Loading…
2
Why does nobody talk about how fast the mud flats can turn on you out at Turnagain Arm
I grew up in Anchorage and I've walked out on the flats near the Seward Highway more times than I can count, and I always figured I knew what I was doing because the mud looked solid enough. Two summers ago I took my nephew out past the railroad tracks to get a better look at some bore tide, and about twenty minutes in my boots started sinking past my ankles. I tried to yank my right foot out fast like you would out of regular mud, and that was the worst thing I could have done because it just sucked the other leg down deeper. A guy on the embankment started yelling at me to stop pulling and to lay flat and roll, and I did that and it took me almost half an hour to get back to solid ground with the tide coming in behind me. What tipped me off that I'd been wrong the whole time was when a state trooper later told me the silt out there acts like a liquid and people drown standing straight up in it, sometimes within sight of the road. Six inches of water over that mud is enough to kill you, and the bore tide can move faster than a person can run. Has anyone else here gotten caught out there, or know someone who has?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
barbarab5612d ago
Been there, that panic pull is what gets people killed, you have to spread out and crawl like a turtle. Next time carry a couple pieces of plywood or a long stick to spread your weight and test the ground ahead of you before you commit.
4