WorldWide Drilling Resource

Tales from the Field by Jeremy C. Wire Geoconsultants, Inc. The Lost Boot How can you work in the field without a good pair of boots? It is not easy, particularly when you unin- tentionally lose one of them, resulting in what was an unusual situation concerning personal safety, as this tale relates. Another geologist and I were working on an undeveloped property which covered a large area. One morning, at our first site visit, the owner pointed out a few details, such as the property boundaries, then left us to our own devices. It was not long after a wet winter that year, and with the still-saturated ground, driving around for a site reconnaissance, even in four-wheel drive, was out of the question. It would have to be on foot, and use of rubber boots was the order of the day. Carrying some equipment, our progress was slow, but by afternoon we had covered most of the area of interest. Cresting a hill, we saw what appeared to be a well casing some distance away on the valley floor below. It was puzzling to us that the owner had not mentioned this possibility at our meeting earlier in the day. As we approached to get a closer look, there was a large circle of ground about 50-feet wide around the casing which appeared wetter than the ground we had just crossed. Was this possibly caused by flow from an artesian well? Curiosity can get you into trouble sometimes, and it certainly did in this case. When I went toward the casing for closer inspection, I remember feeling a sinking sensation, and it was apparent I was in either quicksand or “quickmud”. In either case, I was rapidly sinking below the top of my rubber boots. Fortunately, my field companion had better sense than I did, and didn’t go in with me to look at the casing, remaining a safe distance away. At this point, a slight degree of panic began to set in, realizing I could not move either forward or backward. What to do? Calling 911 was out of the question, as this was prior to the cell phone era. Quickly searching the area, my field companion found an old board, probably part of a long-forgotten fence. Throwing it my way, I bent over and grabbed it, and it provided enough stability so I could work my foot out of one of the boots, leaving it behind to sink further in the morass. Working with the board, I pulled my other boot out of the mud and slowly found my way to the perimeter of this muddy trap to stable ground. We both agreed this was not one of our better days in the field! From time to time we pass by this property, remembering the incident and speculating on how deep the boot may be by now . . . 20 feet or more? We will never know. Jeremy Jeremy Wire may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com 39 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® NOVEMBER 2017