Squishy Mess • Page 16 of 17

Mush

I checked out the creek. There’s still way too much water, but I did find a spot where there was some exposed ground and relatively shallow water around it. It was very soft. Mostly clay, some silt. Very sticky!

Clay has this property called plasticity. When mixed with water it has almost no texture. It takes a while to get thinned out because it’s a bit slow at absorbing the water… I didn’t want to be there all day because there’s nowhere to park without blocking part of the road.

Then I get stopped by a lonely cop on the way home… I guess there was a party nearby and he was checking for drunken idiots. He was very polite and didn’t give me a hard time, so all is well.

I’m mapping out other places that are fed from the same river as this creek is. There’s some crown land I can get to and some other less-populated dirt roads nearby to check out. Yay!

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Moar!

This summer has to be by far one of the coolest I’ve ever seen. Nevertheless I’ve managed to have a few outings in the last couple weeks. Most notably is 4 separate visits to the Sticky Hole of Solitude.

I love how this hole never really dries out even weeks after use. On the last trip I brought nearly 40 litres of water from home just to be safe. After squishing around for nearly 2 hours I only needed about half of it. I’m getting more confident no one’s noticed my presence yet… I’ve been lucky enough to have rain within 24 hours of each visit while not actually getting rained on while I was there. It does a great job of washing away any traces of my footprints, especially after the last visit where I had to make 4 trips back and forth to the car with jugs of water 🙂

The grass/weeds is/are have grown so high now that the pit and the trails I’ve made to various hiding places is completely concealed from the road and I’ve seen no evidence that anyone else has been there. I’ve got sort of a schedule I follow now… Arrive at midnight, and get all my stuff ready. Start poking around the pit to see what shape it’s in and start to dig it up a bit with a pitchfork… I’m very aware of my surroundings at that point because I’ve seen the occasional truck drive in… By 2am I stick my feet in and by 3am I’ve got it all mixed up and ready to rock… By 4 it’s starting to get bright enough to see without lights which makes cleanup time much easier. By 5am I’m on my way home…

I’ve also returned to another place I found 2 years ago… Back then I was much more timid and never took the time to actually explore or enjoy the place. Last summer it was completely flooded all year. This year it hasn’t flooded so far… The more the water level drops, the more earthy stuff is exposed. There are some creeks that drain into it and they are starting to dry up too. In their place is some very deep kinda peaty stuff. It’s not as sticky as the Great Hole but it’s really soft and there’s almost not enough texture to it… Nevertheless… The creeks carry fine particulates from somewhere I haven’t explored yet, and it mixes with the peaty stuff. The result is very deep, very soft, without the awful stink of some other similar spots I’ve found. Even though the road it’s beside has a bit more traffic, I can use that spot earlier in the evening when there’s still some light since the tall plants bordering it make it difficult to see when you’re driving by.

There’s also a few places a bit further in the bush where some patches of grass have grown but under it is still soft. These places are the perfect day spot because you can’t see the road at all. I plan to spend an afternoon there when the sun is out and it’s a bit warmer. If I can find a spot where the creek is still trickling I should be able to mix the saturated stuff under it when the less saturated stuff and make a large deep gooey mess. I stuck my foot in one area and sank almost to my waist, although it was too saturated to enjoy. Yeah it’s gonna be sweet!

And… One more area I want to explore this year. I’ve checked it out briefly before but the creek was still too deep. What’s so exciting about this place? It’s clay and silt. Only clay and silt. So much so that the only thing that grows there has a hard time prospering and there are lots of places where nothing has grown at all. I visited there earlier this year and stepped in the wrong place and sank my foot into grey clay and silt. Checking the map again I see these creeks are carrying silty clayey water from a nearby lake. In mass quantities. I’m betting this has been happening long enough that if I stomped around a bit I would end up with a nearly bottomless pit of fun. The only problem is this clayey silty creek forks off all over the place. It’ll take a while to find ‘the’ spot… There’s also more houses and farms around than I’d like, but most of the fields that have been planted have already grown several feet high… There is the possibly of finding another day spot, which I’d kinda prefer, especially in an area with some traffic, as a lone vehicle parked along the side of the road isn’t nearly as suspicious.

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Burning dinosaurs.

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!

More deep and sticky!

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Am I being too risky?

The swampy spot I mentioned in the last post. I stopped there again. There’s a field you can walk through and get to a nice gooey black pond that’s just starting to dry up. It’s near enough the road I can see if someone comes, yet far enough away that they most likely won’t see me if it’s dark.

