Pam LeBlanc jumps off a swim platform at Bamberger Ranch Preserve, a private ranch near Johnson City. Chris LeBlanc photo

I swim laps in a neighborhood pool four or five times a week, crunching out about 2 miles each time.

I swim with a team, so a coach stands on the edge of the pool and barks orders. That keeps me motivated.

I do it because I love the way water feels on my skin, and I love pushing myself. Bonus? It keeps me fit. I’m 57 years old, and I’ve been doing it regularly for the past 30 or so years.

Who knows what lurks beneath the surface? Photo by Chris LeBlanc

But you know what’s better than swimming in a cement pond? Swimming in a lake, pond or river. Here are my ten top reasons why:

1. Swimming pools are chlorinated. Remember when you were a kid, and you swam without goggles for so long that your eyes turned red and burned? That doesn’t happen in the wild.
2. Some people freak out that they might touch a fish. I love spying on marine life (including sharks). That’s why scuba diving is one of my favorite hobbies.
3. Skinny dipping is generally frowned upon in public pools. But jump in a lake and either nobody knows your naked, or nobody cares. Just find your own private corner to take your dip.

Pam LeBlanc sits beneath the spillway at Blanco State Park. Chris LeBlanc photo

4. No lane lines mean swimming in a pond doesn’t feel like a workout. It’s just for fun.

5. Fewer people. Last summer, my swim team was shut down for a few months due to the pandemic. A friend had access to a cove on Lake Austin, and we met there once a week to swim. Nobody else was out there at 7 a.m.

6. I’d rather look up from a swim to see a bunch of trees than a parking lot.

A leaning tree in the San Marcos River makes a good launch pad. Jimmy Harvey photo

7. Fewer flip turns. Generally speaking, you’ve got more room to swim in a river, lake or pond than a pool. That means you can swim a long way before you must turn around.

8. Some ponds and lakes come with swim platforms! That’s the ultimate.

9. Often, you can’t see the bottom of a lake. I find that appealing. Who knows what’s down there?

10. It’s an adventure, and I’m all about adventure.

The highest via ferrata in North America opens this summer in Arapahoe Basin, Colorado. Photo courtesy Arapahoe Basin

Want to crank the adventure-o-meter to eleven?

Arapahoe Basin in Summit County, Colorado, just opened a new via ferrata – a fixed climbing route with iron rungs and cables – on its towering East Wall, and it’s the highest one in North America, with views of the Continental Divide.

Via Ferratas (Italian for ”iron paths”) were first used by soldiers during World War I to cross the Alps. Today they’re recreational routes that allow steel-nerved adventurers to creep along cliff walls while wearing a harness clipped to a fixed cable. They’re particularly popular in Europe; Italy has more than 400 of them. Now they’re popping up around the United States. Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Royal Gorge Bridge, Colorado; Tahoe, California; Taos, New Mexico; and Zion, Utah, all have via ferratas.

Two summers ago, my knees clacked like castanets as I inched along the via ferrata high above the mountain town of Telluride, Colorado. I could barely look down as I clung to a sheer, 330-foot wall. I hired a guide for that adventure, but in Telluride, anyone with the proper gear can access the route. There are no fences or gates limiting access. (But hire a guide, please. It’s not for the faint of heart or beginners.)

Unlike the route above Telluride, the A-Basin route does not have open access. To climb it, you must book a tour with a local guide and use their equipment. Both half-day and full-day tours are available, and include a chairlift ride and climbing equipment, plus a bit of a history lesson. Cost is $175 for four hours or $225 for six hours.

For a glimpse of Arapahoe Basin’s new route, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S93uPa-tq9Q.

The route is open through Sept. 6. For more information go to https://www.arapahoebasin.com/summer-lp/.

West Hansen, front, Jimmy Harvey, middle, and Jeff Wueste, back, paddle Lady Bird Lake in April. Pam LeBlanc photo

Austin paddler West Hansen is holding out hope he can still lead a team of paddlers through the Northwest Passage this summer, becoming the first to kayak 1,900 miles through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

That prospect, however, is looking increasingly unlikely. Despite a drop in Covid-19 cases in Canada and an uptick in the vaccinations, Canadian officials recently extended the closure of their border to non-essential travel through at least July 21.

Hansen says he needs to launch his Arctic Cowboys expedition by Aug. 1 to make it through the passage before cold weather hits.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, about 24 percent of the total population of Canada has been fully vaccinated as of June 25. (In Nunavut, where the expedition is headed, about 40 percent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated.)

