According to wikipedia, “quicksand forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it creates a liquefied soil that loses strength and cannot support weight.”
That’s clearly a statement we can confirm now.
It hit us hard on our early morning tour following the Gæsavatnaleið to the upper Flæður region visiting our mobile OPC stations. The batteries running the station need to be changed every second day in order to keep the system a live. On our way, we have to cross the river bed four times. So far, each crossing was ok, although sometimes tricky and bumpy. Despite the need for getting up early, morning crossings come with the advantage that the glacier melt water discharge which feeds the river is at a minimum. So the chances for a dry river bed and thus a somewhat smooth crossing is highest before noon.
This morning, at one spot in the middle of the river bed, the surface looked somewhat suspicious. And not longer than a blink of an eye later all four wheels got sucked into the ground. Realizing pretty soon that we have no chance to get out on our own, we asked the Search & Rescue team based at the Dreki campsite for help.
The story comes with a happy end and about one hour later the car was back on its own feet and we could continue with our morning routine. All batteries were changed in time this morning 🙂