When Thou Thawest, We Shall Meet

[Nessie]

This is...a really, really BIG...and completely frozen...mudpit.

That's all bog down there. I can tell by its flatness and the hairy pattern of wetland grasses that cover it, plus that white oval area directly over where the arrow points is a dead giveaway that this area was wet last summer.

I drew the arrow to point that the spot which experience has taught me is likely to be the mushiest come summer. That's about where I'd aim to get when I can get there, which isn't now.

Yes, forum, I scour the land for sites even this time of year. Obviously I can't sink in this yet since it's extremely thick right now...in fact it's set like rock...it might suitable for skating if it weren't for the grasses that would get caught in the skates, but...who knows...this summer?

Location is obviously top secret. Okay, as secret as anything gets from the top of a hill. But vegetation will grow in.

Nessie

[YerK]

Most of the times I've played in any bog, it was never "sticky". If I had a leg in it, and pulled up, the leg came out with no trouble. (Rather like the clay pit at Studio 588) The best clay I ever found was at a spring, where jumping into it put you up to your knees, but it took a minute or so of focused pulling to get even one leg out. That's the kinda stuff I think is fun. (But, to be honest, I'd still jump at the chance to go play in a bog, too)

[Nessie]

My area tends to be very, very peaty, and if that's deep mud under that grass, it'll probably be non-decomposing plant matter, similar to Fred's Peat. Although because of where this area is, I'm hoping for something different. A place just north of this did have clayish sand, and that would be nice if it turns out to be so.

My peat bogs, though, have one thing that's missing from Fred's:

Sedge mats.

I wonder what you'd think of one of those. It's when the vegetation on top settles in and the roots weave into each other and the top layer dries out some, so it all makes a boingy, springy crust. If you break through, you can find yourself squeezed into a little hole without much wriggle room if the sedge mat is very thick.

Because of the light layer of grass on top, this area shows signs of having one. Without actually going in, though, I cannot tell for sure that it does.

Some of my bogs do have bottoms that'll get your feet stuck. If you want to get your feet stuck, I recommend sports shoes with thick soles or heavy work boots. The bottoms of my bogs have caused me no end of futzing with footwear, because I'm actually not a fan of that sssssssssSUCKING-off that bogs try on everything I have ever put on my feet.

To get rid of this effect, you simply go barefoot or wear something thin and light.

Not all of the bogs are the same, though. Some grab shoes much worse than others!

Nessie

[bart1997]

...

[Boggy Man]

That bare white oval spot is most likely a pond, and the areas to explore would be around the entire shoreline of that pond, while also checking out any other promising looking parts of that surrounding meadow as well.

Looking carefully at the picture, it looks as if there could possibly be another pond or boggy area behind that clump of bushes (willows?) behind the arrow, but in front of the forest in the background. It looks like there is a bare white low spot there, according to what I see through a break, to the left of the arrow, in the line of bushes.

I hope that this meadow successfully yields some interesting spots for you this season!

[YerK]

Well, sedge mats are just something I'll have to cross when I come to them. I know that there have been layers to bogs I have crossed in the past, and that it is likely that the mats you're typing about are stronger than any I have yet encountered. If they are enough to get me stuck, that will be all the more interesting. (assuming I ever get to that spot on your picture, that is...)

[Nessie]

What is this perfectly flat area a bit behind the arrow, or did you mean this area in the first place? For me that could be an area of snow covered thin moss. Well, this will quake when you touch it in spring.

Since I only saw it for the first time yesterday, to me that flat white area says only that there is no grass there. What has to be there instead is water. The question is, how much water? It could be just a thin layer of water over nice deep thick mud, or it could be a foot of water over only a foot or two of so-so mud, or it could be...just...plain old water.

The pattern of grass indicates that the surrounding area is likely to be quite soggy, because grass does not grow that flatly on dry land. Dry land is not completely flat, like a countertop. Dry land has hints of unevenness. Grass grows completely flat like that only over a layer of total mush.

[/quote]Over here we have a big thaw for several days now and i already explored the peat bog the first time this year; although it was really exhausting to cross the dry areas which were still covered in two feet of soft snow sometimes, ALL the spring-fed boggy/peaty areas were completly free and sinkable! So when there is even a very little flow of water down there it will help a lot.[/quote]

You are an inspiration! You are the only sinker I know who goes at it in colder weather than I do. Maybe sometime I'll manage it when there's snow out there! Yes, I feel better already.

It's January. I have always managed to get out sometime in April!

Nessie

[Nessie]

Looking carefully at the picture, it looks as if there could possibly be another pond or boggy area behind that clump of bushes (willows?) behind the arrow, but in front of the forest in the background. It looks like there is a bare white low spot there, according to what I see through a break, to the left of the arrow, in the line of bushes.

Actually, I guess I see two ovals, one in front and one in back...and a couple smaller ones. I just pointed out the most obvious one. And upon closer examination I see a small white line on the left going out of the biggest pond, which perhaps may be an entry point (I like to go down creeks into bogs if I can and that looks like a small flowing stream!).

Got a long way to wait before I can test it, though. And since that is shot with a zoom lens down a tall hill, one must consider the fact that if the vegetation doesn't grow in enough, trail-walkers might have an interesting view if one isn't careful.

Nessie



I hope that this meadow successfully yields some interesting spots for you this season! [/quote]

[Nessie]

Well, sedge mats are just something I'll have to cross when I come to them. I know that there have been layers to bogs I have crossed in the past, and that it is likely that the mats you're typing about are stronger than any I have yet encountered. If they are enough to get me stuck, that will be all the more interesting. (assuming I ever get to that spot on your picture, that is...)

The mats I walk on can be very springy...and they vary from feeling like solid ground to vanishing entirely.

Yes. Inside boinginess can be spots of nothing where water or mud peeks out.

Sinkholes! Whee!

Nessie

[bart1997]

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