Last Swim of Summer at Whipple Dam

Last weekend when we saw the weather forecast for the week, my husband asked me to plan to take Thursday as a vacation day. It was supposed to be sunny and beautiful, and we thought we might spend the day going on an outdoor adventure somewhere.

And when Thursday rolled around, it was just as beautiful as we had hoped. Under blue skies, we drove to Couch's in McAlevy's Fort to kick off our adventures with a nice, hot roast beef sandwich meal. And from there, we headed to my favorite swimming hole at Whipple Dam.

The swimming season at Whipple Dam and Greenwood Furnace ends after this coming weekend. And with cooler temperatures expected to follow a cold front that will move through, the weekend might end up to be more of a hiking or even backpacking weekend rather than one for swimming. So the day was bitter-sweet; we went there, knowing this would be our last swim of summer at Whipple Dam.

I walked around both before and after our swim, and above is a photo I took of the lake at Whipple Dam. The swimming area is off to the right. To the left, you can see one of the CCC-era cabins. Above and below, you can see the blue and white sky, with fine cloud reflections on the water.

The place was relatively deserted, with only a few people there: a jogger making his way around the gravel roads, and four people sitting in various spots reading their books. It was very peaceful and quiet, and the still waters beckoned us to come in.

We always park on the other side of the lake from the swimming area. So we grabbed our swimming stuff and walked around the lake to swim. We found the water to be quite chilly, but not quite as cold as Greenwood Furnace.

We walked slowly into the water, inching ourselves in. "Here's where I squeal like a girl," my husband joked, as the water reached crotch-high. "Go ahead," I told him; "everyone will think it's me." And I sang a pretty little song I heard last week on an X-files rerun, as I walked in, shivering: "Jordan River is chilly and cold, Hallelujah. . . . Chills the body but not the soul, Hallelujah."

And then we were swimming, as the sky was blue and the sun shone down and the clouds came and went. The dragonfly days are pretty much done by now, but we did see a few. In fact, a blue one sat on my hat as I swam like an otter through the cool, clear water.

"Do you have a piece of gold for Charon the ferryman?" I asked it. Though I admit I'm mixing up my rivers now; Charon guarded the River Styx, but had nothing to do with the River Jordan. And by the way, my own charge for ferrying one blue dragonfly across the lake is this, no more, no less: gratis.

And we sat and read our own books for a while and drank some cold iced tea before we got ready to leave. The only regret I have is that the osprey (who may or may not be the same one I saw here several years ago) showed up just after we turned the car on to go.

We watched the osprey swoop down over the lake, fishing for its supper; and while I leaped out quickly, with camera, I could not get a single decent shot. So even though I won't be swimming again there any time soon, I will have something to look forward to on our next visit. Farewell, for now, to Whipple Dam.

The soundtrack . . . Well, the soundtrack song just about has to be a song about the end of summer. So here is Green Day, with Wake Me Up When September Ends. I also MUST share with you this gorgeous version of the song I was singing as I walked into the cold, clear water, which I first heard on a rerun of X-files: Maggie Wheeler, with Michael Row.