Squishy Mess • Page 8 of 17

Wow flood!

I decided to spend a nice warm sunny afternoon wandering around looking for some mud. I did find some. It’s still pretty chilled and the spot wasn’t deep, but it still felt great to mush it around with my feet a bit.

I can’t get anywhere near any of my happy fun spots, though. The water level is easily 2 feet above normal due to the spring melt. There is a little bit of snow left in small patches, but it’s mostly gone and I can tell the ground is thawing pretty well. But, it looks like I have a good couple of weeks before either of last year’s mud pits re-emerge. I’m actually pretty amazed at the extent of the flooding. It looks like the water level is still rising, but is slowing down a bit. I’m guessing 2 weeks or so before the water drops enough that I can access the fun swampy areas I like to explore.

And, of course, the squirrels and snakes and mosquitoes and deer are all very busy now. I killed my first mosquito of the year! I saw quite a few small garter snakes, and I hope they don’t eat all the mosquito-eating amphibians before they have a chance to eat all the mosquitoes before they have a chance to breed and breed and breed!!!

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Puuuuuuuuuussssshhhh!

C’mon mother nature, birth us some spring weather already!

This whole upcoming week looks like winter still! I am really happy to see the sunshine today. And it’s warm enough to go outside for a few minutes without massive shivering. But really? 24 hours of snow starting tonight, then cloudy, then more snow and rain and freezing rain and ice pellets round out today’s long-range forecasts… I see daytime temperatures above 0, which is at least a bit comforting… But we need hardcore sunlight to melt this hardcore snow pack.

The crap winter we had here made for very packed snow and even the last few days of warm weather isn’t melting it very fast. The popular weather services seem to agree that we won’t really see a real spring before May… So I suppose I have another entire month of whining and complaining before I can get down and dirty in some relatively thawed muddy mud holes.

The good news, at least for the time being, is that I’ve found some nice GPS tools to use… For anyone curious what my hiking setup looks like, keep reading! Continue reading →

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Spring is here!

Yes, it is here, or so astronomy says. We’ve had a few nice warm sunny days to usher in the new season, but it’s about to get chilly again…

This latest bit of warmth is helping the snow to melt pretty good. Not too fast, not too slow. The ground is still frozen solid, but at least the sunshine will help that along too.

I’ve been going through this weird sort of emotional turmoil the last few days. Continue reading →

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Adding spring to spring steps

On this fine boring day, I’m excited. This year I am itching to get out, so I am considering heading out as soon as the snow is gone, and starting to hike around off-trail looking for interesting holes to visit later in the year.

One thing that springs to mind that ends up taking a lot of weight is battery powered crap. Up until last year I mostly went to the mud holes at night because of their locations. But last year, and I suspect this year also, I have day spots handy. So 3 lights are now unnecessary. The only battery powered things I have now are my little dinky camera and the mosquito chaser-awayer. For now since I don’t have fuel for the mosquito repeller, I’m going to not carry that either. It’ll be a few months before the bugs are out in force anyway.

I’ve gone to Wallyworld and bought me some new water shoes. I think they’re the same ones I had before. I remember because they didn’t seem to come up high enough at the back of the heel… But they did the trick anyway, and for $10 they are a few dollars cheaper than the Canadian Tire version. I hope I don’t lose them during the first week of the mud season like I did last year. 🙂

Even more good news this week, as most of the major weather services have predicted we’ll get off to a pretty warm start this spring. Although there are signs that ground won’t actually be thawed out until a few weeks later than last year…

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Shopping list for 2017

Once again, being broke isn’t going to stop me from buying stuff!

This year I’m expending great effort to ‘get it together’. That being said, the following items are high priority for this summer:

Water shoes! Last year I lost mine somewhere around here and, although I went back there looking for them, I couldn’t find them…
Camo! Yes, I want some camouflage. This means at least a new backpack and some sort of camo netting to hide my stuff better… Don’t know where the backpack will come from, but I think I can find camo net at an army surplus place…
Better zentai! Although I don’t really need full zentai, I do need a tightly fitting suit with hands and feet. I like the idea of not having a zipper to break, although the front zipper I have now lets me selectively mud the inside of the suit…
Binoculars! Yeah I want to start scanning sites for trail cams. They seem pretty popular, and although I’ve never actually encountered one, I would feel safer if I at least tried to spot them before they spot me…
A fucking rake! Or something I can use to remove the top layer (grass, weeds, leaves, sticks, etc)… This is definitely not the most important thing, but I can’t imagine a small rake would cost too much.

Of course, I can’t actually afford any of these things, which may present a problem. I’ve been thinking of starting a fund to save up some cash, but when I find myself quoting $250 custom-ordered suits, and remembering how past attempts at saving worked out, I find it pretty tough to be optimistic.

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Melting early, huh.

