A Field Guide To Tasmanian Muds

[Minty]

Common Muds:

-Track Padding
Often considered by purists not to be a true mud, Track Padding is nonetheless a notable species that the keen mudspotter will undoubtedly come across in his or her travails. Track Padding is distinguished by its shallow, paste like nature and its tendency to ooze beneath boots rather than swallow them. It is most easily identified by the clear, solid boot prints that are a sure sign of a gentle, even pleasurable mud experience. A good starting point for budding mud enthusiasts, and a forgiving, relaxing option to be enjoyed by the hardened mud stomper.

-Rut Sludge
Though relatively common, Rut Sludge is found only in the bottoms of deep channels carved into the track by generations of mud seekers. Rut Sludge is not always deep, typically ankle to mid shin, but due to its confinement and sub ground location it has a tendency to cause instability, plant clutching and general, brooding hatred of buttongrass plains.

-The Sloppy Joe
A classic mud. Sloppy Joes are considered the epitome of mud spotting, and for good reason. These vast, sprawling pits of liquefied ground are instantly recognizable, with their benign, placid surfaces and pitiful attempts by mud haters to skirt their all consuming borders which, much to the delight of true mudphiles, only succeed in growing the Sloppy Joe. Sloppy Joes can be sticky or watery, shin deep or chest deep, with safety islands or without, and come in many different sub-species:

-The Baby Joe
Often mistakenly identified as a true Sloppy Joe by over enthusiastic rookie mud spotters, due to the inferior breadth and depth of the Baby Joe and its easily avoidable nature, it will always rank below a genuine Sloppy Joe, both in terms of rarity and spectacle.

-The Friendly Joe
This rarer mud, which at first appears to be a standard Sloppy Joe, in fact more resembles track padding, much to the relief of regular walkers and disappointment of the serious enthusiast.

-The Dead Joe
A treacherous, deceitful mud which occurs when a good sized Sloppy Joe dries up. It could turn out to be entirely solid, or similar to a Friendly Joe, but watch out! In some circumstances it could become a Crusty Joe whose hard, pleasant surface is only a malicious front for the leg swallowing horrors that lie beneath. For seasoned mud veterans only.

Uncommon Muds:

-The Landmine
The landmine, while not technically a type of mud itself, is the jewel in the mudspotter's crown. Most commonly disguised as a Baby Joe, Rut Sludge, or in rare cases, Track Padding, the Landmine has a depth that exceeds all established methods of measurement. It is a scientifically validated fact that a fully developed Landmine can suck a screaming walker down into its ungodly depths at a speed greater than the acceleration due to gravity.

-The Wet n' Wild Combo
The Wet n' Wild Combo is typically a Sloppy Joe that has a layer of water on top of it. Endless fun can be had trying to judge to what height your shorts will get saturated and as you are stuck, desperately trying to climb out the side you'll have plenty of time to reminisce on your decision to bring cotton underwear.

-The Vege Bog
Unlike all the muds discussed thus far, the Vege Bog consists not of the comforting, brown, gloopy syrup known and loved by muddists, but of a much more primeval and malevolent substance. It is often green with visible plant matter, ominous bubbles and the corpses of hapless animals and walkers who couldn't discern it from a regular Sloppy Joe.

-Rainforest Jelly
While normally no deeper that Track Padding, Rainforest Jelly proves a point of interest to advanced mudspotters due to its exceeding rarity. The colour and consistency of fresh diarrhea, this gaudy curiosity can be found in isolated clumps of unidentifiable rotting matter.

[wander]

A bit of tent sitting on the Port Davey Track with no book to read Minty?

[north-north-west]

You forgot the Crusty Old Fart: bog rendered indistinguishable from normal ground by a layer of ice just thick enough for you to reach the surface above its deepest point before it gives way.

[Minty]

A bit of tent sitting on the Port Davey Track with no book to read Minty?

A slow day on the Farmhouse Creek track.

[icefest]

and then there is the Submarine Joe:
Often found at the edge of lakes and dams, this underwater Joe feels like a hard underwater layer of peat which after several seconds of supporting your weight collapses into a landmine that requires tactical maneuvering to save the shoe from the layer of abominably treacherous mud.

[JamesMc]

What about iced mud? You know, A harmless looking few centimetres of snow hiding a thigh deep bog.

[icefest]

What about iced mud? You know, A harmless looking few centimetres of snow hiding a thigh deep bog.

That one is deadly.

:'(

[north-north-west]

What about iced mud? You know, A harmless looking few centimetres of snow hiding a thigh deep bog.

I think I covered that:

You forgot the Crusty Old Fart: bog rendered indistinguishable from normal ground by a layer of ice just thick enough for you to reach the surface above its deepest point before it gives way.

[Lophophaps]

What about a campsite that looks wonderful but when it rains mud and water flood? I heard about a party that had a real problem with a person who was in mud up to his knees. The suggestion was that he should attempt to walk out. This proved to be impossible - he was in head first. On a related theme, approaching SW Cape in light scrub a person disappeared, swallowed whole by a hidden gully about two metres deep.

[jam sandwiches]

fascinating topic. Has anyone got a civil engineering degree? I've always wandered why white sand mud is generally solid to stand on., in comparison to the darker stuff.

have fun in the Eldons minty

[icefest]

I've always wandered why white sand mud is generally solid to stand on., in comparison to the darker stuff.

I think it's because the large particle sizes of the white sand (usually quarz) tend to drop out of suspension easily, and dry much quicker.

The dark mud, which can be classified as either humus or more technically organosol tends to hold water and often has very small particles that will not easily drop out of suspension.

When you have white sand on top of the organosol, it spreads your weight and thus makes you less likely to sink.


Based upon my experiences and the Australian Soil Classifications: http://www.clw.csiro.au/aclep/asc_re_on ... ilhome.htm