HikeArizona.COM

So as a Gen-X'r who grew up in the 1970's and indulged in all of the books and movies aimed at scaring you about the dangers of the coming Ice Age and the wave of killer bees heading north to the U.S., we also learned to be wary of quicksand. More than a few Saturday morning cartoons involved some character getting stuck in quicksand.

It was with great interest that I saw someone post on another media outlet that there was a 911 call from Catalina State Park to rescue a woman from quicksand. Based on where the call was coming from, it looks like just past the entrance in the CDO wash. Anyone know if quicksand legitimately exists in Arizona and do I need to brush up on all the quicksand survival skills I learned from Johnny Quest?

Visit Paria Canyon.

@SpiderLegs
I can't help you with any Arizona quicksand info, but I do remember that Jonny Quest quite often went to the Sargosso Sea on business with Hadji where they once had to rescue Race Bannon from some quicksand. :-)

I haven't seen any in AZ, but a bunch of HAZ folks once crossed a little patch of quicksand in Grand Gulch. The deepest I sank in was the bottom of my calves. We sank some trekking poles to their full length in a minute or so with a little jostling.

Activision Pitfall is not sufficient training
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This was filmed at Old Tucson Studios

There’s some in the washes in the Hieroglyphic Mtns west of Lake Pleasant. My kids intentionally try to sink into it, and then I always have to dig out their shoes.

Never really took hiking poles seriously until now.

I once got stuck in quicksand up to my thighs near the Badger Springs/Agua Fria confluence ... it's real! I was alone and it took me about 20 minutes to work my way out.

Hiking poles won't help, and it's not just shallow wet sand that your feet sink into. Real quicksand just looks like all the other wet sand you're walking on along the river ... except when you step on it you INSTANTLY sink - like plunging into a pool. Then the sand and water instantly solidify into something resembling wet concrete. It is a bit panic-inducing! Luckily I had a boulder right behind me that I could use for leverage. My legs were red and cold and rubbed raw when I managed to pull them out ... but I was pretty happy that I didn't even lose my shoes!

I don’t know if it’s technically quick sand but from I’ve experienced it’s fairly common in intermittent washes and canyons. Seen it in pretty popular places along the agua fria, new River, and popular ohv routes in the Bradshaw’s. Seen it absolutely swallow vehicles more than a few times. It’s always the guys going off trail and running their vehicles up and down the stream bottom getting buried…..

Here is Mike's quicksand dance from our trip to Keet Seel in 2010. It starts from about the 3 minute mark... hopefully when you click the link it will start there. It lasts less than a minute (there are two scenes one right after the other) [ youtube video ]

Encountered it once in Upper Tanque Verde Canyon. Nobody in the group got stuck.

A good example of how firm sand liquifies when agitated. I've experienced this in northern Arizona.

chumley wrote:This was filmed at Old Tucson Studios

Oh for crying out loud Chums pay attention. Gilligan's Island was an island, in the tropics, never once did I see a saguaro on it....sheesh!

Shouldn't it be called "slow sand"?

Slow Sand ? or Peat Bog, only two in Arizona.

Aravaipa
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Nighthiker wrote:Peat Bog

There's a somewhat famous peat bog near me, indicated on some maps as "Newton Bog". It was once mined for peat by fertilizer companies, the longest running being Hyper Humus. It surprisingly had a train line running along one edge, with a train station where they loaded the peat. It took an incredible amount of fill to keep the tracks from sinking into the bog. (It's now part of the Paulinskill Valley Trail).

The area is now a nature reserve and a fantastic place for birding.

@big_load
Well for peat's sake that is really cool.