Jessica Kieras - Lower Colorado River

Hidden Beaches - TK Jones - dock - TK Jones

125.7 km (78.1 miles)

24 hours, 4 minutes on 18-19 May 2024

Observed and documented by Kelley Schall and Megan Haugh

First

Contents

Swimmer

  • Name: Jessica Kieras
  • Gender: female
  • Age on swim date: 44
  • Nationality: United States
  • Resides: Redmond, Oregon

Support Personnel

  • David Loeffler - crew chief, boat pilot
  • Daniel Baugher - bottle thrower
  • Gillian Salton - bottle thrower

Observers

  • Kelley Schall
  • Megan Haugh - Catalina Channel Swimming Federation certified observer.

Escort Vessel

Rigid inflatable boat owned by David Loeffler.


Swim Parameters

  • Category: Solo, nonstop, unassisted.
  • Rules: MSF Rules of Marathon Swimming, with pre-approved exception for traversing unswimmably shallow portions of the river:
    • On two occasions (both noted in observer log), swimmer advanced under own power by walking on the river bottom through water a few inches deep according to the following rules, which were discussed and announced before the swim:
    • “If the water is too shallow to swim over (or around a sandbar), it is permissible to continue the event by walking through shallow water until the water is at a swimmable depth again. Walking is permissible only if the water is at a depth of less than 1/2 meter. Swimmer must be in continuous forward motion while in contact with the ground (no sitting, standing still or lying down on the sand bar to rest).”
  • Equipment used: Textile swimsuit (TYR Durafast One cutoutfit one-piece), cap, goggles, earplugs, nose clip, Desitin, sportslick.

Route Definition

From Hidden Beaches Resort, downriver to TK Jones Campground boat ramp, then a short retracement to an unnamed dilapidated dock at McKinney Family Park and return to TK Jones.

  • Body of Water: Colorado River
  • Route Type: multi-segment, A-B-C-B
  • Route Description:
    • Segment One (121.88 km) – Hidden Beaches Resort (+33.662274, -114.525335), north of Blythe CA to TK Jones Campground (+32.901863, -114.475615), near Winterhaven, CA.
    • Segment Two (1.92 km) – TK Jones Campground (+32.901863, -114.475615) to Dilapidated Dock at McKinney Family Park (+32.887125, -114.468468), near Winterhaven CA.
    • Segment Three (1.92 km) – Dilapidated Dock (+32.887125, -114.468468), back (upriver) to TK Jones Campground (+32.901863, -114.475615)
  • Minimum Route Distance: 125.7 km (78.1 miles) (map)

Photo of dilapidated dock (otherwise unmarked on maps):

History

I was able to identify another swimmer (Matt Moseley) who had swum reportedly 47.5 miles of a different section (Utah’s Canyonlands) of the Colorado River. I also read that Martin Strel attempted a different section, with wetsuit and flippers. My swim is the only marathon distance swim I’ve been able to identify in this section of the river.


Swim Data

  • Start: 18 May 2024, 07:47:25 (Pacific Daylight, UTC-7).
  • Finish: 19 May 2024, 07:52:24
  • Elapsed: 24 hours, 4 minutes, 59 seconds.

Segment Split Times

  • Segment One
    • Start: 7:47:25 am May 18th, 2024
    • End: 5:14 am (seconds not recorded) May 19th, 2024
    • Duration: 21:27 (approx. due to not having seconds recorded)
  • Segment Two
    • Start: 5:14 am (seconds not recorded) May 19th, 2024
    • End: 6:09:27 am May 19th, 2024
    • Duration: 54:57 (approx. due to not having seconds recorded)
  • Segment Three
    • Start: 6:09:27 am May 19th, 2024
    • End: 7:52:24 am May 19th, 2024
    • Duration: 1:42:57

Summary of Conditions

Feature Min Max
Water Temp (F) 72 79.9
Air Temp (F) 64.8 102
Wind (knots) 0 15.7

GPS Track

Trackpoint frequency: 5 minutes. Download raw data (CSV).

Click to expand map.

Speed Plot

Nutrition: See log.


Observer Log

Transcribed Log Notes

7:47:25 am

Swim start. Hidden Beaches Resort. Blythe, CA. Gillian - kayak; David — Cap’t. Megan - Observer 1. River calm & tide up. 4.2 mph according to D.