I also went back to check on the trail truck bog. It’s losing water off the surface but it’s still mushy and deep. It was late and getting dark, so I stopped to enjoy it briefly. Do the usual wander around making sure I’m safe routine, start to settle in… And then? Headlights. You gotta be kidding me. It’s dark out and noone’s around because it’s a work night. Oh except for these losers, who decide to park just across the trail overlooking my mud hole and hang around for maybe a half hour or so. I’m muddy and shivering cold again lying in a water puddle in the bush too afraid to move a muscle.

It wasn’t so scary that some guys showed up. Once over the initial shock I start thinking things like ‘I wonder if he’s looking for me and more of them are gonna show up’ and finally ‘maybe they’ll drive around in this mud pit’ – The latter would actually have been desirable despite the wetness-chill! The real problem is the fact that they showed up. The constant paranoia I feel while I’m visiting various locations is killing much of the fun. And the fact that this paranoia is justified is troubling.

The problem is aggravated further by what I believe to be parking way too close to the place I’m using. This adds the additional are-they-specifically-looking-for-me layer. I can easily overcome that by making sure I’m a half hour walk away at least. If someone does come looking for me they have a much wider search area and might even give up earlier or just not care.

Out of the three holes I’ve actually used this year, the best one in terms of interruptions was back in a field behind a hill. While the paranoia was there to begin with, it subsided once I became familiar with the local sounds. In this case, the field won’t stay muddy for long, but I got the idea right. Find a spot I can get to easily and during daylight hours that is out of the view of the main road. If you want to stake it out a bit you can even!

I prefer to avoid private land. Public land is public and the public and I don’t agree on what is considered proper land use. This leads to unavoidable instances where people visit me unexpectedly and they are happening significantly more frequently than I would prefer. But these seem to be the awesome spots! I’m considering actually digging a hole at the sticky clay/silt site. There’s good hiding spots there and it’s not too frequently traveled. The topsoil is thin and it’s silty/clayey underneath (with a few stones that won’t be a huge problem). But it begs the question:

Am I being too risky?

… On the other hand. I know there’s a man made gushy mud hole an hour drive from here… On private property… Another 6400 km² section to check out but I have my doubts.

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Happiness is a warm mud bog!

Today started off with a simple goal. Go to the spot I marked on the map and see what I find there.

I found a mud bog. A deep, freshly ground mud bog. A large brown fun hole. Made fresh for me by some kid in a big truck.

When I arrived at the place, I could hear from a distance a very loud truck. It was the obvious sound of someone trying to kill his truck by driving it through the deepest mud hole he could find. I thought he was destroying the trail. So I went away and got some wonderful wonderful coffee.

About an hour later, I started to make my way back to the hole. Sure enough, halfway there I see this half ton with big knobby tires completely covered with half-dried mud. Queue increased heart rate, folks! When I got back to the hole, I saw the following…

Oh wow. Where do I start?! After walk around the perimeter and taking a few sheepish romps through the middle, I found a spot I liked. It was almost knee deep and because it was fresh there was no layer of boring water on top of it.

Needless to say, this spot was a lot of fun. Deepest spot I’ve found around here yet. The only downside is it’s a bit gritty… But there is a percentage of clay/silt sized goodness… This particular spot is in full view of the trail so although it’s a bit riskier than I like, the trail isn’t frequented by low-noise walkers… And I can hear ATVs and trucks coming with plenty of time to run and hide. I think I’m gonna head back there in a week or two and see what happens when it settles a bit.

A side note: I checked out the mud racing spot after the event ended. It’s a bit too close to civilization for my liking. I may visit it anyway in the future, but at this point it’s not likely to happen before it gets dry and crusty.

So, my next adventure? On my way to today’s bogger delight, I happened to take an internet-suggested route. I hadn’t been this way before. As I’m driving along la-dee-da, I drove by this little place… It’s a bit more swampy than I like… But it looks like it might be fun, if not somewhat stinky… I can live with that.

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shiver

Well, I went back to my favourite mud hole.

I wanted to try out a new camera so I can stop risking my expensive DSLR to take photos of mud holes. Unfortunately, the alternate camera took such shoddy quality photos they’re not worth retouching and posting, so I don’t have a photo for this post 🙁

The evening started off relatively OK. I got to the hole a little bit early, it was still light outside but getting dark fast… It seemed there was a party happening a little way down the trail… I had to run to shelter several times. I stomped around a bit looking for soft spots, and at one point stepped in a skidder tire rut that was full of water and my foot sunk almost 2 feet into the muddy bottom and could have gone farther still with some work… Well this is great, but there’s too much water… Since I wasn’t comfortable getting started at that point, I devised a plan…

Basically, I started filling in the water hole with dirt from the surrounding area. After hiding from traffic a half dozen times and picking out rocks for 2 hours, what I ended up with was nearly 4 feet of the stickiest, ooziest mud I’d ever had the joy of working with! Future note: Carry a shovel.

