This spring the corn field behind my property is flooding like it never has before, and some of that water has extended onto my property. So last night I decide to take my new Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx GPS out to obtain a track of the perimeter of the flooded area (turns out to be a total of about 50 acres under water).

So during this walk I'm at most about 1/3 of a mile away from my house - I can see it during most of the walking. I brought with me a camera, cell phone, the GPS, and my EDC (whistle, sparker, mini-Rittergrip). I'm wearing my barn boots, which are standard calf-high pullup rubber boots.

At about halfway around the perimeter I realize that the only way to get to the "other" side of the water's edge is to either walk all the way back around to where I can from, OR walk across a 25 foot section of fairly shallow (8 inches maybe) flooded land. Being lazy, I decide to cross the shallow. Well, three steps into the water my left leg drops about 3 feet into a hole in the ground. Luckily I stoped the fall by jamming my right knee into the muck. The good news was that I didn't fall over completely.

So slowly I manage to wiggle my left boot out of the hole and get enough of a foot-hold to stand up and wash the muck off my hands. Only after standing up did I (1) feel amazed that I didn't drop the GPS, (2) realize that although my left leg was caked in mud and my right leg was wet, the water never even got above my front pockets - my wallet, cell phone, car remote, and camera were all completely dry. Whew!

I finally manage to cross the shallow spot without any more problems, and then I start looking for a non-muddy place to pull my left boot off and try to remove some of the muck. All I could do was balance on my right leg while doing my best to dump out some of the muck and water. Then I'm off again to walk the rest of the perimeter ... with every step it was squish, splat, squish, splat.

Though it was pretty cold and windy (my hands were cold having to hold the GPS out), but my wet legs didn't feel all that cold - probably because of the walking.

Now I'm getting tired because it is much harder to walk with two wet boots caked in mud, and it is getting dark (I started out much later than I'd planned). I started thinking that I could easily imagine how someone who was lost and in my current state of wetness and discomfort could loose track of time and not realize how late it was really getting. The night creeps up fast since my eyes are adjusting to the darkness pretty well. It would be very easy not stop soon enough to find adequate shelter.

As I walked I'm looking around the edges of the field thinking about where I'd go for shelter if I really had to. There just isn't much there, though there are brushy areas. But to setup a shelter in such brush would take time and a much bigger knife to cut branches than my mini-Rittergrip (yeah, Mr. "I don't need a huge knife" admitting it would speed shelter building up). I also had the sense of "I've got to keep going" that is probably felt by so many who are lost and don't just stop to rest or seek shelter.

An interesting night last night, and the total distance walked turned out to be 2.6 miles. The good news is that I was able to return to my truck, strip off the yucky boots, and drive home, but it makes me appreciate the peril of the "unexpected" happening.

By the way, those electric boot dryers sold made by Peet (I got mine from Cabelas - $35) work wonders for drying out soaked boots! They were dry by morning.

Ken

That's a good point about natural shelter materials not always being readily available. Or if they are, it may take too much time and energy to build one. It just reinforces the need to always carry something to use as shelter in the woods, even if it is just a large leaf bag.

Poor planning, bad decisions, bad weather, time of day, just plain bad luck, or any combination thereof, and you can be in trouble.

And you never, EVER sigh in exasperation and exclaim, "WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?!" Don't tempt the Fates like that...

By the way, what brand of barn boots do you wear? I've bought some that were the most uncomfortable things I've ever worn.

I'm glad you just got wet feet and didn't lose your equipment.

Sue

Thanks for taking the time to share that story, Ken.

For me, one thing that this story reinforces is the danger of blindly heading into flooded territory, whether it's three inches or three feet of water, whether you're driving or on foot, in the woods or in town. I mean, we can't just assume that the way is safe, so we should either avoid the area or take precautions when crossing. Just because the first ten steps, the first twenty steps, are OK doesn't mean the 21st step isn't into a hole or onto a big, rusty, boot-piercing nail or whatever. I'm glad your electronics were saved from a dunking.

Thats one thing I don't like about murky water, you can't see the bottom. It's kind of funny, if I went for an unexpected swim 10 years ago, it would have ended with me drying out my wallet as opposed to replacing a small fortunes worth of electronics.

Greetings Ladies and Gents, I hope I find you all well.
Thoughts;

There are situations where a large knife is useful.
Would a walking stick/staff have been of use?
Re. holes, urban flooding, man hole covers blown off due to flood. If you fall into one of these, chances are you won't survive. Just as we use our sticks in the woods to aide balance,and check a questionable area prior to stepping, around water/floods I think the same applies. Regards, Jim

Yeah, I had actually thought of taking along a crosscountry ski pole (I have expanding poles, but I thought the one-piece would take the mud better). I figured the basket at the end would be do better in the mud.

Next time I'll know better.

Oh, as far as the rubber boot brand, they are cheap boots from one of the horse supply catalogs. They get crudded up and beat up pretty fast working with our horses, so I tend to get inexpensive ones when I get them. If you're looking for a good brand of rubber boots I used to like Northern boots a lot.

My next purchase needs to be a set of chest waders.

Ken

Chest waders and a life vest.

Sue

Bad things can happen in clear water also. My wife and I once decided to wade across a slow moving section of a Sierra Nevada river, no more than 75 yards across, maybe a foot deep. We made it about 70 yards, then she stepped on a slime covered rock and went down on her fanny. While helping her up, I did the same thing. Her brand new 35mm auto camera was in a pocket, got ruined. Lucky for us, no injuries, and it was the middle of summer, in the 90's at least. Trying to make the best of a bad situation, we stripped off and went skinny dippin' while the clothes dried on a rock...

Point taken!

Maybe some groin stretches before heading out, too. Stepping into a three foot hole with one leg sounds potentially painful.

I think sometimes a basic knowledge of trigometry can save you time and .. misery.

You could stand at a corner in your farm and take compass readings as well as GPS readings, then walk and reach point B and do the same for other corners or whatver stands out in your farm (house chimney , barn door ..etc.). Take a safe route at an angle and walk for a reasonable distanse and take GPS and compass readings for the other features.

You only take readings at safe points on TWO adjacent sides of the farm and do NOT have to go to the other side. When you are at home with nice cuppa coffee, you draw everything on a piece of paper and use your calculator to calculate the rest.

At least, that is what I would have done being the lazy coward that I am. he-he he-he he-he

And I would have done that daytime.

Susan,

I have a couple pairs of Muck Boots. You can find information on them here:

Muck Boot Company

They are a bit pricey, but are quite comfortable.

Harley

This reminds me of two things I think are sometimes forgotten:

1. You don't have to be far away to be in trouble. Had you twisted/broken knee, this would have been much worse. My worst scare was a slip which twisted my ankle and found myself limping a mile to me car in failing light. It was cold and wet - not exceptional but if the fall had banged my head or something, I'd have been stuck for a miserable overnight.

2. I agree with Norad - I always try to carry a shelter (heatsheet, plastic bag, poncho or whatever) along with brew kit (bouillion cube, metal mug, esbit stove, bottle of water, bic lighter). It's not a lot in an outdoor coat (and supplements my edc), but is a genuine lifesaver. I can't imagine a scenario where catching fish made the difference between life and death, but having to sit tight until first light or rescue sounds like a very probable situation