Morning Hike & Swim

Thank you kindly, Lois Almon

Day 2 of not setting an alarm to wake. I'm going to bed shortly after sunset and waking naturally shortly before 6am. My fears of sleeping the day away are becoming a thing of the past as I get into a rhythm. I am trying to rest my Achilles in hopes of a really long mountain bike adventure next weekend. I believe there is a benefit in hiking in bare feet whenever possible, so this morning Willow and I hit the Wetlands trail at Almon Recreation Area (aka Buck Lake).

I actually started down the Woodlands trail but the mosquitoes were so bad, I figured a mile hike would be just fine. If I could run, I would! In the interest of healing, I turned back and ducked into the Wetlands trail, which would bring us, eventually, to a piece of beach. I hiked in my bathing suit, with my towel draped around my shoulders to keep the bugs off. Here is some of the scenery (story continues below):

Woodlands Trail

Wetlands Trail

Pitcher Plant

Buck Lake

I recall in my early childhood memories, being at Sunnyvale Park near Wausau and whatever happened, I thought I was drowning. I remember it being very frightening. Now, I don't have a phobia of water but I tend to stay close to shore. I've attempted swimming laps in the pool and even had some instruction, but I get nervous about the breathing thing, my heart rate goes wild, and I become exhausted out of my nerves and inefficiency. I want to overcome that. I want to swim like a fish. I feel drawn to water lately. 

The water is plenty warm, so I went right in. Just some easy breast stroke swimming, and then I put on my goggles and floated a bit in knee-deep water, exhaling through my nose, turning my head to breathe, watching bluegills swim around me.

Willow, on the other hand, is more of a spaz than I am about water. This is what she does:

She began barking at me from shore. I realized that she is more afraid of the water than I am! I coaxed her to me on shore, picked her up, and carried her out to where I could support her while she paddled. I must have spent 15 minutes floating her, going back close to the shore, letting her go, and having her swim a short distance to return to me. She was so nervous at first! I told her we would be calm together and enjoy how cool and soothing it feels in the water. When she was relaxed, she swam back to shore and laid quietly on the beach while I continued to overcome my own fears. I walked out until I could barely touch, and then did the forward crawl back to shore. I worked on reaching, pulling, relaxing, and breathing. There was nothing to be afraid of, after all. I could just put my feet down if I needed to. All in all, a very positive experience. I like open water. I intend to do this again soon.

Working on it!

Just a small section of trail and we were back to the car. On with the day!