wotrock wrote:
remogami wrote:
can put on a layer to escape the cold. can't take off your skin to escape the heat.
But the lake beckons!
It does. Bless a clear, cool lake or river pool on sweaty summer trips. The moving water river stuff is occasionally great fun; float down immersed in the current into a run out pool, circle around for a while, walk back to the top and do it again. A nice tight oxbow, walking across the neck for 20 yards to float for 100 yards, can be a natural water park.
Hint: On the Suwannee watch for the dead, bloated wild boar washing downstream into the eddy behind you.
At least in camp I can wear as little clothing as possible, and don’t need “swim trunks” to take a cooling dip. Hand me my robes and tribal headdress, I am McFaisal the First dammit, Sultan of this rock and all I survey.
IMG016 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
No trunks while swimming, but some minimal garb in canoe/in sunny camp is a good thing. A scorching weather butt-naked (operative word) trip down Boquillas canyon in my 20’s demonstrated that some parts of the body that have never seen the light of day will sunburn easily.
I’d rather be a redneck than a redass. Any kind of quick-dry shorts will do; the zip-off long pant leggings have never worked satisfactorily for me.
I do have a lightweight, quick-dry, UV protective sun shirt, with long sleeves that can be rolled up and held button closed. A most near and dear piece of clothing, would buy again.
Eh, so OK, for blazing sun summer or desert trip I bring a frou-frou UV lap blanket. It packs down to the size of a softball, and is hot sun handy in the canoe over bare legs and feet (hate sunburn on the tops of my spring pale feet).
P5030961 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Or in tree-less coastal or desert camp where there is no shade.
P5101059 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
There is a different clothing requirement in hot-weather everyday public appearance. Not just no-shirt, no-shoes, no-service, and I’m not about “keeping up appearances”, but going to the local country store in a Speedo and tank top, no one wants to see that.
Although, I do routinely visit there in fall and winter wearing shop spattered overalls and fuzzy purple lined Crocs. Love those insulated winter Crocs. Overalls too.
Other “swimming” venues are not as freshwater refreshing. Swamps and marshes are yucky. Coastal bays are salty. On a surprisingly warm off-season paddling trip in the Everglades a Florida friend was anxious when I went in for a dip.
We had seen plenty of bull sharks while paddling, and as I floated around in the Gulf he assured me that the shiny beer can I was holding inches from the water was a wonderful lure for a shark or barracuda.
“It’s hot; I’ll take my chances. You should come in, it’s great”. It was wonderful, despite being near bathtub temp water.
His recommendation involved me sticking feathers up my butt, so as to look even more like a big, pink, juicy treat. I had no feathers, and so slowly finished my beer. Admittedly now a bit WHAT-THE-HELL-WAS-THAT leery when some fingerling nibbled at my feet or legs.