Swallowed Up
Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:58 pm
I work in the Alberta Oilsands in Ft.McMurray Alberta and today on the way from Edmonton to Ft McMurray I dicided to check out some of the enormous swamps that line Hwy 63. Well let me tell you that the ground was as hungry for me and my wife as the world is for the oil that we extract everyday. We pulled off the hwy and drove a bit on a logging road to a large expanse of muskeg . My wife went in first and was immediatly sucked in up to her breasts. To My surprise she asked me To ahem unzip and Well... proceeded To Well you get the drift... I stepped in and started to sink immediately my wife got as deep as her chin and i was struggling not push her under. Well our camera we brought was slightly water damaged but im confidnt can repair it and show u all pictures... in the end, my wife submerged and so did i we were both tied off To the truck via 30meters of rope took 3hours To get out and clean... what a day i tell i. nice way To start the week would you say?
You can see a picture of a small one and a MegaUpload link to my video of me exploring it, "inside" 
In fact, it likely wouldn't have existed if they hadn't dug that peaty area up to lay in a pipeline (which was abandoned, probably due to the soft conditions), and then covered it back up with the peat, resulting in a quagmire in that one low wet, peaty spot! But, it also had the effect of the mire being full of sticks from the trees that were also dug up, although some spots had fewer, and were therefore more enjoyable/sinkable, like the one in the video. I had previously found another similar spot southeast of Edson where another pipeline was buried, where I stood in the edge of a tuft of grass beside the bare peaty ground, and the ground started giving way beneath my feet, getting my shoes wet and making a very nice long sucking sound!