Camping at Temperance River: Swimming

Perhaps the best part of camping at Temperance River is the proximity of our excellent campsite to the water.  The Lake is right there, and right around the corner, the mouth of Temperance River.  Sometimes Temperance River is crazy dangerous, but it just happened to be that while we were camping it was tempid, temperate even.  After scoping it out carefully, the two dads declared that it was safe to swim as long as an adult was nearby.  The river water was, of course, much warmer than the lake water, probably by 20 degrees or more.  When you kayak in the river and then out to the Lake, it’s pretty fascinating trail your hand in the water and feel how the temperature plummets as the waters mix.  Because all of these kids happen to love water, they were in their swimsuits pretty much all day every day swimming.

Mr. Sneaky Pants desperately wanted to jump off a cliff into the deep, deep river like so many other people were doing.  In the end Dr. Peds let him.  There are no pictures of that though, because wisely he allowed Mr. SP to leap off the cliff when I was far away on my kayak, preventing a nervous break down on my part.  Of all the families letting people jump of cliffs, (and there were many) it was ALWAYS the mothers who protested and fretted.  We can’t help it.  It’s our nature, and it really is quite counter to instinct to allow your  baby to jump off a cliff.  Mr. Sneaky Pants loves to take risk, so Dr. Peds decided it was probably best to just teach him to take risks as safely as possible.  So, my boy jumped of a cliff.  Three times.  And it was absolutely, hands down, the highlight of the trip for him.  It was probably the highlight of the summer.  And I’m quite happy he’s still alive and breathing.

The other kids were quite content jumping off some low rocks next to the river.