Okay, now that the dust has settled... I shall share my personal knowledge of this type of situation...
"...haven't you ever fallen in the mud, only to have a friend/hiking buddy bust out laughing as you picked yourself up out of the mud puddle??..."
I was backpacking, with hubby, in Canada - British Columbia, the Mt. Garibaldi area, near the Black Tooth...
With a 40+ pack...
And the trail was wet... VERY wet...
I was stomping along, hoping to get to a decent campsite before nightfall - hubby tends to set up in the dark, and that IRRITATES me!!
Anyway, there was this big, long mud puddle smack in the middle of the trail.
Now, I pride myself on sticking to the trail as much as possible, to limit the off-trail damage that can happen - plus, "braided" trails, which can get confusing...
So I stepped in what I thought was the shallow edge of the puddle...
The mud must have had algae on it, 'cause it was slick as wet ice...
And I went face-down into that damned puddle!! AND it was JUST the right length to soak my ENTIRE body!!!
At least my backpack stayed dry... And a good thing it was during the summer...
Actually, I stayed pretty cool for about an hour after that, till I dried out...
Zid