I’m incredibly grateful for my swim today; it was a moment of peace in what was otherwise a slog of a day. We drove from Bellingham to Ashland today, with a stop in Olympia to check out Evergreen College and go for a swim. The Olympia wild swimmers Facebook group is pretty active and through that, I found my way to Burfoot Park. 

The Pacific Northwest is wrapped in a blanket of warmth today; uncharacteristically summery after a cold, stormy weekend, and Burfoot Park was buzzing with activity. We found a place to park and embarked on a beautiful quarter-mile hike through a lush canopy of trees down to a beach strewn with smooth rocks and looking out toward the cascade mountains (painted with a fresh crown of snow after this weekend’s storms).

I got straight in and my thermometer confirmed what my body immediately knew: This water was so much warmer than Bellingham. 13 degrees C versus 8 yesterday, even though it’s all the Puget Sound. Because I was swimming alone, I stuck close to the shore and did a few laps along the beautiful beach, looking across to the mountains. If I weren’t so exhausted right now I’d do a little research to find out more about the park and where I was in relation to everything else, but I’m falling asleep and so I’ll leave it here.