Another thing that I was learning was that the creeks feeding into the river were quite interesting. Often, the muddiest, quicksandiest, goopiest spots were right near the creek mouths. And what very little bit I did explore in the creeks indicated that a lot of sand, mud and clay accumulated in them.

In the fall of 2000, I believe it was in November, I explored Grindstone Creek, where it crosses Interstate 20 about three miles east of the Brock exit. I neglected to take a camera. I found quicksand about a quarter mile downstream from the highway. Probably as deep a quicksand pit as I had managed to find so far in the much larger Brazos River. This was something of a revelation, but on reflection it made sense. The creeks around these parts tend to cut a deep little channel through layers of clay and sand, and the steep sides allow the stuff to accumulate fairly thickly in places. It doesn't seem to wash away and smooth itself out into a nice flat sandbar like on the river.

Although the creeks emptying into the Brazos tended to accumulate fallen trees and other harzards from flash flooding, in the back of my mind I determined that in 2001 I was going to explore a couple of the more interesting ones I had discovered during the treks of the previous two years.