Finally found some...sort of.
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:50 am
I have posted a couple times looking for quicksand locations and have been going out to many different locations. Some over two and a half hours away to find nothing. I live right next to a decent sized forest preserve but since I live next to it I have been there quite a few times, but never looking for quicksand. I thought, what the heck I'll go and check the park right next to my house. I could not believe it when I found the most promising area of any area I've been. And this whole time, after exploring everywhere, right next to my house.
Well it was the most promising area but it was not in fact quicksand. The park is along a river and splitting off that river, through the park, is a long creek that curves and bends and twists A LOT. At the widest area of the creek closest to the river I found a large flat area of mud going across half of the creek. I didn't know if this is because the water had just dried up there or what, but I didn't care. Sadly this area is right along the hiking path and the park is pretty populated. So I came back later that night. It was the deepest mud I'd found but only thigh deep. Still my heart was racing and I messed around simply because I was happy that I at least found this. As happy as I was, it was almost a curse as well. Before I went to the area at night, the moment I stepped out of my car it began pouring rain and it has rained for four days straight. When the rain started I heard it was going to be a long storm so I thought I should explore the area before it's flooded.
I came back two days later. This time I found some rubber fishing pants so cleanup wouldn't be a hassle. I was correct, the area had flooded and now the creek was much deeper. I decided to keep exploring along this creek and found a second promising area. This area was along the shore of the creek. I tested it with my walking stick and my walking stick sank all the way to the handle. (My walking stick is over 3 feet long) This area was much better than the first but still not the quicksand I was looking for. It was in fact past my waist but only after a lot of work. You see the mud in this area, as was the mud in the first area is only so deep, after that it becomes thick sand. Eventually in this new area my feet touched the sand as I was thigh deep. So I decided to make it deeper by creating a on the spot, makeshit mud pit.
I pointed my feet downwards and began twisting them and moving them up and down. This help to get me a little deeper into the sand but it was still to thick. Then I had an idea. Since I was next to the creed I decided to create a little depression to let some of the creek water into the spot I was sinking. Then I built a little damn out of mud to stop any more water. I got in and out of the pit so the water would be able to get to the sand under the mud. It worked. The sand started to loosen and I was able to sink past my waist. The water had also diluted the mud to make it really easy to sink. I tried some different things to get deeper such as sitting down in the mud pit, going in with my knees bent and pointed downwards. This helped me to sink to my shoulders but I was technically cheating because I was either kneeling or sitting. Also, when I reached my shoulders, I was not yet even close to the spot I could sink no deeper yet it was impossible for me to get deeper, even after trying to pull myself down. I assumed at this point that I had become buoyant and could not go any deeper.
When I explored this second spot it was still raining so the entire park was empty. I know nobody probably cares but I just thought I'd share my story. Also, I am not going to mark this spot on the google map that everyone is contributing to since it is only waist deep and I don't think anyone should waist their time with mud so shallow. The reason I decided to finally try and explore the park next to my house is because I had run out of places to explore everywhere else. However, just recently I found a dozen new areas to explore that are about an hour away. I am going to spend as much of next week as possible checking them out and if I find anything I will be sure to mark it on the google quicksand map.
Well it was the most promising area but it was not in fact quicksand. The park is along a river and splitting off that river, through the park, is a long creek that curves and bends and twists A LOT. At the widest area of the creek closest to the river I found a large flat area of mud going across half of the creek. I didn't know if this is because the water had just dried up there or what, but I didn't care. Sadly this area is right along the hiking path and the park is pretty populated. So I came back later that night. It was the deepest mud I'd found but only thigh deep. Still my heart was racing and I messed around simply because I was happy that I at least found this. As happy as I was, it was almost a curse as well. Before I went to the area at night, the moment I stepped out of my car it began pouring rain and it has rained for four days straight. When the rain started I heard it was going to be a long storm so I thought I should explore the area before it's flooded.
I came back two days later. This time I found some rubber fishing pants so cleanup wouldn't be a hassle. I was correct, the area had flooded and now the creek was much deeper. I decided to keep exploring along this creek and found a second promising area. This area was along the shore of the creek. I tested it with my walking stick and my walking stick sank all the way to the handle. (My walking stick is over 3 feet long) This area was much better than the first but still not the quicksand I was looking for. It was in fact past my waist but only after a lot of work. You see the mud in this area, as was the mud in the first area is only so deep, after that it becomes thick sand. Eventually in this new area my feet touched the sand as I was thigh deep. So I decided to make it deeper by creating a on the spot, makeshit mud pit.
I pointed my feet downwards and began twisting them and moving them up and down. This help to get me a little deeper into the sand but it was still to thick. Then I had an idea. Since I was next to the creed I decided to create a little depression to let some of the creek water into the spot I was sinking. Then I built a little damn out of mud to stop any more water. I got in and out of the pit so the water would be able to get to the sand under the mud. It worked. The sand started to loosen and I was able to sink past my waist. The water had also diluted the mud to make it really easy to sink. I tried some different things to get deeper such as sitting down in the mud pit, going in with my knees bent and pointed downwards. This helped me to sink to my shoulders but I was technically cheating because I was either kneeling or sitting. Also, when I reached my shoulders, I was not yet even close to the spot I could sink no deeper yet it was impossible for me to get deeper, even after trying to pull myself down. I assumed at this point that I had become buoyant and could not go any deeper.
When I explored this second spot it was still raining so the entire park was empty. I know nobody probably cares but I just thought I'd share my story. Also, I am not going to mark this spot on the google map that everyone is contributing to since it is only waist deep and I don't think anyone should waist their time with mud so shallow. The reason I decided to finally try and explore the park next to my house is because I had run out of places to explore everywhere else. However, just recently I found a dozen new areas to explore that are about an hour away. I am going to spend as much of next week as possible checking them out and if I find anything I will be sure to mark it on the google quicksand map.