June 4th - Weather Delays

No swimming today, still rain and cool temperature. Will try tomorrow, if weather decides to cooperate.

No Swim Today

June 3rd, 2010 with wind gusts to 20 miles per hour and rain I decided to put off swimming today and will wait until better weather.

Take care

7th - Wasilla Lake

June 2nd - Decided to swim Wasilla Lake today even though it isn't a stocked lake. Mogan wasn't available so I enlisted one of my fellow teachers (John)from Mat-Su Career & Tech High School to follow me in the boat. It was the perfect day to swim one of the longest lakes that I would have to swim. Tempertures in the high 60's and no wind. Water temperature was 64 F. Wasilla Lake is located off the Parks Highway in down town Wasilla. Wasilla Lake is made up of two lake and upper and lower with a small canel connecting the too lakes. In the middle of canel it can't be more than 4 feet deep. The public access is locted by the swimming beach on the side of lake near Pizza Hut. Float planes have been known to land here and the pilot would walk up to get a pizza. While swimming across the lower lake had the opportunity to watch several seagulls and loons swim or fly by. Actually only could watch them when I took a breath. Lake seemed to be pretty clean only few weeds in the canal. Of course John was trying to video tape me swimming through the canel but ran the trolling motor into to shallow of water and had to stop and clean the blades thus the video didn't happen. The first half of the upper lake was clean of weeds but the second half is much shallow (4-6 foot deep) and hence as we got closer to shore the more weeds i had to swim through. Total time 53 minutes and according to the GPS it was just of 2 miles as the crow flies. But if you have ever swam in open water you know that you don't swim straight. Thus, I would estimate my total swim distance more like 2.25 miles. Once across now it was time to enjoy the boat ride back across the lake. Unfortunately the battery was dieing and John decided to oar and it took us 70 mintues to get back to the truck. In future swims that John goes with me on we will bring a 2 hp motor so that we can get bck across the lake quicker. Overall good experience.

5th and 6th Lakes (Kepler and Bradley Lakes)

June 1st 10:00 am Kepler and Bradley Lakes are part of the parks system and hence they will charge you a daily fee to either camp or just to go fishing. But fortunately we were there before the office opened and hence didn't have to pay. I decided to swim Kepler Lake first and like Matanuska Lake it is deep around 75 feet at its deepest part. Since it is deep the water temperature had to be in the high 50's. It took me about 8 minutes to warm up. If you plan to swim this lake start about 25 yards from the bridge. This area is very shallow and has a very muddy bottom. We didn't have a lot of time today so I placed Morgan on the Bridge so that she could keep and eye on me. The public access is right between both lakes thus I had to swim across and back both lakes. On the way back across Kepler I was a little bored so I decided to count the number of freestyle strokes it took. The result was a total of 475 strokes. Total time was 33 minutes. Once I reached the shore I climbed out and walked over to Bradley Lake. The first thing I noticed was that Bradley was warmer and it should be since the depth is only 30 feet. Once I reached the end of the lake I decided to count the number of strokes on the way back. This time it took only 333 strokes and a total time of 22 minutes and 25 seconds. For a total time of 55 minutes and 25 seconds, thus the longest swim to date. Overall the lake was pretty clean as long as you avoid the section on Kepler side near the bridge. Unlike the Kepler side Bradley side has more gravel.

Fourth Lake - Cottonwood Lake

Technically I can't count Cottonwood Lake since ADF&G doesn't stock this lake. This lake has a natural population of rainbow trout. I decided at 4 pm that I would swim Cottonwood Lake, when we arrived there was several boats and several kids playing in the water and with leeches. Since this is a larger lake we took out the raft with the trolling motor. We drove the raft to the far end of the lake, from there I swam the length of the lake then back about a third of the way to the boat launch the whole trip took around 30 minutes. This time I started the watch but myself and Morgan forgot to stop our watches. The water was refreshing since it has been warm all weekend with temperatures in the mid 70's. A 300 acre fire in Ekultna provide a haze to the sky. No problems today just had to watch out for the other boaters ( a few additional waves), but I should have known better since it is memorial day. Just remember if you swim this lake stay out away from the shore line to avoid the weeds and swim on the far side of the Island where it is deeper. The side closest to the boat launch is only 54 to 5 foot deep and has a few lily pads. Later in the summer more weeds will be present.

Thanks that is it for today.

Take care!

3rd Meirs Lake

May 30th, 2010 after swimming Matanuska Lake we decided to swim a small lake nearby off of outspringer. From the parking area you will need to walk about 25 yards down hill to reach the shore line. The water temperature was a little warmer than Matanuska Lake. I proceeded into the lake without any problems and swam across the lake. As usual without a guide boat I have a tendency to veer right. The whole swim took about 7 minutes to complete.

Only people seen on this lake was a couple of guys paddling a canoe and attempting to catch a fish.

Until next post have a great day and enjoy the 70 degree weather we have been having in wonderful Palmer, Alaska

Second Lake a chilling experience

Sunday May 30th, 2010 decided to swim two lakes today. First lake was Matanuska Lake. This particular lake see many recreational swimmers throughout the summer, because the water is cool, and clean. Forgot our thermometer today but the water had to be in the mid 50's. I didn't think I could handle the water today, but with the wet suit I began and by the time I was half ways across I began to warm up. One reason that this lake doesn't warm up is because of its depth. Matanuska Lake is 70 to 80 foot deep in spots. Like most lakes in the valley this lake is man-made and I would suspect that gravel was removed to make the highway. I choice not to have Morgan use the Kayak today and had her watch me swim across and back. I forgot to start my watch but I can estimate that it took me around 25 minutes. Great lake to swim, little smell and alot more enjoyable than Walby Lake was.

Local bystanders looking on are left speechless. They just don't know what to say about an old man that is overweight and wearing a wet suit.