Wild Swimming at Holliday Lake State Park

I realized on the drive there that I had forgotten to bring cash. Luckily the park office was open and I was able to pay with my credit card. This was a huge relief because the park is in the middle of nowhere. I was looking at a half-hour drive EACH WAY if I had to backtrack to a town for cash.

Each state park I visit is even better than the last!

This one was beautiful, immaculate and quiet. I love quiet.

I got a late start because I wanted to give the day time to warm up for the swim. I had even considered waiting until afternoon. What I hadn’t considered was the fact that I am not at all acclimated to running in the heat. Waiting until later would have been a huge mistake. I struggled enough as it was.

A big part of that was probably the fact that I didn’t carry any water. The trail I was planning to run (Lakeshore) was only 6.5 miles. I run 6 miles all the time without water. But I generally do it around sunrise. It’s a little different by ten in the morning. I also had a little trouble following the trail and the run ended up being a little over 7 miles (another reason I really should have been carrying water!)

Lesson learned. I will carry water when I explore new trails from now on.

The trail is fairly well marked, but you have to pay attention. At one point I came out at a road crossing and the trail didn’t continue on the other side. I went down the road a little in each direction looking for the trail and didn’t see anything. Eventually I decided to go back the way I’d come to make sure I hadn’t missed a turn and soon discovered that I had.

When I got to the dam, there was a sign that said “Danger. Authorized Personnel only beyond this point.” I backtracked again (this wasn’t so bad because it was actually one of my favorite sections.) I ran about a quarter mile before I saw one of the blue blazes that I was supposed to be following. I hadn’t missed a turn, so I ran back to the dam. I then realized that the sign was referring to the area under the dam, not the dam itself.

There was very little mud and only two small creek crossings that required getting my feet wet.

Wildflowers everywhere!

My first lady’s slipper sightings of the year. I saw two.

The section of trail that I got to run four times. There were so many wild azaleas along the shore.

The deepest of the two creek crossings (deeper than it looks in the picture). It came late in the run and I was so hot by that point that I was happy to see it. I stopped and rinsed the sweat from my eyes and splashed some water on my neck.

The last couple of miles were tough. I actually stopped to walk a few times. 

Back at my car, I downed an entire (icy!) thermos of Nuun before heading to the beach. It was quite possibly the best beverage I’ve ever had.

The water felt colder than my previous two swims, but I think that’s just because I was so hot!