7:56 am

Boat was crossing to AZ side of river - hit sandbar - engine stopped. Jess swims ahead. D gets out & pushes boat. G not yet in kayak. Dave pushes to deeper water on CA side of river. Water at center is 1 ft deep. D. gets out multiple times to push.

8:01 am

Gillian & Megan get out of the boat to push. Water less than 1 ft deep. D says, “where the hell is the river?!” Ahead where Jess is swimming, a big oxbow of exposed sand on CA side river way over to the right bank - the AZ side. Jess gets out to walk a little over sandbar as per “sandbar rules”. Started out crawling, but did take a few steps before finding deeper water to restart swim.

8:11 am

Jess swimming along - stops to comment on beauty of scenery. J. says she’s glad we know now how to deal with a sandbar.

8:16 am

Feed #1 - G throws from boat. J says current is telling her where to swim. D says he can see surface ripples where it’s super shallow - ripples cause by sand right at surface.

8:27 am

33°39’60N 114°32’6’‘W Blythe, CA 270 ft elevation (apple compass)

8:33 am

We’re keeping to CA side

8:45 am

Fee #2 - Jess says she has been peeing “the whole time”. Crossing to AZ side. G says her GPS indicates 3.2 mi so far - D. Says 3.72 according to his Garmin.

8:51 am

A jet ski passes. D. Waves orange flag to indicate swimmer. D says we’re moving 4.6 mph.

9:02 am

J asks for nose clip. D. Says we will hug CA shore. Gets shallow - D gets out to push boat

9:08 am

Speedboat passes. Wake hits us. We are on CA side of river. Calm surface. Very little wind.

9:16 am

Feed #3. Approaching I-10 Bridge passing sign “River Lagoon Resort”

9:25 am

Pass under I-10 bridge. Rocky shallows just after. D. cuts motor. After I-10 pass under gas pipeline sign. “Warning: high pressure gas line”. Water in small eddies & whirlpools. We move to AZ side.

9:35 am

Jess swimming along well. Turkey vultures in a tree. Move to CA side.

9:42 am

D. says 3.3 mph - slowest we’ve been. 33,35’12’’ N 114,32’24’‘W (apple compass). Feed #4. Thumbs up from J. A little breaststroke. A little elementary backstroke.

9:54-9:57

am

Megan Companion Swim

10:02 am

D. says we’re 9 mi in. Roadrunner spotted on CA shore. Cross to AZ side.

10:16 am

Feed #5 “Nothing hurts, but the pins and needles are just here (in her hand) now”

10:34 am

Back to CA side now. Eddies behind us.

10:46 am

Feed #6 J: “(tingling) is getting better”

10:55 am

Pass under huge power lines. D. says, “The Hopi say the end of this (3rd world?) we’re in is when the kachinas march across the landscape”, referring to the huge towers of the power lines, perhaps.

11:02 am

D. says we’re going 5 mph. J pauses, says, “this is about as nice of conditions as we could possibly get”.

11:16 am

Feed #7. Quic. J is in good spirits. We’ver moved to AZ side. About to pass McIntyre Park on right/CA side. 11:20 am passing park.

11:30 am

33,30’28’’ N; 114,34’24’’ W (apple compass)

11:46 am

Feed #8. Fast. J says: “Awesome, doing awesome. No troubles, bubbles”.

11:57 am

Going 4 mph. D says we’re just shy of 17 mi in.

12:06 pm

G says we’re coming up on the Ripley Group of the Blythe Intaglios.

12:12 pm

J turns over on back - massages her left shoulder. Says, “tingly”

12:16 pm

Does some elementary backstroke. Fee #9. 12:20 J asks to switch sides of the boat - to AZ side. Boat also heads toward AZ side. J switched b/c wanted to see the scenery - sandstone mesas & palo verde trees on AZ side.

12:28 pm

Switch to CA side to avoid sandbars. J says cliffs are awesome. We saw a hawk perch in a little hueco. Only tamarisk/salt cedar trees on CA side.

12:40 pm

D. says we may be coming up on Duck Spot soon - crew change place #1. We’re 19 mi in. 2 ospreys fly over river from AZ side.

12:45 pm

Feed #10.

12:54 pm

Gillian’s google maps says 2 mi to Duck Spot from here. Switch to AZ side to avoid sandbars.

1:12 pm

Feed #11. Preparing for switch. G&M to kayak.

1:48 pm

(Kelley documenting) Feed #12. Good spirits. J noting scenery. Crew exchange went smoothly, Kelley and Dan on board. Passed Duck Spot.

