Loughrigg Terrace Beach, Grasmere
September 2022
As we approached the 'beach' I realised I'd been here before. Fully clothed and on a Spring walk with some friends when the girls were young. I would have sauntered past the lake. I'd have appreciated the view, but swimming in it would have seemed an absurd idea.
Today, as we drove alongside Lake Windermere, I'd looked over at the water and felt an urge to get in. I wondered if I was getting 'the bug'.
We'd chosen another busy spot but there were quieter parts a little further down so we settled and stripped down to our swimwear. My swimming partner and I had agreed that this would probably be our last swim before next Spring. Neither of us felt hardened enough yet to join the ice breaking, extreme and diehard winter swimmers.
We spotted the swans that had been mentioned in the passage we'd read on Grasmere. We'd been warned about them chasing out human swimmers from the lake. They seemed a safe enough distance away for now so we began our 'entrée'.
I was last in again. It felt a lot colder than Fell Foot last weekend. I think I lasted about 5 minutes before I felt I needed to get out. But whilst drying off I still felt a huge sense of achievement. I was beginning to warm to my new hobby. It was like nothing I'd ever done before and so out of my comfort zone. We planned 'just one more' swim before winter...
We drove into Ambleside and it started to rain. Even though we agreed that we'd had a lucky escape, I secretly felt a surprise sense of disappointment that it hadn't rained whilst we were swimming. I mentally added 'cold water swimming in the rain' to my non existent bucket list.
What is happening to me?
We had a really nice coffee in The Ambleside Tap Yard, and we were gifted free baked bread and cookies on our way past The Apple Pie Café and Bakery as they were closing up for the day.
My muscles ached for the rest of the day as if I'd done a high impact workout, and I fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Wild swimming is exhausting...but fast becoming addictive.
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