An entire generation grew up being told that they were surrounded by spots where they might slowly sink to their doom. But is quicksand a real problem? It is in one place, thanks to dredging.
Reading about the mighty Cape Fear got me to pondering about the Edmund Fitzgerald! Could it have made it up to the state port terminal? After all, it was pretty heavy with "26,000 tons more than it weighed empty" after leaving some mill in Wisconsin.
I had a similar experience to Kemp. As a boy I was along the Ohio River with my father. A boat was approaching the bank at a low water period. I ran from my father to se the boat. He called "STOP". Before I knew it I was hip deep in the muck and unable to extract myself. He had to wade in and then extract both of us. When we returned my mother was unable to understand what happened even after it was explained to her. (We were both in our underpants with shoes and pants in the trunk)
Omigod, this is so interesting in so many ways (esp. b/c we ferry to Ocracoke every summer)....I can't wait to go back and read it more carefully (and comment again!) when I have time, but I just want to say thank you for the memory of how much we were always DYING to find quicksand! :D Me and friends would be walking through the woods, "OOH! Is that quicksand???" "I don't know! Let me check...." [throws a stick in it] "Hmm, that's not heavy enough...." [looks around] And on and on......😂
I have gotten stuck up to my waist in muck near the ferry terminal when my kayaking partner was too impatient to wait for the tides to rise to paddle back from Zeke’s island. And the other time I got stuck in quicksand i was hiking in the woods in Cary of all places and decided to step on what I thought was a sandbar in the middle of a creek. It got up to my thighs before I could pull myself out.
Love this! I just turned 40, and can confirm that a whole lot of books/movies/shows highlighted the threat of quicksand.
First and only time I ever encountered it was in the early 90s I went to Caswell camp bc my parents were chaperoning the youth that year. Not far from our house was an area blocked off bc of quicksand. Vividly remember it all these years later!
Childhood cartoons taught me that killer quicksand was about a 1 in 3 to 1 in 2 chance of what might get me (none brought up heart disease, etc). Been on the lookout ever since but have managed to stay one step ahead so far. In fact have not come across maiming quicksand or even minorly inconveniencing quicksand.
Clay with enough water mixed into it can make for a muck that’s not very deep, but can have a really strong suction. Broke the strap on a higher-end sandal in that stuff in a creek in Mooresville once.
Saw genuine quicksand in American Samoa once. Wasn’t a hazard because it was clearly labeled and there was an easy way around it. Was fun to throw rocks in it and watch them sink, though.
Reading about the mighty Cape Fear got me to pondering about the Edmund Fitzgerald! Could it have made it up to the state port terminal? After all, it was pretty heavy with "26,000 tons more than it weighed empty" after leaving some mill in Wisconsin.
Looks like you got the writeup you wanted!
I had a similar experience to Kemp. As a boy I was along the Ohio River with my father. A boat was approaching the bank at a low water period. I ran from my father to se the boat. He called "STOP". Before I knew it I was hip deep in the muck and unable to extract myself. He had to wade in and then extract both of us. When we returned my mother was unable to understand what happened even after it was explained to her. (We were both in our underpants with shoes and pants in the trunk)
Omigod, this is so interesting in so many ways (esp. b/c we ferry to Ocracoke every summer)....I can't wait to go back and read it more carefully (and comment again!) when I have time, but I just want to say thank you for the memory of how much we were always DYING to find quicksand! :D Me and friends would be walking through the woods, "OOH! Is that quicksand???" "I don't know! Let me check...." [throws a stick in it] "Hmm, that's not heavy enough...." [looks around] And on and on......😂
I have gotten stuck up to my waist in muck near the ferry terminal when my kayaking partner was too impatient to wait for the tides to rise to paddle back from Zeke’s island. And the other time I got stuck in quicksand i was hiking in the woods in Cary of all places and decided to step on what I thought was a sandbar in the middle of a creek. It got up to my thighs before I could pull myself out.
Love this! I just turned 40, and can confirm that a whole lot of books/movies/shows highlighted the threat of quicksand.
First and only time I ever encountered it was in the early 90s I went to Caswell camp bc my parents were chaperoning the youth that year. Not far from our house was an area blocked off bc of quicksand. Vividly remember it all these years later!
Man Sinks in Quicksand and Emerges With a Girlfriend
A Michigan man who ended up waist-deep on an unstable beach was rescued, and found himself in a relationship.
New York Times
By Victor Mather
April 18, 2025, 1:27 p.m. ET
Ever notice how you read about something and then it starts showing up everywhere!
topical!
There is quicksand in the wetland reserve on the south side of Durham. It's not that rare.
Childhood cartoons taught me that killer quicksand was about a 1 in 3 to 1 in 2 chance of what might get me (none brought up heart disease, etc). Been on the lookout ever since but have managed to stay one step ahead so far. In fact have not come across maiming quicksand or even minorly inconveniencing quicksand.
This obviously isn’t in NC quicksand, but it’s still a good story:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/us/lake-michigan-quicksand.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Clay with enough water mixed into it can make for a muck that’s not very deep, but can have a really strong suction. Broke the strap on a higher-end sandal in that stuff in a creek in Mooresville once.
Saw genuine quicksand in American Samoa once. Wasn’t a hazard because it was clearly labeled and there was an easy way around it. Was fun to throw rocks in it and watch them sink, though.