49th, 50th and 51st lakes Point McKenzie (Lorraine,Twin Island, Carpenter)

Fireweed in full bloom along Point McKenzie Road

Lorraine Lake - Point McKenzie

July 23rd - Goal today is to get to atleast 50 lakes before my wife and her twin brother David 50th Birthday tomorrow. Before going out I stopped by ADF&G to clearify direction to some lakes and inform them of errors in the directions to past lakes. I made a good connection today with just the right person who asked me to e-mail her the correct directions to the specific lakes that had incorrect directions and she would make the changes. I had 4 lakes left to do in the Point McKenzie area thus I decided to go to the furthest one out which was Lorraine Lake. Of course the directions were incorrect the correct directions should say that the pull out area for Lorraine is located near mile marker 19 on Point McKenzie road. You will see that ADF&G put a boulder to block the trail down to the lake but several people had driven to the left of the boulder and hence the trail was open, muddy do to the recent rain so use 4 wd and you can drive right to the shore. My Garmin GPS came in real handy finding this lake. No sign was present so use the coordinates that ADF&G provide and you will find this lake, The water temperature was 68 F on the surface and few degrees cooler a couple feet deeper. The water was pretty clear and the lake was free of weeds. Total strokes there and back was 820 and the total time was 27:36. Today's swim was fueled by 2 bean buritto's from Taco Bell and a Mtn. Dew.

After drying off it was off to find Twin Island Lake. Again I used my GPS to find this lake. There was no ADF&G sign to indicate this lake. Thus, I pulled off the road mile marker 14.9 Point McKenzie roadwhen I saw a trail that I thought would lead me to this lake. After walking .25 miles the trail lead me to someone house but no one was there so I proceeded to the shore and found a wondeful deck. A little worried that when I came back my glasses, GPS and car keys would be gone, but I had to do it this was number 50. So I got ready and off I went and it was soon after that I had to swim through alot of weeds (about half of the lake). I did notice a couple of spots in the lake that must of had springs coming in to the lake, because the temperature of the water dropped a few degrees. After 497 strokes I reached the other side of the lake for a total of 994 stokes and a total time of 31 minutes 40 seconds. Once I reached the dock all my gear was still there and I quickly changed and walked back to the truck without any problems.

I still had time so I decided I would go try to find Carpenter Lake and this time ADF&G directions were correct and there was even a sign. This lake was a long skinny lake with a few zig and zags in it. I quickly got my gear on and decided my course and off I went, After about 367 strokes I found myself grounded in the middle of the lake. In fact I had to walk a few steps to get to deeper water, then it was back to swimming. I had a great house with a metal roof to use as a spot on the end of the lake to swim for. Once I reached this house I continued on to the end of the lake. After 779 strokes I was close to the end of the lake when I decided that I should turn around and head back. On the way back I must have missed the shallow area because I had clean swimming all the way back. I did have a head wind on the way back thus a few more waves than I wanted but I survived the ordeal. Total time for this swim was 54 minutes and 15 seconds and a total of 1558 strokes. Shoulders are sore so I decided I would have to save Three Mile Lake for another day. Totals lakes to date is 51. Off for the long ride home.

Hope for a clear weekend, if it is I will try swimming the remaining three lakes that I can drive to on the Glenn Highway (Ida, Knob and North Knob lake) before I have to fly to DC Sunday night for school.