So, how did I get my start?

I was probably 12 or 13 years old, and was out with my two best friends. It was summer time along the Green River just south-east of 'Flaming Geyser State Park' along a shore that we really shouldn't have been walking near. The area is bad news and has seen many land-slides in the past. (didn't know or care about that back then, it was just us exploring, so just fun)

Here’s a google-map overhead of the area:
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.273...../data=!3m1!1e3

As you can see from the picture, there was an ample source of mud, sand, clay, and all sorts of whatnot coming down from that gorge that was forming out in that field. Its really quite an impressive canyon that i stupidly hiked one time after our first encounter with mud, with my friends.

So, us three girls were out away from everyone else, just us. I was in a swimsuit and barefoot, Sara; in shorts, a t-shirt, and some old sneakers (that happened to be tied on tightly) and Jenny, also wearing just a swimsuit and sandals.

So we were exploring this beach, and playing with a long stretch of a strip of mud. It wasn't deep, merely the sole of your foot kissing mud, but as we played on this massive stretch of mud, it was like we were bouncing on a massive water-bed. As some of you may know, thats the first sign of something treacherous the likes of quicksand or something like that. That was pretty much the case here, me and Jenny kept bouncing and occasionally breaking through to the creamy mud beneath, Sara was just on the surface as her shoes gave her more of a flat surface to support her diminutive weight. But we kept bouncing and playing with the softer and slowly softer surface even occasionally getting almost knee deep but pulling out smoothly and easily given our bare-feet. (jenny clipped her sandals to the strap of her swimsuit or something) (swimsuits were nothing fancy, just simple tank swimsuits with low scoop backs, and long shoulder straps, the kind of suits that always had shoulder-slip issues if ya bent over, or if it was even slightly loose.)

Well as we played and romped, suddenly Sara gave a squeak and was stuck to first her ankles then rapidly to her knees and unable to really get up out of it unlike us. Suffice to say, both me and Jenny stopped bouncing and playing in it to try and help Sara out. We stayed by her side as she fought and tried to pull first one foot then the other, and doing that only sank further, and us with her. a bit. “ok admittedly I was a little unsure of this at this time, but I was still confident of myself and my friends, so it was totally ‘no big deal’ I got on my hands and knees and tried to dig, Oh that got messy fast!!! Jenny tried the same approach, balancing in the mud that was rapidly getting gooy and sloppy seemingly at the same time.

I got up to my hips and waist in it real quickly, but still felt like i could easily wallow out of it. And further, I didn’t mind it! actually kinda liked it really, but my mind was elsewhere. I was still just on hands and knees like this, so not like Sara who was now stuck to her mid thighs in it, and not moving really. She really was moving actually trying to slowly lift first one foot then the other, kinda a bounce, which as I know now, only plunges you deeper into the muck.

I was still sinking, and so was jenny, though she had stood back up by now.
Shoes, that was her problem, so, me and jenny both worked to untie them. That took forever and we both got so muddy!!!

Me, I was almost up to my chest, but I could still move about in it mostly. This sort of swimsuit was one of the strappy kinds, that always lost at least one shoulder strap if ya bent over, so I seriously was getting mud everywhere, one shoulder strap had sagged to about my elbow, and the other was threatening to do the same, kept slipping, I kept tugging it back up, annoyedly.

Both hands were involved in rescuing Sara, so both hands involved. By the time we had gotten one of Sara’s feet free, I was topless and so muddy! And ya know what. It didn’t matter! This was Fun, even if I was almost head to toe muddy! And ya know what, if anyone was looking by that time, they wouldn’t be able to tell if I was even wearing a swimsuit at all!!!

Sara was sitting in the mud, one leg free and laying atop the mud, while Jenny started to help to free me from the mud, as I was armpit deep in it, and more or less stuck even if I still could move sorta. So once I got free, we both wallowed around and started to work to get Sara’s other foot free.

This time Jenny was the one that got in deep, but she was standing more or less upright, and by the time we freed Sara’s other foot from her shoes, Jenny was up to her ribs Standing UP! More mudding, more slopping about and we all had become absolutely entirely muddy.

All three of us got stuck at one point in time or another, but only Sara lost anything, a pair of shoes, and a pair of socks too for good measure!!! I had almost lost my swimsuit too as by the time we had managed to rescue Sara, my suit straps were dangling at my knees and the whole suit had become very saggy feeling. The mud was EVERYWHERE!!

Luckily for us we were on a river, so had found this muddy mess at rivers edge, and we were readily able to wash off. All the same we were seriously dirty!!!. Suits darkened, clothing soiled, and well, just gross. And I didn’t admit it to anyone at the time, but I was hooked.

We all managed to get back home without too much trouble, our bikes weren’t far away from our initial explorations. I know Sara got scolded for ‘ruining’ her outfit, but besides that minor issue, all was well as if it never happened.

Oh, but I was so enthralled by it, that the very next weekend, I rode back to that place and explored it more myself. I’ve been a mud-girl ever since!