Quicksand Fans

Also where were you when it happened and what were you doing.

I posted a more exciting experience on the adjacent thread, but the most stuck I’ve been was much more mundane. I was exploring as a teenager along a stream in southern Rhode Island. The bank was muddy with what seemed like a mixture of clay in the soil. It was very dense and wet, and when I walked on it, the surface undulated kind of like a waterbed. At one point, my bare feet broke through a surface crust and I sank in to my knees. Since the whole purpose of my search was to find such a location, I went with it and pumped my legs up and down. I settled in sunk high to my thighs, kind of an adrenaline rush for me.

Now the somewhat scary part, at the time. This stuff was so dense and thick that I couldn’t just pull my legs up and out. Using what I had read about quicksand, I started leaning backwards. Very gradually, reaching down with my hands and pulling at my thighs, I managed to slowly extricate myself. It took 5 to 10 minutes of effort to get out, and I felt relieved that I had dodged a bullet. I know now that you can’t really keep sinking forever, but I was much less sure of that then. I got a little more careful after that, since I was always out alone (of course I thought I was the only one in the world with such a strange turn-on interest).

That experience made me think that some of the quicksand myth of getting totally stuck might actually have some truth behind it. If I had been, say, chest-deep, I’m not sure I could have gotten out by myself. I know everyone here says don’t go sinking alone - probably good advice.

Where I grew up there was a lot of farms and plenty of mud around to wallow in, near a farm was a gully for rain water to run off it was full of soft mud, I only know this because I had visited it a few times but never went in. well this one time I felt brave and poked it with a stick it didn't seem deep but I know now I had been poking the side and not aiming towards the middle.

Well at the time I was a twenty something in slim jeans and a shirt and trainers, Oh what the hell and I jumped in and well! well I found the bottom as I was stood flat on the bottom with only my mouth and nose poking up, the soft mud was sloppy and I had to bounce up on to tip toes to look around for a ladder or means of escape. I noticed a series of steps and slowly made my way over to them in order to climb out.

In total it took 10 to 15 minutes but i did dunk myself a few times just for the fun of it, climbing out wasn't easy I think I had my foot caught on something and I had to wiggle my foot around a few times in the end I took a deep breath and went under and found my trainer had got caught on a nail attached to a wooden bit of wood. I was able to free it and climb out.

I later went back but stupidly took a mate we both dived in and got full on messy, sadly he later returned to the location with friends and made a bit of noise that alerted the farmer who later back filled it with wood chippings. Thankfully since then I've never shared my hidden gem locations