There were five inches of standing water in the Rifle Gallery. Paul Branch tells me that the sump pumps they employ in this and the south gallery regularly burn out, so they're both frequently full of water. This gallery is 62 feet long, but I couldn't tell how long it was from the entrance, so I had absolutely no choice but to take off my shoes and socks and wade to the far end.

Fortunately, Fort Macon takes enough effort to get to to discourage the lowlifes who often besmirch other forts I've visited with grafitti and trash (i.e. broken bottles)...so a barefoot journey through a long casemate proved as rewarding as it was undamaging.