It’s not even the end of February yet and I’ve noticed that the snow is melting pretty fast. If the warm temperatures we’re having continue, I might be in the mud earlier than usual this year.

I can’t wait to get back to the Creeky Bog this spring. I keep thinking about how nice and deep it was, and how every time I visited it, it was deeper than the last. 🙂 I also remember making some pretty deep footprints before I even reached the hole itself, so I’m expecting to spend some time this spring just mushing around in the bush.

I have to remember to keep away from the trails that go through the area. I don’t want to bring any attention to having been there, especially if it’s going to be my main play area again this year. I also am still considering getting a camo suit… But given my finances, I think I’m going to use my main suit for another year. I can’t seem to destroy this suit, no matter how hard I try. Hooray for these durable nylon-spandex blends!

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Get Hard!

I can’t stop laughing at the “Get Hard” segment of this MXC episode… Feel free to watch it below, or click here to skip to the segment I’m talking about.

I have to admit, I avoid attending events that feature mud in any way, like mud runs or mud racing events… I’m not sure why… Some day I might change my mind about this, tho, as mud racing and such things are becoming more popular and widespread… And I can’t help noticing that these trucks make for some really excellent mud! 🙂

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November Schnovember!

Wow I’ve actually been in the mud 3 times this month already! While the air has been nice and warm, the mud itself has been pretty cold, almost to the point of numbness. But that hasn’t stopped me from venturing waist deep in the stuff. The spot I’ve been playing in is the lighter shade of grey along the right side of the photo below. There’s even more exposed mud there now, and the spot is getting a little bit bigger, and a little less watery, but just as deep and squishy as when I first discovered it.

I really want to get down into it a bit more… Crawling around in it feels so wonderful and every time I plunge my arms into it I get a wonderful feeling, even if it’s a bit on the chilly side. Unfortunately, I’m encumbered by the fact that this is someone else’s land, and hunting season is in full swing. This is always on my mind as I’m squishing around. Eventually, I forget about it all tho. I’ve even found a nearby patch of trees that I can retreat to should I suspect a visitor nearby. It’s hard to tell what’s what since the crinkly leaves make pretty similar noise whether it’s a squirrel digging around or a bird digging around or a human walking around… I’m really, really, really looking forward to visiting this place next year when it’s still warm.

I’m betting the property owner is this kind of person who goes to bed at like 8pm… So it would be really nice to visit it in the evening and be able to play around there for more than 10 minutes… But, golly, it’s going to be a long, hard winter waiting for another chance to experience this spot, and even then it’ll be next autumn by the time the water level is low enough to expose that all. The good news is I’ve been picking out as many sticks and branches as I can and

And even if I leave town to live somewhere else, I can always come back here. There’s lots of places to park my wheels and still have a reasonable distance to hike. Yeah. This winter is going to be difficult!

I was very tempted to check out Truck Hole Trail, but I was stopped cold by a lack of funds… I might still try to visit it just to see how much fun the mudder trucks had with it this summer, but again it’s getting a bit too cold for playing.

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Shiny and grey!

I love the shiny grey color that this year’s mud holes have had. It’s obvious this area is rich in Leda clay, which isn’t a surprise really. Even the muck that makes up Creeky Bog has a notable grey color once you get through the brown organic layer. I don’t know why I like this shiny grey so much, but to me it’s synonymous with the smooth squishy consistency I’ve come to love so much!

My happy fun suit has been remarkably durable. Although the cheapy cheap zippers broke, and there’s a few holes in the feet, the remainder of the suit hasn’t suffered a single tear along any of the seams or otherwise… And it’s still tight. But I can’t wait to have enough disposable dollars put aside to order a better fitting one from Fets-Fash. Remember, folks, inseam length is important! I need the suit to stay snug around the crotch despite the mud sucking my legs ever deeper.

Given the theme of this post, perhaps this one will be nice? (Fets-Fash is my friend!)

On the other hand, another thing I’d like for next year is some camouflage stuff. Backpack, shirt & pants, happy fun suit… Maybe it would help me hide better than with the black suit… Certainly the bright stupid colour of my current backpack was a stupid colour to choose, and I regret it even though I’ve never been caught with it. Moving through the bush as stealthily as possible is the main goal.

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What happened to the sun?!

Well I’ve been watching the weather and it looks like it’s not going to warm up as much as I’d hoped this week… To make things worse, I haven’t seen the sun in days and it’s gone well below zero almost every night since my last excursion… It doesn’t look like we’re expecting any sunshine this week at all… So even if we get a warm enough day, the ground is way too cold to be any kind of comfortable.

Oh well. I keep holding out the slightest little bit of hope that the weather improves in the next few days. I might try to get to the deep creeky spot anyway… But chances are I am finished playing in the mud for this year. 🙁

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