Scouting Sinking Spots From The Sky

[MurphD]

Hey y'all! I've been interested in the scene for quite some time, but only recently has my search for local spots begun! I've spent many weekends of hiking through random trails and brush only to find that what looked great on google maps has long since dried up or was just a sandy-looking pile of rocks. However! I recently picked up a little video drone and this thing has been a gamechanger! On my first day of scouting with the drone I've picked up two potential leads...photos below. Hoping if nothing else I pick up a neat new hobby (and a new excuse as to why I'm leg deep in mud - looking for my lost drone!) Let me know if y'all think these are worth checking out on foot

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DELTA 1.png

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[Bird320]

That's awesome that is working out for you, but I think one of my biggest worries of going out mudding is random people flying drones and catching me so I'm not sure I support that hobby myself but what does my opinion matter.

Always wanted to take one and fly over quarries on the weekend though, good way to see what's up there.

[Boggy Man]

The place in the delta pics look like the best bet, with bottomless quicksand! But the steep dropoff into the deep water could be hazardous, if you sink too close to the edge, and the section you get stuck in slumps/collapses into the water, pulling you in with it. The November pics look like that area is rocky with just a thin, shallow layer of sediment on top in places.

[Black Clay Lord]

Those spots look amazing. Wish one of them were near my vicinity...

[Mynock]

The last three look promising, especially the last one. Note that the animal tracks all go toward the water but then turn back. Unlike us they knew better than to keep going.

[enerj29]

Those do look like good spots. What part of the world is this in?

I agree with one of the other comments - I'm not a fan of drones b/c they might spot me sinking or invade my privacy in some way, but it's a cool idea as a way to scout out more locations. Because we all know it can be quite an effort to make it out to some of those places.

[MurphD]

Those do look like good spots. What part of the world is this in?

I agree with one of the other comments - I'm not a fan of drones b/c they might spot me sinking or invade my privacy in some way, but it's a cool idea as a way to scout out more locations. Because we all know it can be quite an effort to make it out to some of those places.

Yeah, the "legal" area of drones is an interesting one! According to the FAA it seems like federal airspace begins as soon as you leave the ground...not to say someone constantly hovering a drone above another's house should be mad should something happen to their drone!

I am in the central Texas area. This is the only promising spot I've seen thus far, but alas it appears to be on (surveiled) private property... Perhaps I'll need to do some scouting in the Lake Travis area - I've heard further west with low lake levels some good areas open up!

[Raptor90]

I use my drone a lot for checking existing quarry conditions to see if its usable instead of hiking back for nothing Also comes in handy for scouting. There's a lot of stuff in life you're not really 'supposed' to do but whatever.

[MurphD]

Recently came across a neat little website that takes the search from the sky to space! I've tried to use Google Satellite view but due to images usually being months (if not years) out of date often came up dry. Sure enough, there is a free web browser with weekly-updated satellite photos...not just with pictures but also water/moisture data!!

Water View.png

https://dataspace.copernicus.eu/browser/

Maybe we can all pool our extra pennies together and get a satellite of our very own!