Ross Lake in North Cascades National Park, Washington. Lakewise, it doesn’t get much better than this. (Photo by M D.. Ruth) After several years of lake swimming in summer and a few years of swimming through the winter, I stopped writing about my swims. I haven’t posted a blog since January, my notes on my swims since then are cryptic, and the only record of most swims is solely the name of the lake in a square in my monthly planner or a photo somewhere on my cell phone. This was the point at which wild swimming had, after several years, had become so integrated into my life that I spent more ..read more

Moments before four hardy swimmers entered Ward Lake on New Year’s Day. (Photo by M.M. Ruth) New Year got off to a brisk start with a very short barefoot walk across the snow and a very quick dip-swim in Ward Lake. The air was around 36 degrees F and the water 42 degrees F. While these temps might cause you to shiver, they are more “do-able”—even enjoyable—if you’ve been swimming every week or so year round. But believe me, there is no shortage of shivering and goosebumps among the swimmers! I started lake swimming when I moved to Washington State 15 years ago, then made it a summer habit 10 ..read more

Johns Creek at Capitol Land Trust’s Bayshore Preserve (photo by M.M Ruth) What happens when you join other writers and communicators at the Bayshore Preserve to experience the peak of the chum salmon run is that you find yourself, strangely, at a loss for words. At least this is what happened to me while standing on the banks of Johns Creek staring down into the shallow water watching fish after fish after fish swim upstream to spawn.  Being at a loss for words as such a time has its benefits. If you’re not chatting or asking questions, you can close your eyes and listen for the chum, wh ..read more

The Summer of ‘21 was a good one for wild swimming. After two years of swimming in lakes whenever I could, I’ve finally broken down the barrier of “it’ll be too cold.” No lake or river was too cold for me this summer—perhaps because I’ve disassociated pain with cold, or because I have learned just how long to stay in before I get too cold, or because I am okay with a 30 second “swim” involving a wool hat and jogging in place afterward. Beyond getting acclimated/habituated to the cold water, I have started to crave it. I still kinda dread it, but that’s a very small part of the whole e ..read more

“And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” This line from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 sprang to mind when my swimming buddy and I approached the lake for a full-moon swim. Already we are past the peak of summer and are gliding toward the autumnal equinox. it’s been a hot, dry summer here in the Pacific Northwest and I am quite ready for this particular lease to end. I miss the clouds, the rain, the cooler air. Recently, the air took on a welcome chill and we pulled out our fleecy after-swim dry robes for an 8:30 p.m. swim across the lake. The plan was to swim under the full moon. The moon di ..read more

This is the 1981 edition of the National Geographic Atlas of the World. It is one of several fine atlases I have by the NGS. I keep mine on a bookshelf in my kitchen because it isn’t a Ruth Family Dinner unless we bring a reference book to the table. When my sons lived at home, that book was usually the dictionary; now that it’s just me and my map-making husband, it’s often a map or an atlas. We are sticklers for a good map key—the explanation of the symbols used on a map. Keys usually appear in a little box in one of the corners of the map. The key to this particular atlas was printed on a s ..read more

Royal Lake like glass in Olympic National Park. (Photo by MM Ruth) A hike into snowfields during the late-June heatwave in the Pacific Northwest may have looked like brilliant climate-change-adaptation planning, but it was merely fortuitous. My husband and I had gotten our permit to camp in the Royal Basin in Olympic National Park (south of Sequim) weeks before the heatwave. And while we did find refuge from the heat at Royal Lake, the trip was not a straightforward escape to a remote and swimmable lake. It was still hot, physically challenging, emotionally difficult, and eventually perfect ..read more

Swimming in Munn Lake year round has been wonderful in so many ways. The sum of all the swims—the short winter dips, the long summer swims, the perfunctory, the leisurely, the social, the quiet—is greater than any single swim. Though this swim was particularly magnificent thanks to the yellow mono fin (the mermaid tail) that turns your two kicking feet into one powerful swoosh. Normally, when I swim I am talking, looking around, floating on my back, feeling myself get colder as I get further from shore. I am also thinking about how much longer until I can get out of the lake, wrap up in my dry ..read more

This past week’s unseasonably perfect weather in the Pacific Northwest has warmed the water, air, and soil enough for us to believe that Spring has fully arrived. No doubt cooler rainy days will return, but what a week for daily wild swimming in 60-degree-F water. All winter my swimming buddy and I watched the cottonwoods on the shorelines of the lake, dreaming of the day—months hence—when the tree would green up, leaf out, and shimmer in the breeze and we would be swimming—actually swimming—and not just endurance dipping and shivering. The day finally came and what a glorious day it was. The ..read more

Lily Lake in Blanchard State Forest, Skagit County, Washington “Never give up the opportunity for a wild swim.” This has been my guiding principle for the past few years. If you are going on a hike near a lake, river, bay, or ocean, plan for a swim. At the very minimum this means to be open to the idea of a spontaneous skinny dip. Spontaneous works best in the summer. In the off season, especially in winter, a wild swim takes more planning. Even with the right gear and adequate physical training, some swims just don’t and probably shouldn’t happen. I’ve been swimming year round in a local lak ..read more