2:19 pm

Feed #13. Swam elementary backstroke a few strokes after feed then backstroke. J feeling good.

2:48 pm

Feed #14. Just passed Oxbow bridge. J looking forward to looking for wildlife@ wildlife refuge. Smiling and asking crew how we’re doing. “I feel better now than when I started”. Coordinates, 33.38631 degrees N, 114.71061 degrees W.

3:17 pm

Feed #15. Requested bar for feed, no fluids. Notes that she’s swimming in “the oasis”. Hawk overhead. People who saw her swimming earlier in another boat asked how long she’s going. Has been peeing “constantly, at least once per feed”

3:47 pm

Feed #16. J requested Ibuprofen w/ next feed, massaging arm. Back to liquid feeds - “good stuff” “feeling pretty damn good, smooth sailing”.

4:17 pm

Approaching hart mine road bridge near Cibola. Feed #17. J says plans to take it easy to prep for night ahead.

4:30 pm

Swam under Hart Mine Road bridge - Dan took photo. Flock of swallows overhead.

4:47 pm

Feed #18. Right arm feeling better. Peed. Massaging R arm after feed - on back.

5:18 pm

Feed #19 Rx bar! Noted next feed close to crew exchange - nearing Paymaster Peninsula point

5:40 om

Early feed (#20) - getting ready for crew exchange.

6:00 pm

(Megan documenting) Crew change successful. Paymaster Penninsula (not a real name)

6:16 pm

J asks us to be sure to take watch & phone into kayak at crew change to stay consistent w/ spot tracker on kayak.- 1st crew change M & G forgot to transfer watch & phone to kayak before D. picked up K and Dan, then moved it to kayak w/ K & Dan while D. took us to shore. On second crew change, K & Dan left phone & watch in boat for the duration of the change - watch was charging.

6:23 pm

6:27 pm

Feed #21. Quick

6:45 pm

Golden hour. Turkey vultures on shore. David thinks we’re past the sandbars. J asks for Mountain House Beef Stew on not next feed, but the one after.

7:00 pm

Feed#22 J says: “this place is special –who know? I really like it here” thanked Dave for his scouting work. Dave said he was grateful to discover it so deeply for this swim.

7:07 pm

Sandbar. Dave cuts engine, gets out & pushes boat. Sun just dipped behind mountain on CA side.

7:26 om

J asks for night goggles – clear lenses w/ light on back

7:35 opm

J asks for Mountain House feed but I guess she wanted a different flavor? Stranger because we (G&M) made it on Dan & Kelley’s request before we switched this beef stew was what was specified. J said “Gross – I can’t eat this.” Also refused regular liquid feed.

7:45 pm

J requests that Gillian add more hot water to Mountain House beef stew. David has a jet boil on board but it takes a little while to find lighter. Lighter found. Gillian struggles to light it. She gets it.

7:55 pm

G whistles to J who had paused to see if J wants to try again on beef stew. J ignores & keeps swimming.

8:00 pm

J takes beef stew. Says, “no guarantees – it’s just really fucking hard.” Does drink some & also takes some liquid feed.

8:11 pm

33 degrees7’32’‘N; 114 degrees 41’59’’ W (apple compass). J asks for night video, G takes it. G says we are at river mile 44.

8:24 pm

Dave hits a sandbar, but now it’s dark. He maneuvers out. Switch to Jess on left/AZ side of boat. We have been & still are hugging the CA side. J says there are no lights on AZ side of boat, so G cracks light sticks on the kayak, which is tied to that side of the boat. Also, a bad dead-fish type of scent wafts over the area from CA shore.

8:30 pm

Feed #24. Liquid - quick. G put glowstick on feed line, which J appreciated. J swims backstroke.

8:45 pm

J pauses to massage left shoulder, turns on back. Then keeps on swimming. Bright waxing gibbous moon above.

9:00 pm

Feed #25. Quick. Liquid

9:15 pm

Passing an array of towers with stacked flashing red lights on CA side of river.

9:20 pm

Jess flips onto back – some elementary backstroke – some shoulder massage. 33 degrees4’28’‘N; 114 degrees 41’23’‘W (Apple compass). Just passed Picacho State Park sign. G took a photo. We smell campfire.

9:30 pm

Feed #26. Liquid. Quick J asks for 2 bottles next time.

