshly fallen, and checked it out to see if it was viable to add to the cage. After fiddling around with it for a bit, I decided it had too much bark still on it to use, since the last thing I needed was a stick shedding pieces of bark into my bog!
So, I found another one laying to the southwest nearby which had only a little bit of bark, which I broke into two, and then spent some time cleaning up, before taking the two sticks back to my bog and adding them to certain parts of the front of my "cage", something I felt I had to reinforce, because of how close the cow did get to my bog!
I just hoped that the cage, while fragile enough for any large animal to easily plow through it, would be just an effective visual deterrent that make them stop and turn around.
It has worked so far since I began using the cage, although one year a bear did get between some sticks on the north side and sunk a paw into the north side of the bog before it pulled back.
I kept on looking at my bog, grabbed my things and returned to my bike, swapping memory cards in my camera. I then headed back to Crescent Road, and then down to the main road, keeping an eye out for shaggy mane mushrooms, something which I always picked during my final outings of the season, but didn't see any at all, for the second year in a row.
The daylight was going down a bit quickly, and I wondered if I was missing any because of that.
Not only was it getting darker faster, but it also started to rain!
I thought this was going to be the first outing in a while that wasn't threatened with precipitation, only to get rained on at the end of the day!
But then, the forecast did call for showers overnight.
When I passed the spot where my brother and I saw a turkey vulture last time, I could smell the stench of rotting flesh, making me wonder if it was what the turkey vulture was feasting on last time, or if the turkey vulture was injured and died.
But, the light was getting too low for me to investigate. Just as I got close to the top of the final hill before my big descent towards the valley, my brother drove up, and picked me up!
He was getting worried about it getting so late. I avoided the downhill, which likely saved my neck.
On the way home, he spotted some lightning, which I missed. Checking out Environment Canada's interactive radar/lightning map on my IPhone, I noticed not only recent lightning to the southwest, but also to the east, and that the main cold front was in the process of passing through! That night starting around midnight, a windstorm whipped up, marking the transition from the warmer airmass I was taking advantage of, to a cooler airmass.
So, once again, for the third time in a row, clouds had interfered with my activities (getting showered or rained on as well), with the last two times keeping conditions below the threshold for submergence sinks, just as the mud was getting to be the stuff dreams (or nightmares for those who are uninformed/inexperienced on how to deal with bottomless bogs) are made of!
With the low water levels, the thought had crossed my mind about taking a bucket I had hidden nearby under a tree and transferring more mud to my bog to raise its level so that it would be exposed earlier in the season, since the mud around/in the pond was now so easily accessible to gather up. In fact, I could have started with the low spot that water kept pooling on the north side!
For the second time in a row since the offroad vehicle ban was lifted, I had encountered someone on the sideroad, and both times, they took forever to return, making me wonder if there was more to the road than I was led to believe.
I would have to investigate in a future adventure. When looking at Google Maps, I discovered that the trail I took to the clearing went between the two meadows I had never explored (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/M1DU9i5gCB1ZkU428 ,
https://maps.app.goo.gl/vC2pirbHwnoe8nP8A ), because I only noticed them on the map recently! Looking at Google Maps, I also noticed another turnoff that I wasn't certain if I saw, which I need to also check out in the future (
https://maps.app.goo.gl/vhBU35H2TxUeZ1Yj9 ), which also appears to end in a small clearing (unless that was the road I started up before turning around
).
I also came close to missing out on the sinks, because I was close to committing to exploring places I missed on my final adventure last year. But, at least after I found out I had taken the wrong turn, it was easy to decide on abandoning the "curiosity-satisfying" exploration (saw a red-sided garter snake on the north side of Crescent road as well but didn't take a picture of it) in favor of getting sucked (unfortunately not completely) into "deadly"
quagmire two final times to end this season!
It figured, that less than two weeks after my season ended, that we
FINALLY had a return to warmer weather, this time with cloudless skies! If only it happened in late August/early September, then I could have had one more submergence sink or more!
But then, if we had that same weather at that time, the sun would have been stronger, and might still have resulted in convective clouds anyways!
So now, I wait until next year, and with the super El Niño threatening a low snowpack, the bog might become exposed earlier next season, but then anything could happen.
I also have more places to check out to add to the list.
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