Another quicksand adventure
Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 3:25 pm
I thought I'd share my latest quicksand adventure with the group.
This past week I was heading home from a job in the Texas Panhandle. Along US 287 there's a crossing over the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. Usually there's a little mud and quicksand down there if the conditions are right, so I planned a quick stop.
My initial investigation of the area showed some small areas of mud and quicksand. I spent some time hiking upstream in the riverbed, and wading in the 93F (34C) degree water! It was such a nice day, that I kept going upstream for almost a full mile, before turning around and heading back. I wasn't finding much mud that was more than one foot (30 cm) deep or so.
On the way back I strolled along the south bank of the river. There I found some nice, creamy mud, but again it was not very deep. I was starting to get a bit bummed out! So I continued my hike back to the starting point.
After trying a few more spots, I decided to just rinse off in the river and change clothes and go home. But, after thoroughly rinsing off, and walking across the river bed back to my truck, I felt the ground starting to move around... A LOT!
Sure enough, I had located a VERY DEEP patch of quicksand! I stopped, and instantly plunged down to mid-stomach level! I'd been walking for almost two hours, and now that I was tired I finally found what I wanted. I wallowed for a few minutes, letting myself sink down to mid-chest level, and then decided to get out. That's when the problems began!
Anyone who has sank into actual quicksand knows that it's dangerous to stay still for more than a few seconds. Doing so risks the possibility of liquefaction stopping and the wet quicksand turning to an almost cement like substance. That's what happened to me! And what was worse was that I had no pole to push into the sand to open up air pockets, and nothing to help spread out my weight to make it easier to climb out. After all, in my mind I was finished with the playtime of the day and was ready to head home.
Thankfully I have been doing this for a long time (over 45 years!) and I know a thing or two about getting un-stuck from a mess like this. I also knew it was going to take a while and I'd likely be very tired afterward! So I started shaking my leg rapidly, stirring up what little water there was, and applying upward pressure to lift it out of the sand. When I got it up almost an inch (3 cm) I'd work on the other leg. This went on for about 45 minutes. finally I was out to a point where just my knees were still buried. However, I was completely exhausted! The last "umph" to get out took about 30 minutes. I just lay there on the sandbar, which had turned from quicksand into just a hard spot on the river, and rested for about 10 minutes. Then I got back to my feet, and walked the 500 feet (150 m) or so back across the river, washed off most of the sand, and changed back into my street clothes!
Don't get me wrong... I LOVE being trapped in the quicksand like that! The feeling of being totally encased and unable to move is wonderful to me. I had just wish that it would have happened two hours earlier! Being trapped like that after a long hike isn't nearly as enjoyable. But it was still a good day, and I had another great memory!
This past week I was heading home from a job in the Texas Panhandle. Along US 287 there's a crossing over the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River. Usually there's a little mud and quicksand down there if the conditions are right, so I planned a quick stop.
My initial investigation of the area showed some small areas of mud and quicksand. I spent some time hiking upstream in the riverbed, and wading in the 93F (34C) degree water! It was such a nice day, that I kept going upstream for almost a full mile, before turning around and heading back. I wasn't finding much mud that was more than one foot (30 cm) deep or so.
On the way back I strolled along the south bank of the river. There I found some nice, creamy mud, but again it was not very deep. I was starting to get a bit bummed out! So I continued my hike back to the starting point.
After trying a few more spots, I decided to just rinse off in the river and change clothes and go home. But, after thoroughly rinsing off, and walking across the river bed back to my truck, I felt the ground starting to move around... A LOT!
Sure enough, I had located a VERY DEEP patch of quicksand! I stopped, and instantly plunged down to mid-stomach level! I'd been walking for almost two hours, and now that I was tired I finally found what I wanted. I wallowed for a few minutes, letting myself sink down to mid-chest level, and then decided to get out. That's when the problems began!
Anyone who has sank into actual quicksand knows that it's dangerous to stay still for more than a few seconds. Doing so risks the possibility of liquefaction stopping and the wet quicksand turning to an almost cement like substance. That's what happened to me! And what was worse was that I had no pole to push into the sand to open up air pockets, and nothing to help spread out my weight to make it easier to climb out. After all, in my mind I was finished with the playtime of the day and was ready to head home.
Thankfully I have been doing this for a long time (over 45 years!) and I know a thing or two about getting un-stuck from a mess like this. I also knew it was going to take a while and I'd likely be very tired afterward! So I started shaking my leg rapidly, stirring up what little water there was, and applying upward pressure to lift it out of the sand. When I got it up almost an inch (3 cm) I'd work on the other leg. This went on for about 45 minutes. finally I was out to a point where just my knees were still buried. However, I was completely exhausted! The last "umph" to get out took about 30 minutes. I just lay there on the sandbar, which had turned from quicksand into just a hard spot on the river, and rested for about 10 minutes. Then I got back to my feet, and walked the 500 feet (150 m) or so back across the river, washed off most of the sand, and changed back into my street clothes!
Don't get me wrong... I LOVE being trapped in the quicksand like that! The feeling of being totally encased and unable to move is wonderful to me. I had just wish that it would have happened two hours earlier! Being trapped like that after a long hike isn't nearly as enjoyable. But it was still a good day, and I had another great memory!
