Swamp Pole Vaulting

Wednesday, 12 August 2009

So the last day in the swamps we were all pretty excited about going home and i was particularly happy that morning. Normally when we came to a creek that was too deep to cross we would try to either go around or just wade through it. This time i had a different idea. I figured i could pole vault across.

Just to note ... that was a mistake.

Here's what i had going against me:

• big rubber boots
• 1" of mud inside the boots
• 2" of water in the boots
• insufficient approach distance
• forgetting that a swamp has 3 feet of mud at the bottom
• lack of athletic ability

Now this first time the pole sank into the mud right as i pushed down.
In spite of that i still almost made it all the way across. Really i did.
I landed mostly on the other shore...

Here's the video:

Being the smart guy that i am, on the way back i just knew that i could make it across. This time i left the pole stuck in the mud from the first jump so that it wouldn't sink any more. Too bad it was way out in the middle of the river and when i jumped instead of pushing me forward, the angle at the top pushed me backwards. I believe the word you're thinking of is FAIL!

I guess i was thinking that "low running" would somehow help???

Right here i'm thinking "oh ya....i got this"

This is about the point where i realized that the pole was in no way helping. Notice the angle of the pole is still pointed backwards.

Video #2:

To my defense, if i hadn't of jumped i would have waded through the water anyway. But there's nothing better then being up to your waist in mud at 8am, then have to work 12 more hours.

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Jackson

Saturday, 8 August 2009

Well more out of town surveying. This time however i was closer to home, Jackson, Michigan. We worked anywhere from 11 to 13 hours a day in corn fields and in swamps. Although it felt like the fields were few and far between. It mostly consisted of being ankle deep in black mucky water, cutting bushes with a machete. The final tally:

Number of times falling/sinking waist deep in the swamp................24
Number of times falling face first in the water.............................2

Percentage of body covered in poison sumac after 2 weeks.............30%

And yes i won the contest for the person with the most poison sumac. Later i'll post the pictures of me having to go to the hospital for that.

This was after having to walk around with 3" of muck in my boots for several hours.
After 3 days of leaving my "formerly white" socks on the AC unit outside our motel, the cleaning lady finally threw these out. I WAS going to have quite a collection going.

And here are the rest of the pictures i took. Trying to show the more fun parts of the trip.

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Not so out of town

Tuesday, 28 July 2009

Well it looks like i'll be out of town again for a few weeks. This time however i will be headed to Brooklyn Michigan. It's somewhere between Ann Arbor and Jackson. It's nice that i'll be close to home, but i did enjoy seeing other parts of the US. Although from what i hear i will be spending a lot of time knee deep in swamp water. Woo Hoo!

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