2 mile Swim in Lake Mead

After the first leg of the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay we waited at Callville Bay for Van 2 to finish their first leg. I saw some no swimming signs and was very disappointed. The bay was full of boat docked permanently. John and Kyle went down anyway to just go for a dip and get rinsed off. They said they went to a place where there weren't any no swimming signs so I got in the van with Cathi and drove over since it was a good mile or so away. Sure enough there was a way I could swim outside of the bounds of the boat docks. I had Cathi over on the side of the hill that we climbed down resting in the shade of a tree. She took a few pictures off in the distance.

So I got in and the ground under the water was about two feet deep mud. I ended up sculling a good 30 yards before I felt comfortable enough to start swimming freestyle. It didn't get deep very fast and there were razor like plants near the surface which kind of hurt brushing up against. But within a minute I was free and clear of that stuff and deep enough to get into it and really enjoy it. The water was probably low 70 degrees. It was nice. I started my watch once I started swimming hard. I went 18 minutes out and then swam back to the white buoy which was right up next to the "beach" where I put my clothes. Then swam back out 18 minutes and then back. For a total of 1:12.

I'm estimating that I went about 2.5 miles or so. Here's the route I did:


There were a few little cool sections and I could see the bottom in several places. It was clear and relatively clean once I got out away from the beach. I was on the north end of the lake and it seems like spilled gas, garbage, bird poop, etc. All like to float up to the north end. Once I got out and away from that stuff the water seemed much like any other lake or reservoir. It was fun and helped to give my upper body a workout as well as let my legs recover a little from the hard work of my first run.

Check out my post on the Ragnar Relay.