Then it started to rain.

It took another hour before I was comfortable enough to relax in my newly crafted mud pool. By this time I was thoroughly soaked and the temperature had dropped noticeably… But I oozed in almost up to my hips and was glad to find it got warmer the deeper I went…

This little oasis remains my current #1 favourite mud park. The guy who’s logging the area drives a skidder around making giant ruts and holes all over the place, and the ground is still saturated from the spring melt. Once you get past the first half foot or so, the soil contains a good concentration of oozy clay mixed with some silty stuff and just a hint of sand…

By the time I got really into it, I was so thoroughly soaked and chilled that even the warm gooey center of the hole wasn’t enough to stop me from shivering the entire time. Hopefully it’ll get warmer soon!

The good news is that with the ground as soppy wet as it is, this hole should remain deep and squishy for at least a month or two, which means I can go back in a few weeks when the evenings are warmer and less rainy. The bad news is that enough people saw my vehicle parked a short walk down the road that I can’t risk them noticing my muddy footprints all over the property and putting two + two together… So I need to park somewhere else and make it a full day journey, which is going to require some planning. Stay tuned!

Also for next time, I will need to bring a shovel. There are some spots that aren’t so terribly close to the road/trail. I’d love to visit the spot during daylight hours when it’s warmest, and not have to worry about hiding all the time. (I came pretty close to getting nailed this time when I didn’t notice headlights coming down the road until it was almost too late.)

Next weekend I have the opportunity to explore a mud pit left behind from a day of mud racing. This particular event allows agricultural tires which have deep wide threads and, by design, really chew through mud. This will be a new experience for me. I’m imagining very deep, very thick slop, but I really have no point of reference, so it should be interesting!

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First mud of 2014!

Finally! I’ve never felt so much anticipation for such a brief event in my entire life!

That being said, this particular excursion won’t be winning any awards. The field I stopped at just wasn’t secluded enough, and while it was on a relatively quiet road, the fact that visited during daylight hours combined with some traffic, sent me scurrying to another spot.

As luck would have it, there was another adjacent field just a short hop through the bush away. This field had some hill to it so I was able to find a hole that couldn’t be seen from the road. Yeah, this was much better, but still led to today’s lesson: Corn fields don’t make the best mud holes. I only managed to get down about 10 inches and it was polluted with corn husks and chewed-clean cobs. Definitely not award-winning.

On the way home I detoured past one of last year’s best finds. It was dark when I got there, and my flashlight sucks, but it was enough to let me know that the huge pile of wood I hid behind last year was gone… So how should I go about this one? The hiding spot is gone, but in it’s place is a good sized area where no grass grew because of the huge pile of wood… The little hole I used before is completely full of water, and the surrounding area is saturated… I left 2″ footprints without even getting close to the former woodpile… I left, filled with a renewed sense of anticipation. Guess where I’m going tomorrow! 🙂

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I love deals!

Oh beauty! I just scored my (current) favourite shorts for $5 a pair ( 30% off!). Now I’m not one to ramble on about every little deal… But in this instance I’m just really happy because it’s great money and I’m so lucky that the only size they have left just happens to be the one I want. So much bonus!

These shorts are 87% Nylon, 13% Spandex, and relatively heavy material so they’ve been through easily a dozen sessions and haven’t acquired a single puncture or tear… They still look almost new! This is by far the best fabric for my tastes because of it’s smooth stretchy texture and these particular shorts are most awesomely snug around the crotch and waist!

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Happy Pi Day!

I love Pi Day.

From WikiPedia: “Pi Day is an annual celebration commemorating the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (or 3/14 in the month/day date format), since 3, 1, and 4 are the three most significant digits of π in the decimal form. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi Day.”

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Googling Myself

On this boring, frigid Saturday afternoon I find myself bored enough to search the Google for my user name…

For reasons I can’t quite understand, Google Images returns photos of all sorts of people… None of whom are me… There is but one Squishbob Mudpants, and he doesn’t post any personal photos online. He’s way too fugly and shy for that!

this-blobfish-was-just-voted-the-worlds-ugliest-animal-jpg

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