One week after my first bikeride/sink of the season, I was ready to return again! In the meantime, we had 2 days of cool showery weather (possible setback to the dropping weather levels?)
amongst 4 days of sunny warm weather that would continue to drop water levels, with the sunshine and heat to continue on! 
Thursday, July 15'th was a convenient time to go, because my dad needed some logs for constructing a swing set for my nephew and niece. So, after he gave me a lift into the mountains, and I helped him haul the logs he cut out of the bush and into the truck, I was on my way.My first destination was the Edwin Lakes area pond, to check on its status, and grab a junk sweater I had used there to help keep me warm while mud loosening there, and take that sweater with me to the Crescent Road pond for insulating me while I loosened the mud there. But, I didn't want to wear it normally, since too much mud would stick to it, and I needed to conserve the mud as much as possible. Instead, I wanted to wear it on my head and put a plastic bag over everything, to keep my head warm if I was to submerge myself during the mud loosening. But, before I planned on loosening the mud at the Crescent Road pond, I wanted to try making another video, this time with better conditions than last time, since water levels had been dropping in the dry weather.
Because of the area my dad chose to cut the logs, I accessed the Edwin Lakes area pond from the backside, but had taken the wrong road. I figured that something was wrong when a marshy meadow to the left of the road after a northward bend was too small and had only a little bit of water in the center. I knew that the marshy boggy meadow had a lot more water than that. After I verified that none of the turns led to the right location, I backtracked and found the correct road.
At the Edwin Lakes area pond area, I checked a smaller pond to the west, that was choked with yellow waterlilies. Just as I had thought, the water was high, although a tiny bit of clay mud was exposed on the north shore, but it was only an inch or so deep, with cattle hoofprints. The main pond itself had water so high that I couldn't follow its west side along the meadow, because it was too wet. But, it looked like it was a couple of inches higher before, so because it had been around a couple of weeks since the wet weather came to an end, it looked like it had been dropping at a rate of around an inch a week. On the east side, the sinking spot was under around 5 inches of water, likely so far under from being compressed during the dry weather last year, and no mud loosening sessions this year due to the cold wet spring and me focusing on my Crescent Road pond instead. There was a clump of bur reed growing on the north side of the submerged sinking spot, but those plants are soft, easy to remove, and don't create impenetrable mats. Between the sinking spot and the pond was a patch of mud exposed, which I knew was only a foot or so deep, with a sandy bottom that was actually an impenetrable layer deposited on top of the mud there. The first picture at the bottom is of that small patch of mud.
I retrieved the sweater, and headed to the Crescent Road pond. The water there was still high, but looked like it had dropped a little since last time (close to 3/4 of an inch perhaps), which seemed a little encouraging.
But, wouldn't you know it, my plans for a new sinking video were dashed, when I discovered that my sinking spot was still underwater! The ground around the sinking spot was definitely higher above the water in places (west, north and some of the east), and the submerged parts had less water over it (south side), so things were improving , but not enough. So, I got to work, loosening the mud in the sinking spot, finding that gusty winds were making me a bit uncomfortable. At least the air was warm. I stuck to the edges, starting on the west or northwest side, and worked my way around the hole in a counterclockwise fashion, mixing the thickest stuff on the sides with the looser stuff and water. At first, it felt cooler with the waterier mud on top, but as I mixed the thicker stuff with it, the mud got progressively thicker, and I felt much more comfortable. In fact, the only part of me that felt cold was where wet skin was exposed to the air, while the submerged parts felt nice.
But, the sun went behind a band of clouds during the latter part of my loosening, which increased the discomfort a bit. Once I got all the way around the edge, making it loosened to my chest all the way around, I finally worked my way around the center of the bog, mushing it up and enjoying the feel of nothing solid around me or beneath me, and having nothing solid to hold onto to help me move around in it. It was originally stiffer around the edges and softer in the center, but after i was finished with it, it was softer around the edges and thicker/gooeyer around the center! When I started the mud loosening, the water was all around me when I was in it. But, by the time I was finished, it was all exposed mud over the majority of the patch, with water being mostly around the edges. But, once I got out, water streamed over again, but only from the south side, as opposed to the west, north and south sides last time, after my video. But, I took a picture of the patch of mire before it got fully covered with water, and it is the second picture below. I had spent around 3 hours chest deep in the mud (no submersions), loosening it, a nice way to spend an afternoon. After cleaning up, drying off, getting dressed, hiding the sweater to the north of the area, and was leaving, the sun was back out again! For a sunny day, the sun *had* to go behind clouds only during the latter part of my mud loosening, with sunshine the rest of the time!
At least the mud is loosened deeper and thickened, with less water on top than when I started, so I hope that the water is gone by the time I return! But, as I was leaving, I suddenly realized that if I had jumped on the grass around the sinking spot just right, I could have forced mud from beneath the grass to move into the sinking spot, forcing it higher, and perhaps above the water! Vernon hit 32.6˚C or 91˚F, which was plenty warm in the valley, while the Elkhart Lodge, a high elevation area between the Okanagan valley and the west coast, a gauge for high elevation temperatures, hit 23˚C, or 73.4˚F, reasonably nice, but not really hot. The previous day was warmer in the higher elevations, but it was just after the two cooler showery days, and I wanted to give some time for the sun to warm things up and dry things out.
So, I will be looking at the end of the week for my next bikeride, and with all the hot, dry weather, this time without any cool rainy/showery days in between, the drop in water levels should be noticeable!
