Picnic Point Park, Edmonds, WA (Skins)
DATE OF SWIM: 1/11/21
This swim was a bit murky in spots (goose poop?) and the sky grey, but we had gorgeous views of Whidbey Island while we swam! In the far off northern distance, on shore we could see one of the ships that is part of the Picnic Point "shipwreck graveyard."
Route
Picnic Point Beach - north of the beach and back
Distance
1290 yards, 24 minutes skins
Water
46 degrees F
Support
Buoy, Garmin Swim 2 and swim friend
A Shipwreck Graveyard
My friend suggested we try out Picnic Point Park in Edmonds, apparently one of the best sunset parks in the area. This park is not to be confused with the one in Lynwood with the same name! My friend made that mistake earlier and warned me ahead of time. Picnic Point actually also has a "shipwreck graveyard" that you can explore, north from the stairwell. Unfortunately, they are on private beach property, but in the summer it would be possible to swim to view them. We saw one of the ships way down the beach but it was too far away for us to swim towards.
Getting to Picnic Point Park requires walking over a pedestrian bridge, so you can't quickly get to your car after swimming. We were very lucky that the heavy rain cleared as we got ready to start swimming. The entire drive there from Seattle, it rained heavily.
Image by Only In Your State
Geese, Rain and Colorful Caps
We set out for a short swim, north towards Mukilteo, alongside the train tracks. We talked before about swimming 10 minutes out and then turn around in the direction we came. The train tracks made me nervous since I always prefer swimming in a location or direction where I can get out easily if I need to, especially when I'm swimming in an unknown place for the first time. The train tracks are bolstered by heavy boulders, so getting out would be very difficult and would require walking on mostly impassable rocks. I was pretty nervous swimming in this direction, seeing that when we set out, we were being pushed by a strong current. I knew we'd have to swim back against that same current. The combination of swimming without the wetsuit, in poor conditions and in a new place made me become even more nervous. I told my friend after about 7 minutes that I was going to turn around and head in the other direction. Swimming is always a practice is knowing my limits and boundaries, trusting my gut, and listening to myself.
We luckily did not have to fight a major current as I expected, instead I felt more comfortable in the water as I kept swimming. As we went back towards where we came, I saw that we had to cross an entire mucky mud flat where there were many geese hanging out. We joked that it might actually be goose poop.
I swam breaststroke through the mud flat/goose poop flat until I could see the clear water again in the distance. Once I got to the clear water, I put my head under again. We swam for another 10 minutes or so, for a total of 24 minutes skins. I was less nervous on this leg of the swim since I'd gotten a bit accustomed to the water already and also we had beach to walk if we needed. The train tracks were still in the distance and rushed by as we swam, which was pretty cool to witness while swimming. We waved to the conductor from the water.
I'll come back to Picnic Point again, but preferably when it's sunny and there's less evidence of goose poop.
Videos and photos by @aqua.moose.pnw
The Route
