[Eric Hansen]

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2023/jun/14/uk-cross-country-swimming-and-where-to-do-it The newly popular mix of hiking and open-water swimming opens up new routes for adventurers looking to explore mountains, lakes and coasts Cross-country swimming – the combination of hiking and open-water swimming – enables you to create routes that traverse land and water, whether it be mountains, lakes or a stretch of coastline. The concept is that when your walk comes to a body of water, you pack your kit into a waterproof inflatable bag that can be towed, swim to the next destination, exit, and continue your journey. A multi-swim walk can open up new perspectives on the landscape, even in familiar areas. Standard tow floats are fine for shorter trips. However, for full or multi-day excursions, something like the RuckRaft, which is big enough to transport a rucksack full of camping gear across open water is recommended. https://www.abovebelow.sc/ruckraft

[Songs2]

That's an interesting concept, though it does add weight and bulk to the hiking portion. Edit to add: I am unsure of its applicability to the USA; difficult to think of a situation in which a lake approached by a trail would not have a trail around it. Perhaps it might make its appearance in the odd competition, like packrafting. The UK is another matter. Roger Deakin captured and sparked wild swimming enthusiasm by swimming England south to north, recounted in Waterlogged: A Swimmer's Journey through Britain (he had to interrupt his swim to return home and clear the frogs out of his moat). Kate Renfrew followed quickly with Wild Swimming, and we're off to the races. Regulations in the UK and EU countries regarding access to lands and waterways are different from those in the USA. There are many exciting formal swims in USA (I stopped to look up the Pennock Island Challenge, in the Straits of Tongass; it appears to have been discontinued), and one can set up one's own exciting adventure swim.

[Cyclopath]

Too much thalassaphobia!

[CS]

[Songs2]

[Eric Hansen]

I don't have this dialed in yet. Thought the Ruckraft was something new, and like pack rafts it might take a little time to sort through, evaluate, the new possibilities. Lake Powell comes to mind. I've been on top of Navajo Mt. 4 times. You look down at the oceans of red rock country below, and the lake's inlets. Like a giant jigsaw puzzle. And water temperatures are a factor. I'm Wisconsin based and much of our "Up North" wilderness areas have lakes and streams that are reasonably warm in the summer. P.S. Cyclopath, that was a word I've never seen before. ( : Maybe you can help us set up a rating system for this new sport of Ruckrafting? Like, hike/climb for this route moderate class 3 , but swim is a class 5 thalassaphobia?

[RumiDude]

For a couple years back in the early 2000s I was passionately devoted to hiking and then rafting across alpine/subalpine lakes. I used three different cheap inflatable rafts with paddle. It was fun but I soon learned it had limited application. I wore myself out in the Alpine Lakes area, especially in the Foss River drainage. I rafted every lake I could. It is harder than it looks but still fun. As I moved on to exploring the Glacier Peak region, a raft became dead weight. I gave all that stuff away. What was great was that I could go almost anywhere on a lake that I thought looked interesting to explore. Because I used cheap rafts I got lots of small holes, nothing serious. The whole set-up was about eight pounds, including raft, paddle, pump, and a cover for it. It's bulky and so for a while I used an external framed pack, even though that was suboptimal for all the bushwacking I needed to do. I finally got a huge internal framed pack that I virtually never used otherwise. On windy days, it can be challenging crossing water. I suppose that would be true towing as well. I worked with a guy that was from eastern Europe, who was a cold water long distance swimmer. That was a thing in Europe. Anyway, he didn't even use a wet suit. He more than once swam the length of Lake Wenatchee. He regularly swam in Eliot Bay all year long. Cold water swimming is seeing a revival in Europe now, especially in Great Britain, Denmark, Netherlands, France, etc. It's a kinda back to nature sorta thing. Mostly people swim in the sea, or hike to remote lakes and swim; combining that with backpacking is interesting. Rumi

[Cyclopath]

[Get Out and Go]

Therapeutic value of cold water immersion. Matt is the "King of Alpine Swims" at NWHikers. Check out his Trip Reports. Here he is in his element swimming amidst the larches and snow.

[RumiDude]

Here's a short video on cold water wild swimming.

Rumi

[Eric Hansen]

Cyclopath, I haven't been at Devil's Creek but have seen pictures from trip reports. Yep, I understand and don't see that as fear but awareness. It's a good thing to know when the terrain changes from benign to risky. Rumi, "What was great was that I could go almost anywhere on a lake that I thought looked interesting to explore" That's it. It's like off trail hiking vs. on trail. Views change, hidden corners come into sight.

[Songs2]

If you'd like an excuse to travel and swim several days (summer) in northern VT or a couple of days (winter) in a frozen lake, Phil White runs a lot of fun events at Kindom Games, Newport and Derby, VT, right on the Canadian border. You can even swim a 25-mile border crossing route, or do a double. It's gorgeous territory. I got down to a mile in 50 F water, and possibly 10 minutes in slightly colder. Now not so much. One has to work up (down) to it. Easier if there is fire. About exploring through swimming capability: that's what I enjoy most. I can swim around the island to see what's on the other side.

[Cyclopath]