9:47 pm

Pass night fishermen – they say it’s 2 mi to PaddleWheeler. This camp is 4S in Picacho. 12 hours in/halfway.

9:55 pm

Sandbar. Jess swims ahead, turns back & asks: “Guys, are you coming?” Dave maneuvers out & we catch up again. J. marvels at beauty of this place at night. Stars, cliffs, bright moon.

10:00 pm

Feed #27. 2 bottles. Quick.

10:15 pm

J flips onto back – massages left shoulder says, “OW” – does some one arm backstroke & some kicking – clearly her left arm is bothering her. Pass a camp –campers don’t know which.

10:20 pm

33 degrees 2’0’‘N; 114 degrees 39’54’‘W (Apple Compass)

10:30 pm

Feed # 28. Passing sign for PaddleWheeler camp on CA side. We are still hugging CA side.

10:35 pom

J. asks for Ibuprofen @ next feed. Keeps switching strokes. Backstroke.

11:00 pm

J takes Ibuprofen & liquid feed. J. says she appreciates crew a lot. Says thanks. Is greatful for beauty. Wind died down – Jess says this is nice.

11:15 pm

Crew switch coming.

11:40 pm

(Kelley documenting). Crew switched at Pichacho recreation area. Feed liquid feed #30 – very quick “thanks honey” to Dan – keeps swimming backstroke.

12:03 am

Passed Imperial National Wildlife Refuge Sign! It’s Sunday 5/19! Shooting star!

12:13 am

J says, “If you’re eating a green salad in NYC in the winter - changes are it’s grown here!”

12:17 am

Quick feed #31. Still hugging CA side, lots of vegetation on shore CA side; mountains on AZ side.

12:32 am

Asked for coffee

12:48 am

Feed#32 coffee →too hot; requested alternate feed. Had trouble opening coffee container, but in diff. Bottle than other feeds. 12:55 stopped to pee

1:17 am

Feed#33 Quick coffee feed; requesting same for next time. Few backstrokes then quickly transitioned back to freestyle. Doing well & maintaining consistency. Same landscape on CA side, passed mountains on AZ side.

1:39 am

Sand bar/very shallow water. Jess sculling/kicking on back – kicking hard to get through it. 1:45 passed another boat.

1:47 am

Jess mentioned air feels cold, water still feels warm. Noted breeze blowing; she air feels consistently cold. Feed# 33 “Hurry” eager to finish feed & cont swimming. Stopped again briefly (1:51) to take regular feed (had coffee first).

2:03 am

Another sandbar – sculling/kicking hard - back to freestyle/out of shallow water quickly.

2:08 am

J had to very briefly walk over sandbar - video taken - then realized deep water resumed swimming - reviewed video and it didn’t come out - sorry.

2:17 am

Feed #34 - Jess & Dave joking about sandbar fun “party on the sandbar” - quick feed, continues on w/ backstroke.

2:47 am

Requested Ibuprofen. Feed #35 1.4 miles away from Fischer’s Landing, coming up on Martinez Lake.

3:05 am

Hitting shallow water going past Martinez Lake –Jess sculling & kicking. Jess asks time: 3:07 am Beaver jumped in river to swim with J.

3:17 am

Quick feed (#36). Few minutes ago reviewed w/ J that we are past 3am - she is happy.

3:47 am

J says “this is the first time hours 3a-5a don’t suck” notes milky way. Feed #37. J asks time

4:17 am

Feed #38 - quick & didn’t have anything to say this time. Sticking closer to CA side again to cover more distance.

4:47 am

Feed # 39 Coordinates: 32. 90366 N; 14.46290 W - wanted to get back to swimming - then stopped to discuss swim plan. J doesn’t want to switch crew. Confirmed plan to go to TK Jones w/ J starting to head into inlet towards TK Jones.

5:14 am

Excited/cleared water to complete first segment of swim (at TK Jones campground). Air was chilly so J immediately got back in after clearing water to start swimming again. Re-entered @ 5:14, was out less than a minute. See video where arms are raised when she cleaners water.

5:21 am

Feed #40. Swimming against the current trying to get out of inlet back to river.

5:52 am

Birds are saying good morning. Feed#41 , w/Ibuprofen. Headed toward dam.

6:09.27 am

Jess is getting out on side of river just upstream from dam for 3rd segment to go upstream again. No land to exit water. Touched dock and immediately started swimming again – on video

6:20 am

Feed#42. Jess asks time - 6:23 - she says “my second best duration!” Swam backstroke for 2 min after feed, back to freestyle @ 6:35 am.

