Wilson Creek Swimmin'!

One of the main reasons we went back to Mortimer was to go swimming in Wilson Creek. I had scoped out the swimming hole for us on my previous trip, so we woke up early on Saturday and staked out our spot after breakfast.

The water was cool, but not frigid like the swimming holes I've used in Panthertown Valley and in the streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Those tend to be very cold--probably around 50 to 55 degrees. But Wilson Creek has water that's closer to 73 to 75 degrees, I'd say. It's cool when you first jump in, but you get used to it pretty quickly. Not so those other places.

After several years of extreme drought, it's nice to see our mountain creeks up to full flow. I was especially impressed at the depth of some of the swimming holes in Wilson Creek. There are many, many places where you can jump and dive off of cliff faces and huge boulders into the pools. One of the pools where I went swimming had spots about ten to twelve feet in depth.

One could safely jump from this boulder into the creek.

We generally had a great time at the creek, even though the crowds got a bit thick later in the afternoon. But that was when we packed up and headed back to camp and I also got a hike in later in the day. The only bad thing that happened was that I tripped over a bush while getting some photographs and later discovered that it was poison oak--which I only realized when the rash and blisters formed on my foot and ankle where the leaves had rubbed my skin. Oy!

One guy hitting the pool while another waits to leap in.
(The water was about ten feet deep there.)

Carole sitting in the swimmin' hole waiting for me. This is when we had the sloping granite rock and the pool mostly to ourselves early in the day.

This was the best of the jumpin' off rocks. It was while getting this shot that I got the poison oak on my foot. Still suffering from that as I write this post. Alas!