It Could have been Worse

Gibby

Gibby

Piney
Apr 4, 2011
1,644
442
Trenton
It is amazing how fast you can get yourself in trouble. I was taking a short hike along the Oswego to scout an area I wanted to see. It sounds simple enough. A short two mile hike along the river bank, explore a few hidden bogs along the way and then hike a sand road back. What could go wrong? A little over a mile in I got stuck. I caught my foot in between two hidden roots and my lead foot stepped into a bottomless hole. My left leg folded up underneath me, my behind smacked the cold bog and my right leg slid completely underneath the muck. What a mess! I usually walk with a light step while in a bog but I was complacent and paid for it. So stupid of me especially since I was alone. After what seemed an eternity I managed to free myself. I had so much trouble because I was sitting on my left leg and had no leverage. It took all of my strength and both my arms to free my leg. I was leaning to my left while moving my leg in a circular motion to break the suction. After a combination of twisting and rocking the mud finally released its grip. I then had to reach down into the hole and retrieve my wader. I was exhausted and covered in mud. It took some effort to come free! I then washed off in the river while mumbling to myself. After resting for a few minutes, I found that nothing was hurt and finished my short trip.

I did notice my ankle is sore now because I had to pull so hard to free my foot from the wader.

While driving home I came to the realization that I need to start leaving a route to where I will be in case something happens now that I am trekking deeper into less traveled areas.
 
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manumuskin

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
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millville nj
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I have yanked a leg so hard to get it out before that I pulled something in my hip that hurt for a week.There are times when the only thing that will extricate you is a good old temper tantrum.Normally i can fall over on my back and wiggle my hips and slide backwards till the suction breaks and I can get free but sometimes like you say you are in a very awkward position and nothing will work but a tantrum.
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,662
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Pines; Bamber area
Gibby said:
While driving home I came to the realization that I need to start leaving a route to where I will be in case something happens now that I am trekking deeper into less traveled areas.
Click to expand...

Well...does not always work with me. I usually email Guy where I'll be if I'm going in deep. But sometimes I just like to roam and ramble to heart's content. If it happens, well, it happens I guess. There is nothing like total freedom.

How old are you Gibby? Do you work out? I work out 2 to 3 times a week to maintain strength and balance in just these situations. Nothing is ever perfect of course, but many a time I've been able to hop to the next hummock, or grab a small tree on the way down that saves me from going completely under.

About 4 weeks ago I got lost at dusk. I entered a burned over area, traveled just 2 hundered yards in, and then....gee whiz, everywhere I looked, everything looked the same. Do you know the feeling of getting lost at dusk, with darkness coming on? The adrenalin starts pumping. I had to remind myself to calm down, and just walk in a straight line in one direction. I hit a little fire trail, and realized where I was. I was going in the opposite direction.

Worse than dusk is hot humid weather, and you are lost. That is downright dangerous in the pines.
 
Boyd

Boyd

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Staff member
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Jul 31, 2004
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Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
Wow Gibby, I'm glad it turned out OK for you. Be careful out there!

Bob, even the cheapest GPS would have made it easy to follow your track back to where you started. :) But many years ago, before GPS, I had similar experiences and I do know the feeling.
 
Gibby

Gibby

Piney
Apr 4, 2011
1,644
442
Trenton
sometimes I just like to roam
Click to expand...

That is my attitude. I never have a set plan on where I am going. I have a general idea where I want to be and I go from there. Now I will leave a note to the general area I will be in.

All I did was catch the toe box in between roots hidden under the Sphagnum moss and trip. A few inches either way and I would have stumbled. However, I found a hole in the middle and all of my weight was on that leg. There was nothing I could have done. As fast as a snap of your fingers, I was hip deep in muck. I was along side of the treeline in a quaking bog with nothing to grab on or reach for. It was one of those things. I am thirty-nine and in good shape. I was in such an awkward kneeling position it was a struggle to get free.

I am OK. A little wiser. A little sore. I am always sharing my adventures with everyone on the forum. This story has a dip in the middle. I was never in any danger, just stuck in the mud. It has happened before and it will happen again. Tomorrow, I will be out doing the same, laughing at myself for what I did while discovering something new.

I agree that hot and humid is dangerous. So is wet and cold.

The worst situation I was ever in was hiking from the Wind Gap to Bass Lake (Blairstown) in August years ago. I had a virus while leading a group of kids and it was very hot. I remember that I had a temperature of hundred and five while still having to hike out a day to get to the Water Gap. That was misery!

Dogg, I was lucky two times over, I didn't have my camera on me. I was traveling light.
 
joc

joc

Explorer
May 27, 2010
187
19
Wall, NJ
Glad you're ok .As you stated , you are lucky .I had a similiar situation about 4 yrs ago about 10 o;clock @ night outside of Chatsworth .Was hiking along a stream bank ( Light, cell phone , etc ) , stepped in what i still call quick sand .Mud , muck ooze , Whatever it was , Within minutes i was up almost to my waist .It was my own fault , but i was lucky to be hiking with someone who not only knew the pines , but to the point could yank me out .Not to be dramatic , not sure i woud have been able to get out of that @ night , by myself ....I'll fish @ night in the pines on occasion , but now i usually do so from a dock of some sort (as long as the bats cooperate..:) .
Joe
 
Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,952
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Not a good feeling when that happens even when someone is with you. You do need to come up with a good way to plan on an extraction. Even leaving a note may not be enough if the person who reads it has no idea where you are refering to.

Guy
 
N

NJChileHead

Explorer
Dec 22, 2011
832
630
When I was a kid, my father and I used to canoe and hike in the pines. We were with a canoe club and had stopped along the Oswego River for lunch. I was always interested in sundews and pitcher plants as a kid, and had no idea of the bog holes and dangerous muck, I suppose that I assumed that even in muddy areas, underneath was sandy.

Anyway, after lunch I went walking along for a bio-break, and found a huge patch of spatulate leaved sundews in bloom that I decided to check out. I went down to my upper chest in muck. The twist of this is that my father was very hard of hearing to the point of being almost deaf. If we were not with the canoe club, he never would have heard me yell. I had the perception that I was still sinking very slightly, but that might have been the fear of a 9-year old. Someone did come after a minute, and it took two grown men pulling by my arms to get me out. I can see how someone can die in one of those holes.

Best argument for a walking stick and a partner.
 
piker56

piker56

Explorer
Jan 13, 2006
641
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Winslow
Gibby, I almost did the same thing you did except it was winter. Temps had been well below freezing and I carelessly assumed the marsh was frozen solid. I was almost to the bank of the Oswego, upstream of Martha. I then decided to test the ice, so I hit it with my hiking stick. It easily broke through the ice and went in right to the handle (almost 6 feet). Had my leg "post holed" in I would have been in big trouble. I was alone, and hadn't told my wife where I was hiking. Needless to say, she always knows the general area where I will be, and I'm a lot more careful, especially when alone. Glad you are ok, and a lot wiser!
Greg
 
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