We had a great group out at L1 this morning. Luke, Lake Monster #47, was in town from Oregon. And new Lake Monster Rachel came in from NYC to get in a swim at the world famous L1 – and she did it sans wetsuit!
The lake temperature read 43F – 44F, and we had some three to four foot swells thanks to a steadily increasing – and rather cutting – west wind. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the sunrise out on the horizon, but we had to make do with the flinty, overcast November skies.
The swells intensified throughout the swim, and it was a bit tricky at Oak Street Beach. Plus, I lost one of my neoprene socks en route and had a frozen foot for the last half of the swim. But the cold and chaos are all part of the adventure – and the fun!
Before we got all this cold weather, Dave was out at L1 with his sister Anne where they were enjoying the last vestiges of our recent Indian Summer. The month prior, Dave’s niece Jelly had made her first Oak Street Beach landing. Not be be outdone, Anne got in her Lake Michigan half-mile and in the process earned her Lake Monster stripes. Way to go, Anne!
Since it’s way too nice outside right now, I’m going to keep this brief. We had a great group of 15 Lake Monsters show up – including a couple of new faces. The lake temp came in at 60F with comparable but rising air temps. The lake had a slight chop to it, but we all forgot about that every time we looked east at the unbelievable sunrise.
There was a lot of activity on the lakefront this morning – for both good and bad reasons. On the good side, they were setting up the polo field at North Avenue Beach for the first ever outdoor polo event there. On the not so good side, the Coast Guard was patrolling the Oak Street Beach area to recover the body of a person who had apparently drowned out by the curve last night.
There’s never a dull moment at L1…
A rather sizable group of swimmers showed up on a very crisp October morning and was greeted by a stunning sunrise courtesy of Ma Nature. This same lady, however, also gave us a 45F air temperature with the lake coming in at a crisp 55F. The waves had diminished considerably since yesterday, but there were still some 3-5 foot high volume swells that made things quite a challenge at times.
I opted to go sans wetsuit, but I wore a neoprene cap as well as a silicon cap on top of it. This, along with the abundant sunshine, took the edge off of the colder water.
Fortunately, everyone got in their swim without any difficulties, and none of us ran into the missing person (thank goodness). But we had a chat with a police officer before the swim, and we were all prepared to flag them down should any of us make the unpleasant discovery.
The lake is dangerous, folks, and Ma Nature can be a real harsh disciplinarian…
P.S. Congrats to new Lake Monsters Chris (#157) and Greg (#158)!
I must say, after last night it certainly felt great to sleep in until 5:30am today…
I arrived at L1 at 6:50am, and Denys and Nick were already at L1, transfixed on the horizon. Nick pointed out a waterspout on the lake about as far out as the water crib. Over the next few minutes, several ones formed out on Lake Michigan (luckily nowhere near the lakefront!). You should not have slept in!
The official lake temperature came in at 62F with the air temperature at a crisp 51F. We had overcast skies and a slight breeze, but the swim area was relatively calm until we hit Oak Street Beach.
The return swim back to L1 was quite a challenge. The wind had picked up, and we had some swells coming in from the northwest. So we had to swim into a current which was diverting us out to the buoys. But despite this extra workout, we all had a great time out at “the pool.”
While I was still fighting off the cursed evil twins of jet lag and hay fever, a small crew of intrepid swimmers braved the turbulent waters Sunday morning and showed Lake Michigan that we Lake Monsters are not easily deterred!
Nick made it out to L1 and was kind enough to lead the group and take a few shots. Per Nick:
There were 3 new lake monsters, Dottie, Heather and Jeri-Lou. I didn’t take a video but the air temp was right around 60 with an estimated water temp in the 62-65 range, 4-6 foot swells and a light rain. Not the ideal swimming conditions but we managed to get our mile in. Dotti and I made a beach landing in hopes of doing some bodysurfing but the waves were not crashing as I was expecting…I was freezing so the pictures are not the greatest.
Congrats to Dottie (Lake Monster #152), Heather (Lake Monster #153), and Jeri-Lou (Lake Monster #154). All you ladies did a great job!
Below are some shots Nick sent. I don’t know if there are any of Heather, but I’d be happy to add them to this post if anyone else took some!
Whenever you make a jaunt out to L1 during the warmer months, chances are quite good that you’ll see one or more of these loyal lakegoers within the vicinity. They maintain an unofficial vigilance over our beloved swimming site, and they’re always ready to offer friendly greetings or a pleasant conversation.
In short, they’re great fellows who have fascinating stories to tell. And I always enjoy seeing them out at L1 because they personify everything that’s great about summer in Chicago!
So in this spirit, I’d like to hand out some honorary Lake Monster numbers to the real “beach boys” of L1. Dave had some shots of the group taken last week, so I’ll post a few below with some details:
Left to right:
Diver Dave - #21 (Ice Monster #1!) Dr. Pete – #146 2-Liter Pete – #147 Paul (The Chairman) – #148 Dave (Paul’s son) – #149 Freddy - #150 Danny - #27 Jules (seated) – #151
Once again, we had a perfect morning out at L1 and beat the storms that came later in the day!
Although the days are getting perceptibly shorter, there was still enough light at L1 at 6:00am to get in a swim in near perfect conditions. The lake temperature came in at a blazing 75F with nary a ripple or current to impede us during our swim.
In what has become a tradition, we gathered at Oak Street Beach (the halfway point) to shoot the breeze – but we instead stared in awe at the amazing sunrise! There were a number of new faces out at the ole swim spot as well as several veteran Lake Monsters reappearing after a long hiatus. All in all, a very good morning for a late summer swim reunion!
Pre-sunrise
Louis, Lake Monster #140
Carol-lynn, Lake Monster #141
Dirk, Lake Monster #142
Annie, Lake Monster #143 (hailing all the way from SF Bay!)
We’re on the eve of the Chicago Triathlon, so I didn’t expect to see some of our regulars out this morning. Nevertheless, we had a great turnout, and those who made it out at 6:00am enjoyed a calm, 75F lake with astonishing views of the rising sun to the east.
I won’t spend much time describing things. You can just check out the images below to see what you missed out on!
