I decided I wanted to find myself a day spot, so I mapped out some creeks. The map handily shows me which creeks are good clay sites, so I checked a few of them out. One in particular caught my interest. Unfortunately, since it’s clay, it doesn’t drain very fast. I did, however, step in one unfortunate spot and immediately sank a good foot or so in… I’m gonna go back there later in the season, since I expect it will eventually start to dry up.
Another spot I found offered parking, and a short hike down the trail brought me to a nice field. I ventured into the field, wary I might be seen by the farmer who owns it… But nope, this is behind a hill. And when I walked to the lower corner, not only was I behind a hill, but I was also far enough from the trail to not be seen… The only problem was that it wasn’t wet enough. I’m marking it down so I can go back and investigate digging my own hole and letting it fill with water…
At the end of the trip, I found it to be kind of a waste. I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t get to really try anything out today. But it was still daylight so I decided to go back, once again, to the one spot that started all of this.
I get there to find the same pool I used last time I visited it but it was full of water. I started filling it in with the surrounding dirt and eventually ended up with a thin layer of water over at least 3 feet of clayey/silty mud (and some small stones, but not enough to wreck it)…
Then the sky cleared and the almost full moon was so bright it cast a shadow! It wasn’t the warmest out but I avoided the chills of death by staying dry as much as possible and adding a second shirt layer. Nice and bright, no mosquitos, and warm. Could it get any better?
I wasn’t entirely happy with the fact that I couldn’t get all the surface water out, but I decided to go ahead. Once I started mixing up the mud a bit the excess water started to get absorbed, and I had mud so deep and so perfectly thick… And the more I pushed down, the deeper it got. If there is a heaven, this was it! I really can’t begin to describe how awesome this was. More and more awesome the more I mixed it around. I had a hard time leaving it, and I will definitely return in a week to see if it’s settled down and is ready to mix up again.
And I can’t forget another stroke of ridiculously good fortune… In the 5 hours I was there, not a single interruption. No traffic, no parties, nothing. Not a single person saw me or my car nearby. I can’t wait to do this again!