6:40 am

J requests day goggles, “much better”. Slower progress swimming upstream but still making good progress.

6:50 am

Feed#43 - quick, kept swimming backstroke

7:20 am

Feed #44 - declined last feed, swimming by wildflowers that matches her pink MSF cap! “This is fun!” Doing a tour of the perimeter of the inlet by TK Jones Campground. “I’m gonna be sad when it’s over!”

7:30 am

Doing 1 last swim out towards river from inlet by camp and back to make 24 hours. Turning around (7:39) to swim in.

7:52.24 am

FINISH! @ TK Campground – video taken.


Swimmer Statement

by Jessica Kieras

What inspired you to do this swim?

I was looking for a swim with water temperature in the 70s early in the season. I was also looking for a place where I could swim for 24 hours since I’m very interested in gaining experience with this type of swim. David Loeffler suggested the Lower Colorado River and we picked a date where we thought the water would be in that temperature range. I’ve always wanted to combine my interest in backcountry hiking in remote areas with swimming. I was very excited about swimming in a place that was so out of the way.

I’m also very interested in land and water use and volunteer on my county’s planning commission where we work on these issues regularly. The Colorado River is one of the most litigated bodies of water in the world and provides all or some of the water for 1/10 Americans, all of the major southwest cities and 5 million acres of farmland. This river is absolutely essential to life-as-we-know it in the American southwest, as well as life in far off places. If you’re eating a salad during winter in New York City or Washington DC, chances are it was grown in the Imperial Valley, where this swim took place, using water from the river I was immersed in.

Describe how you planned for the swim.

David and I had many lengthy and enjoyable phone conversations. He suggested we set it up kind of like an ultrarun. (David is not only an accomplished marathon swimmer, but also an ultrarunner). We devised a plan where we would rotate crew members on and off the boat at roughly six hour intervals throughout the 24 hours. Since there was no way to know exactly how fast the current would be moving, we mapped out multiple potential spots to change crew and had three contingency plans based on possible speeds of the current.

In order to change crew and still always have two people watching me, we towed a tandem kayak along with the boat. When it was time to transition, Gillian and Megan (the first crew shift) would get in the kayak while Dave would zoom ahead in the boat to pick up Dan and Kelley (the second crew) on shore. Upon returning with the fresh crew members, Gillian and Megan would be ferried back to shore by David, while Dan and Kelley continued with me in the kayak and David would catch back up with us after dropping the first crew off on shore. This way, I always had an observer and crew member with me, but I didn’t have to stop and wait for the crew to change. After getting off of their shift on the river, crew members would then drive David’s truck to the next transition point and wait for us to meet them there.

David took the time to travel to the area on two separate occasions to scout out both the river route and the remote and rough roads to the transition spots. On one of these trips, he discovered that there were significant sandbars throughout the course, some of which span the entire river, leaving water only several inches deep. He got stuck on one and dragged his boat through it, but we knew we’d need a plan in the event that the water would be too shallow to swim through these sections. I reached out to Evan with some ideas and together we articulated some rules for the swim that I publicized (on my fb page and on the msf forum) in advance of the swim, in the interest of transparency:

[“If the water is too shallow to swim over (or around a sandbar), it is permissible to continue the event by walking through shallow water until the water is at a swimmable depth again. Walking is permissible only if the water is at a depth of less than 1/2 meter. Swimmer must be in continuous forward motion while in contact with the ground (no sitting, standing still or lying down on the sand bar to rest).”]{.mark}

I have to admit, I felt weird about the prospect of walking during a swim event. However, it occurred to me that we almost always walk into and out of the water at the beginning and end of our swims. In France, I had to walk a good 500 meters through inches deep water to reach the dry land because of how the tide was when I arrived there after crossing the English Channel.

How did the swim go, generally? Did you face any unanticipated challenges?

Honestly, the swim was a delight. The scenery was beautiful and kept my mind occupied and happy throughout the day. Having warm water in the 70s made everything feel hospitable and relaxed. It occurred to me that I was literally swimming through and inside of a desert oasis. There was something very magical about it. The crew also contributed to making the swim pleasurable. Every time I looked up, people were smiling or just looking around, peacefully appreciating the unique and special terrain we passed through.

