Heat Wave

First of all, so sorry that I haven't posted in awhile!  I've been waiting on a picture from one of my friends and I finally have it now, so I can post. :)

Second, last week we had quite a heat wave in Southeast Alaska.  New record highs were set in many places; Juneau hit the mid to high 80s, Yukatat set new records three consecutive days, and Sitka hit a whopping 77 degrees Wednesday last week.

What do people without air conditioning do when it hits nearly 80 degrees and out average summer temperature is about 62, you ask??? Well, we swim.  Anywhere we can.

And that is exactly what my friends and I did, several days in a row.  As soon as we got off work it was a mad rush to change and then try new swimming holes. 

First was the rope swing out towards Herring Cove.  It's this massive rope, probably 9 inches around, attached to a tree about 15 feet above the ocean.  Took me about 15 minutes to talk myself into actually swinging on it, but I'm sure glad I did! 

Not exactly my most flattering photo ever, but proof that I did do it!

A few days after to rope swing was the day that the mercury topped out at 77 scalding degrees.  After moving boats around all day and paddling, we were all ready for something cold.  All my coworkers, their significant others, their dogs, and I trooped the 2 miles up to Heart Lake (there's a picture of the lake in an earlier post) and blissfully swam in the snow-melt fed mountain lake for a good hour.  It was lovely. 

While I don't enjoy working when it's so hot out, I do indeed love how joyous a feeling it is to submerge into cool water after a long day. 

Fingers crossed that it gets hot again soon!