Don’t get me wrong, I really like hiking. No, I LOVE hiking! I also really enjoy other outdoor activities like bicycling and swimming. The main mission of Hiketricities.com is to try and encourage people to get outdoors and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us! You can see it by hiking, swimming, roller-blading, bicycling and more. Just getting active will help improve your physical health and your mental well being, Go For It! Make sure to comment on how you enjoy the great outdoors!
Every summer for the past 7 years or so, my swimming buddy and I jump in the Columbia River and get some exercise 2 or 3 times a week. We were in the river at a family get together at Leslie Groves Park one day when we noticed the current and both had the same thought; “Swimming the river would be good exercise”. That was the start of a wonderful tradition.
Every summer since, I am reminded of how blessed I am to live 5 minutes walk from the Mighty Columbia. We usually swim along Howard Amon Park, starting near the Lee Boulevard dock and going upstream to the boat launch then back downstream. It takes about 30 minutes and gives us a good workout.
Our Regular Swimming Route (click to enlarge)
Every so often, we get a wild hair and want to take some longer swims. This summer has been no exception. We swam Leslie Groves to Howard Amon, Hood Park to Sacajawea Park (Snake River), cross-river from Chiawana Park to the Edison Street Boat launch, and our longest swim was this morning from Howard Amon to the marina at the west end of Columbia Park. This morning’s swim was awesome! 3.7 miles in an hour 25 minutes. We had to watch for fishing boats but we swim with safety in mind. We each pull a float behind us for visibility and emergency flotation and we have someone in a kayak along beside on long swims, just in case. My son, Justin is our usual kayak spotter. (continued below)
See the GPS tracings of these swims on Google Earth images below.
Hood Park to Sacajawea Park on the Snake River
Under the Railroad Bridge on our "Hood to Sac" Swim (click to enlarge)
Leslie Groves to Howard Amon (click to enlarge)
Getting Ready to Swim from Leslie Groves Park (click to enlarge)
Chiawana Park to Edison Street Boat Launch (click to enlarge)
Howard Amon to West End of Columbia Park (click to enlarge)
As I swim in the quiet, peaceful solitude of the Columbia River it is a great catharsis. We frequently get to watch the sunrise while we’re swimming and we only occasionally see boats and rarely see other swimmers. It is a great time to think about life, ponder, meditate and pray. I did that kind of thinking, I’ll probably write about it some time. I also wrote about an experience we had while swimming earlier this year:
“Swimming Lesson”
the boat launch fairly quickly. We turned back and started heading downstream. The water was running fast. We usually swim further from the shore on the way back to get in the downstream current. As we were swimming, we were about 15 feet apart. We noticed the swiftness and each had a momentary panicked feeling that lasted a very short time (less than a second) as we each thought “The current is so strong, what if I can’t get back in, which way should I turn? Am I strong enough to get back to shore?” My friend chose to swim further out and I headed closer to shore and we were quickly about 30 yards apart. There was a turbulent area between the faster running water going downstream and the slight upstream backcurrent that was closer to shore. The turbulent area was like a vortex or whirlpool. I could feel the water pulling my body back and forth as I swam through this division between the two currents. Both my friend and I realized how fast the current was. We are both strong swimmers and had our visibility/emergency flotation tubes tethered behind us so we were fairly safe even as we had that moment of panic. At this point, we both were swimming perpendicular to the shoreline, working to get back before we were forced past our towels on the shore where we had entered the water 20 minutes earlier. I headed toward shore a split-second earlier than the my friend, that made all the difference and I got back to the towels. My friend was going downstream so fast he was forced to come ashore about 100 yards downstream and had to walk back . As we both have thought about and discussed this experience, we recognized the symbolism and analogies to choices we make in our lives and the associated consequences. There are life choices we make in a split second. One choice may appear more exciting or faster paced or have a higher “thrill” factor. The other choice may seem duller, not as exciting but can still be very fulfilling. The split second we have to choose is often muddied by turbulence, currents (“friends” or societal pressures) pulling us in different directions. Once we make that choice, we are quickly downstream, caught up in the consequences, far away from the alternative. One choice leads us into dangerous waters while the other is safer. We may be able to survive life in the “fast lane” but it can take its toll on our lives and could have life altering consequences that we and/or our bodies cannot recover from. In my work, I get to see some of those tragic consequences as people are inescapeably trapped by choices made long ago. I also have the pleasure of witnessing the joyful consequences of alternative choices. The areas of these choices include, but are not limited to integrity, fitness, nutrition, family relationships, friendships, spirituality, work and recreation. I hope I can carefully consider my choices and make decisions which will help me be safe, fulfilled and experience long-term joy and happiness.