We hit our first sandbar just ten minutes into the swim. It was pretty disorienting. I kicked and sculled with my head up, my feet hitting the bottom of the ½ foot deep river. The current was pulling me left, but before I knew it, my stomach was stuck in sand with water just a few inches deep. There was no going anywhere horizontally, so I tried to crawl for a bit, but noticed it hurt my shoulders and wrists. I stood up, looked around and listened to my crew, who were telling me to go to river left. As soon as the water was deep enough, I plopped back down and continued kicking and sculling until the water got much deeper again. There is a video clip of this in the video compilation.

There were a number of sandbars throughout the rest of the swim and I was able to kick and scull over all of them except one other one, which came at night. I only had to walk for a few short steps over this one, before I was back in and kicking. It was a relief to get back in the water because the air felt so cold, especially with the breeze, that I didn’t want to be walking around in it. Kelley and Dan joked that I looked like a creature out of a Japanese horror film, as I rose from the shallow water into the night air, my body covered entirely in white desitin. Kelley tried to take a video of this, but was disappointed to find that the recording hadn’t come out after all.

There was something funky in the water that made my nose stuffy and itchy. I put on my nose clip about an hour into the swim, because I always use it if it’s windy and I’m swimming backstroke, but I was very glad I had it. Even with it, my nose became very stuffy throughout the swim. I don’t know if I would have finished the swim without it.

We had a steady and significant headwind going the opposite direction of the current, during the second part of the day. This produced some white caps and made the water a little bumpy, but I felt a little relieved because I knew it would keep my crew cool in the brutal desert heat.

I did have some trouble with some crampy stuff in my left shoulder, which was causing tingling in some of my fingers and hand. This troubled me, because even though it didn’t hurt, I wanted to make sure I didn’t do anything that could hurt my nerves. I solved this by alternating backstroke and free and massaging the crampy muscle (which was in my upper back). Eventually it all cleared up and I felt pretty normal again.

The night sky was spectacular. At first, we had a beautiful, glowing Gibbous moon that illuminated the river well enough for me to see both shorelines and not experience any dizziness, nausea or vertigo (which I often get on night swims in the ocean). When the moon went down, I took off my goggles and allowed myself to be dazzled by the milky way while floating along doing backstroke.

The transitions went off without a hitch. I could tell that we were on “Plan C”, the contingency plan that involved the fastest moving water, and that therefore it would take significantly less than 24 hours to get to the furthest end point we had identified– McKinney Family Park, right next to the dam. In Plan C, the idea was to exit the water at McKinney Family Park, then immediately get back in the water and swim upstream for a “multi-segment swim” so I could still achieve my 24 hour goal. However, Gillian and Megan (who were on shore) went to McKinney Family park and discovered that there was no water access there, and that we would not be able to end the swim (or even segment one) at that location.

So, they decided we would end “segment one” at TK Jones Campground, immediately get back in and then decide where to go next so that we could extend the swim route to last at least 24 hours. (See video of me exiting at 5:14 am.) Once I got back in, David suggested we go toward the dam. Once we got close to the dam, we could see that there were warning signs, including large, spray painted letters across the top of the dam warning boaters to not come any closer. I still thought maybe we could exit at McKinney Family Park, but my crew said no, it was not safe. I looked around for somewhere to get out of the water, to end “segment two” before heading back upstream. All we could find was an old dilapidated dock, that I figured must have been operable many years ago, before they started discouraging people from entering the area. The dock was too high above the water level to haul myself out onto. Also, there were rusty nails poking out of it. I decided to touch the dock, above the waterline, as if it were a cliff face, and turn around and head back upstream. (See video at 6:09:27.)

I began to make my way upstream. The current was strong, but manageable and felt like the more difficult sections of my summertime daily river swim. I inched along, going harder in places where the current seemed to stick. David suggested I get closer to the shore, but I pointed out that we were just trying to kill time until 24 hours anyhow, so there was no rush. I eventually found myself back in the inlet at TK Jones park. Dan told me that the pink flowering shrubs on the shore were the same color as my pink MSF cap, and suggested we go take a photo of me with them. We had a fun time swimming around in the inlet, looking at and taking pictures of things. It felt really fun, like a celebration, victory lap type thing. “I know I’m going to be sad when this is over, “ I said. (And I am sad it’s over now, writing this). Finally, it was time to get out, so I made my way to the boat ramp for the final exit and managed to get out over the very slippery ramp for the second time.


Photos

Click to enlarge.


Video