Who here is afraid of mud?

Just a quick little poll. Today my girlfriend Jess and I were hiking the Doubleheads. She really enjoys hiking, but freaks out every time we have to cross any muddy areas. Is anyone else here like this? I have my reservation already confirmed at the nuthouse, so my love for mud is not a good point for comparison. Thanks for any input.

Mud bath

I think she needs a good old MUD Bath to cure her phobia to mud. At the next be mud hole trip her, or just throw mud at her, yes she will be upset but she'll get over it. You may have to do this 2 or 3 times to get the required results. Good luck

Thats a tough question because it could go either way for me.....

I hate and fear the mud that removes my footwear for me, yet could care less about the stuff up to a couple inches deep.

Brian

kltilton said:

. She really enjoys hiking, but freaks out every time we have to cross any muddy areas. Is anyone else here like this?..

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A good hiking friend of mine doesn't like mud, but that's OK. I don't particularly LIKE mud (except for summer, when barefoot..... that mud squishing between the toes is SO SENSUAL!!!!... but I'm rambling).

As an ADKer, mud is a fact of life, and part of the game. I don't mind mud at all. except when it is waist deep and cold (causes shrinkage). A fact of life in the Adirondacks.

So... you probaly wouldn't want to get her some expensive spa facial mud packs for Christmas.

Adirondack mud-part of the high peaks scenery.
Lack of mud, in other regions of the park, is one of the reasons I enjoy hiking out of the high peaks.

BorealChickadee said:

So... you probaly wouldn't want to get her some expensive spa facial mud packs for Christmas.

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Overall, I don't mind it, but it depends. When trailrunning, I love it. Multi-day backpacking, not as much.

Isn't getting out and getting dirty like a little kid what it is all about???
I love it!

BorealChickadee said:

So... you probaly wouldn't want to get her some expensive spa facial mud packs for Christmas.

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Maybe not my face, but my feet.... You should see my feet! From walking in High-Peaks mud barefoot, I've probably got better looking feet than anyone else on this forum! Not that I'm bragging.

No mud in the woods is like no snow in winter.


You have to appreciate it and get used to it and have fun. If not, its gonna be a long day.


grouseking

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a mud.

If I have to walk through it I do, if I don't have to I don't. Isn't that why we waterproof our boots (or wear those fancy Gore-tex ones in summer)?

I should hate it, but I don't Actually, I have special expertise in mud. New England mountain mud is nothing compared to bayou salt marsh mud or Northern Patagonia mud. Once while building a dock in the bayou here I got sucked into the salt marsh mud. I wouyld certainly have died if other had not come along soon. Bayou mud has the consistency of a mud mask. It's wet and you just sink farther the more you struggle. Worst of all it won't come out of your clothes ever. Northern Patagonian maritime rain forest mud is more like mountain mud, only more gooey and gelatinous. I suppose because it get's so warm even though glacial. Another time I was hiking w/ my brother and a friend in Chile. I was dog sick with the flu, lagging behind. We were traversing a series of switchbacks that were incredibly muddy. Because I thought we were going to get much colder higher up I had a full pack. Gradually I peeled off verything except my undeshorts. I was drenched to the bone. Slower and slower I went until I stopped and sat then laid down in the mud. After a while my fever broke and I felt fine. I jumped up and bounded up the trail. When I caught up to my buds I scared the beejesus out of em as I looked like a New Guinea head hunter - LOL!

Afraid of mud? Afraid is a pretty strong word. I prefer respect. Like lightning, bees and heights , I have a great deal of respect for mud. And I expect to be treated with respect by mud as well.

On a recent hike, my hiking partner said, "Stop a minute, teejay, I want a picture of your butt." Naturally, I was flattered. So much for respect. Photo by crazymama.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2523594660059720695yuCKaB

teejay

At first glance this seems like a dumb question.
But this is one of those few things that just really irks me when I'm out in the woods. No, it's not the mud that irks me. It's all those people with their $100+ gortex, waterproof/breathable ankle high boots with giators that won't walk through the mud. I might get my new boots dirty, or wet! Well, that's why you bought the things in the first place! So instead, most people (I can admit I've done it before) tip toe around the edge of mud holes and puddles which in the end makes the trail wider and the puddle bigger, or side trails that skirt the wet spot only to wind up wet over there too.
Just walk through the mud, it isn't going to kill you!

... okay, there's my little mud rant.

Interesting question - Mud/No Mud

I don't like it because it increases my clean up time AFTER the hike. I could care less about walking through it (i've crawled through probably a mile or two anyway). It just causes a longer clean-up time later.

sleeping bear said:

Just walk through the mud, it isn't going to kill you!

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No, but it did seep into and destroy a pair of my hiking boots from the inside out.
Mud is evil...beware the mud!

Funny I didn't think about it before. When doing rockwork, I've spend a full day (minus lunchtime) standing up to my knees in mud... I remember one time doing that, and having the chance of a shower afterwards, but I had forgotten my soap. I stopped at a small store, covered, head to toe, with mud, standing in line to buy a bar of soap. For some reason, I got funny looks from others in the line.

I used to be a tip toe-er, but I have seen the light and now plow right through mud. And since my shoes aren't waterproof the mud washing right in and then right back out again. As long as it isn't really cold, it feels kind of nice!

Pete_Hickey said:

As an ADKer, mud is a fact of life, and part of the game. I don't mind mud at all. except when it is waist deep and cold (causes shrinkage). A fact of life in the Adirondacks.

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Huh! I didn't know that shrinkage was a fact of life in the Adirondacks!? I always learn something new from Pete Hickey.

teejay said:

On a recent hike, my hiking partner said, "Stop a minute, teejay, I want a picture of your butt." Naturally, I was flattered. So much for respect. Photo by crazymama.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2523594660059720695yuCKaB

teejay

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LOL! Hopin' that's mud!!