Whipple Dam: Into the Lake We Go!

We had another dry day sandwiched between two days of rain, so my husband and I decided to go on another summer adventure. Our little excursions usually include fresh air, exercise, and possibly a snack on one end of the trip or the other (or better yet: BOTH ends).

So we hopped in the Impala and headed to Lupita's for a pair of huge tostadas, which were our lunch. We ate them while sitting in our chairs under the trees at the edge of the parking lot out in back of the building, which was a fine, shady, and quiet place to eat. We brought extra cheese and sour cream and our own drinks in the cooler.

Fortified for swimming, we headed for Whipple Dam. So far we've swum at two places: Whipple Dam, and Bald Eagle State Park. The water at Bald Eagle has been comfortable and relatively clean, not bad for early in the season.

The water at Whipple, on the other hand, was COLD. In fact, colder than I think it's been most summers, and the next time we see the ranger there, we'll ask about it. Typically, Greenwood Furnace is the coldest place we swim, and we often save it for later in the summer, in July and August when it gets really hot and sticky.

But I think Whipple is rivaling Greenwood Furnace these days. Maybe it was the rain that we had recently, which we badly needed. Maybe it's also that the June temps, after a first few truly beastly hot days, have settled down and been on the cooler side.

In any case, into the water we went for our swim. It was chilly, as I said, so we took our darn good time getting wet. The place was pretty deserted: counting ourselves, there may have been 20 people there, and some of them were just fishing. This photo features the accessible (or ADA) walkway, to assist people in getting into the water at the swimming beach.

In the past few years, they made some improvements at Whipple, and added an ADA fishing pier on the other side of the lake. It's to the left upper left in this photo but not really visible, sorry. To the upper right is one of the pavilions built by the famous CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) boys.

Now, I am featuring this shot because there is something I want to say about accessibility and supports. A day or two ago, a posting came around Facebook: "You should never feel ashamed using something that helps keep you safe."

It pictured a variety of things: a wheel chair, medications, a cane, crutches, a service animal. Well, let me add railings, plus two simple strategies, to that list:  If you need to, SLOW down, and HOLD on!!!

One last thing: I mentioned how lovely it is to start or end a trip with nice snacks. So here's where I reveal that we also stopped and took a half-rack of ribs home from Doan's Bones Barbecue after our swim. Oh nom! :-)

My soundtrack to go with this image of the accessible walkway at Whipple Dam is Fleetwood Mac, with Hold Me.