10th Annual Polar Bear Plunge
On the drive over to Matthews Beach yesterday morning, I was feeling nervous. What was I nuts?! Who jumps into a lake with a temp of a little less than 40 degrees!? Who does that? Only crazy people! That’s why I said last year and that’s what I said when a friend told me she likes to swim in rivers in the mountains. Nutso.
So, I was reconsidering this crazy notion I had that jumping into a very cold lake for shits-n-giggles was such a great idea. I also thought the tomato battle was going to be awesome. Long story short: It wasn’t. For some reason, those tomatoes smelled like vomit. I smelled it even after 2 showers. Glad I did it though.
But I made a commitment and I had two people coming with me. It was on no matter what. Plus, it was gorgeous outside. The Olympics, the Cascades and Mt. Rainier were beaming; the water seemed calm.
My group and I got there just in time to stand around looking at everyone else and wonder how in the world all of us were going to get in and out of that small space. We did it in the true Seattle way: we took turns (Here’s a thought: Are we the American version of Canadians? I think so!). So we waited ours.
It.. was awesome! And surprisingly not as cold as I feared it to be. It made me want to find a colder lake to truly test my polar bear capabilities! (40 degrees is not quite Polar Club material but it’s close enough to call it a Polar Club Plunge). Word to the wise though: use swim shoes. My feet were burning from the cold. I could hardly use them.
I’m totally doing this next year.
Little Seattle Observationist 