https://www.adn.com/alaska-new...ong-matanuska-river/


Boy rescued after getting stuck in mud while hunting along Matanuska River

By Annie Berman
Updated: 17 hours ago
Published: 18 hours ago

A boy on a hunting trip with his father was rescued Saturday afternoon after becoming stuck in the mud along the Matanuska River off the Glenn Highway, southwest of Palmer.

“He’s out of the mud, and they rescued him, and all the crews are returning,” Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services director Ken Barkley said Saturday afternoon.

Emergency dispatch initially received a call about the stranded boy at 12:49 p.m., Barkley said.



Over the next three hours, multiple crews responded by boat, including a Mat-Su water rescue team and Alaska State Troopers, he said.

The boy was finally freed from the mud and was en route to the hospital by helicopter before 4:30 p.m., Barkley said.

He appeared to be in good health, but “they’re just going to take him in and have him checked out,” Barkley said.

He added that calls like this typically come from Alaskans out hunting who find themselves in that type of terrain.


“I’d say about every year we get one or two of these, especially this time of year,” he said.

Wouldn't want to have that happen in croc country, or if it did, someone have plenty of ammo to keep them at bay

I remember long ago (maybe near 50'sh years ago) in Turnagain Arm, outside of Los'Anchorage a guy got stuck, and the tide was coming in. They sent a rescue chopper put a harness on him and tried to wench him up. They ended up at the last as the water was up to his chin, they gave it everything they could; and it pulled him in half.
I got this straight from one of the guys trying to wench him up, on the same day it happened, his wife worked for us.

How did they pull him in half. What kid of mud is this? You can sink to your waist quick here. Especially at low tide in our salt marshes and low ground deltas. Trick is to keep moving. If you stop you sink. They make mud wings that are kind of like snow shoes that work well but you can still get stuck.

I remember sitting in Simon & Seafort’s in Anchorage looking out the window at the inlet. Tide was low. I saw those mud flats and all I could think of was how bad it would be to get stuck in that mud with an incoming tide.

quote:

Originally posted by Capt.Purvis:
How did they pull him in half. What kind of mud is this?

It is glacier silt. It is like moist clay.

quote:

Originally posted by Alaskan Sourdough:
I remember long ago (maybe near 50'sh years ago) in Turnagain Arm, outside of Los'Anchorage a guy got stuck, and the tide was coming in. They sent a rescue chopper put a harness on him and tried to wench him up. They ended up at the last as the ater was up to his chin, they gave it everything they could; and it pulled him in half.
I got this straight from one of the guys trying to wench him up, on the same day it happened, his wife worked for us.

That was a military kid, and he first drowned, then after the tide went back down they relocated his buddy and it tore in half during the extraction.

quote:

Originally posted by Capt.Purvis:
How did they pull him in half. What kid of mud is this? You can sink to your waist quick here. Especially at low tide in our salt marshes and low ground deltas. Trick is to keep moving. If you stop you sink. They make mud wings that are kind of like snow shoes that work well but you can still get stuck.

It isn't mud like you would be familiar with. It is glacial silt. Granite mountains ground into the consistency of flour. Extremely dense - until you step on it and wiggle around a bit and sink in. Plus, when the tide comes in, the water is extremely cold, even in the summer.

More stories: https://www.adn.com/alaska-lif...ets-deadly-mudflats/

quote:

Originally posted by justanotherhunter:

quote:

Originally posted by Alaskan Sourdough:
I remember long ago (maybe near 50'sh years ago) in Turnagain Arm, outside of Los'Anchorage a guy got stuck, and the tide was coming in. They sent a rescue chopper put a harness on him and tried to wench him up. They ended up at the last as the ater was up to his chin, they gave it everything they could; and it pulled him in half.
I got this straight from one of the guys trying to wench him up, on the same day it happened, his wife worked for us.

That was a military kid, and he first drowned, then after the tide went back down they relocated his buddy and it tore in half during the extraction.

There have been dozens in the 53 years I have lived here. The case I was referencing was an adult Alaska Native. There have been a lot of duck (waterfowl) hunters who got stuck and took their shotgun apart, and breathed through the barrel, till they passed out from hyperthymia and drowned.

Many miles south I was in on such a deal back in the summer of 1974. Driving long haul trucking I had a weekend layover and decided to go fishing/camping at Skagit River Fishing Camp where it flows into Puget Sound.

A couple were parked nearby in a trailer. He had a 10' inflatable boat with a 10hp Merc and invited me to go out in the sound fishing with him.

We got out about a half mile when the prop started kicking up mud. He stepped out to push it off and started to sink. He had kept hold of the motor and I saw what was happening and grabbed him. The boat stood up quite high with both of us at the stern pulling trying to break the suction. He kept trying to move his feet to break loose too.

It took a lot of effort and several minutes to get him back in the boat. We both realized he would never have gotten out if he'd been alone. We sat out there in and on the mud until the tide came in to refloat us enough to get back to the river. Where he got out and washed the mud off.

He had lost his shoes and trunks. Once cleaned up he walked naked across the campground to his trailer thru quite a few onlookers, many of them women. The camp manager came to find out what was going on.

When I explained it to hm in front of everyone. He said: "that was a might lucky guy as several over the years had done the same thing and had never been recovered. A few hours later a ranger came along to take a report.

The next morning the fellow sold his boat and motor real cheap and the pulled out for home.

George

Almost had another casualty: https://www.adn.com/alaska-new...flats-near-girdwood/

Back in the middle to late 80’s I also recall a newly married couple walked out on the flats and one of them got stuck. Ended up dead. Rescue crews responded but couldn’t pull both out, tide came in, hyperthermia took over and one died even though they were receiving oxygen.
After a couple more near deaths they developed a system for injecting air and or water around the person stuck. This method broke the suction effect up and they were able to pull them out easier.

This is great news.

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
Back in the middle to late 80’s I also recall a newly married couple walked out on the flats and one of them got stuck. Ended up dead. Rescue crews responded but couldn’t pull both out, tide came in, hyperthermia took over and one died even though they were receiving oxygen.
After a couple more near deaths they developed a system for injecting air and or water around the person stuck. This method broke the suction effect up and they were able to pull them out easier.

I believe you're correct. Stories like that (and all of these stuck in the flats stories) are absolutely nightmarish. Kind of like the guy that they just rescued after falling off a cruise ship in the last few weeks. I don't even want to think about it.

Good news on saving the boy. I am very familiar with the area. Daughter lives in Eagle River and I travel to and am up in Mat-Su Valley often.