There’s a famous saying about April showers and what they bring. But as far as I’m concerned, what they bring is mud. It may be red clay mud in the desert, or thick gloppy brown mud in the mountains, but it’s all mud.
The thing about mud is this: it gets you dirty. A lot of women have a phobia about getting dirty. Maybe it dates back to those days when we were little girls in frilly dresses, playing demurely with (clean) dolls while our brothers frolicked in the mud, much to the despair of our parents.
But if you want to enjoy the backcountry in early spring, you’re going to have to face the dirty truth. April’s one of the wettest months in most western states. The snow on the ground is melting, and it’s likely to rain quite a bit. It all adds up to good old mud.
What is mud, anyway? Just dirt and water, mixed well. And what is the wilderness made of? Strip away the plants and the animals, and you’re left with land (dirt) and rivers (water). In other words, the raw ingredients of mud. Think of getting muddy as the ultimate way to get close to nature.
To the connoisseur, mud isn’t just mud. For example, there’s the slick watery mud that forms on trails when the soil isn’t porous enough for the water to soak in completely. Walk carefully through it, or you’ll find yourself on your backside -- covered with mud. (And do walk through it, not around it. When people circle around mudholes, they widen the trail.)
In eastern Utah and western Colorado, the red desert mud is as inviting as potter’s clay. It’s hard to hike or bike through it without grabbing a few handfuls and forming a vase. The Anasazi made beautiful pottery from this earthen Play-dough; the best I’ve done is a misshapen cup, but it’s a lot of fun.
The best mud of all is the sandy stuff you’ll find beside desert rivers. Yes, quicksand. It somehow defies the laws of physics: slap it hard and your hand will bounce off, sending ripples across the surface, but place your hand gently on it and you’ll feel it sink. Large, deep patches of quicksand can be dangerous, but small ones are fun to play in.
And of course, once you have a crowd, the fun of mud only multiplies. Throw it at each other. Roll in it. I have fond memories of a river trip down the Colorado through Cataract Canyon, near Moab, Utah, when all twelve of us stripped down to bare skin and had a mud battle. (Of course, we had a river nearby to wash off in!)
Even if you don’t actually seek it out to play in, you’re probably going to get muddy anyway. You might as well enjoy it. So strip off that frilly white dress, throw cleanliness to the wind, and take your inner child out for a romp in the mud.