Two-thirds of Canada’s residents have received at least one dose. Officials say they want 75 percent of the eligible population vaccinated before they open the border.

“The expedition is on hold until U.S. citizens are allowed into Canada. If Canada changes its policy within the expedition timeframe, then the expedition will move forward,” Hansen said this week.

West Hansen, a social worker from Austin, plans to lead a kayaking expedition through the Northwest Passage. Pam LeBlanc photo

Hansen became the first person to paddle 4,200 miles from a newly discovered source of the Amazon River to the sea in 2012, then paddled the entire Volga River in Russia two years later. He endured everything from river bandits, whitewater rapids and an injured shoulder during those adventures, but will face a different set of challenges – from shifting sea ice to frigid water and polar bears – in the planned Arctic expedition. 

“All the gear is ready,” he says. “Right now, everything is hinging on Canada’s policies.”

In the meantime, Hansen and the two other members of the Arctic Cowboys, Jimmy Harvey and Jeff Wueste, finished the grueling Texas Water Safari, a 260-mile paddling race from San Marcos to the Texas coast. They placed eighth overall and sixth in the unlimited category, finishing in 45 hours and 16 minutes. That marked the 21^st finish for Hansen.

The Arctic Cowboys, when here at Cottonseed Rapid, placed eighth overall in the 2021 Texas Water Safari earlier this month. Pam LeBlanc photo

Pam LeBlanc takes a ride down the stone slide at Waterloo Park during a media tour June 22, 2021. Tori Robertson photo

Austin’s newest urban greenspace, an 11-acre oasis of grassy lawn, sprawling oak trees, an outdoor music venue and an elevated walkway straight out of the Jetson’s, will open to the public Aug. 14.

To celebrate, the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy is planning an all-day unveiling, dubbed CommUNITY Day, complete with live performances and activities.

Gary Clark Jr. will perform at the Moody Amphitheater on Aug. 20. Pam LeBlanc photo

Construction of Waterloo Park, 500 East 12^th Street, began in 2018. I strolled the grounds during a media preview Tuesday. The best part? Taking a zip down the stone slide, specially designed so it doesn’t get as hot as a traditional metal one. The curving, elevated skywalk serves up great views of Waller Creek and beyond, and the park, which wraps along Waller Creek, also features a 1.5-mile hike-and-bike trail, lots of inviting lawn for spreading out, and cool playscapes that look like a tumbled pile of logs and giant-sized blades of grass.

Some of the trees at the park were transplanted from other locations, including one that was saved from the grounds of the Texas State Capitol two years ago. Gardens are filled with native plants.

The 11-acre park along Waller Creek has plenty of sprawling oak trees. Pam LeBlanc photo

CommUNITY Day will feature live musical and performing arts, kids’ activities, educational and environmental programs, plus booths from community partners including the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, Capital Metro, and Art from the Streets. An evening “Taste of Austin” concert is also planned at the Moody Amphitheater Aug. 14.

A week later, Gary Clark Jr. will perform the first ticketed show Aug. 20 at the park’s Moody Amphitheater. One hundred free tickets to the show (and all forthcoming C3 performances) will be distributed to the community through a lottery system. The remaining tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. June 25 at Ticketmaster.com.

Designers said the project was planned to connect people to nature and allows the removal of 28 acres of land from the city’s flood plain for development.

“It’s an important first step to transform a neglected stream system into a healthy ecosystem,” Susan Kenzle of the city of Austin’s Watershed Protection department.

Greenway officials touted the lawn’s tough and quick-draining lawn and said C3 would host about 35 concerts a year at the park. Other events are also planned.

Martin Nembhard, director of park operations for the Waterloo Greenway, answers questions at a media tour of Waterloo Park on June 22, 2021. Pam LeBlanc photo

“I like that it’s an opportunity to engage and bring people together. There’s a growing need for public space in this growing city,” said Martin Nembhard, director of park operations for the Waterloo Greenway.

He’s looking forward to seeing the park filled with people. “We didn’t build it to be a monument or a museum. It’s for people to enjoy,” he said.

The park opening will mark the finish of Phase One of the Waterloo Greenway park system, which will connect 15^th Street to Lady Bird Lake.

Go to WaterlooGreenway.org for a full programming schedule and MoodyAmphitheater.com for a full calendar of concerts.

Pam LeBlanc enjoys the cool waters of Balmorhea Pool in West Texas. Photo by Chris LeBlanc

Swimming hole connoisseurs: Prepare to take a flying leap into the world’s largest spring-fed pool.

Texas State Parks officials announced this week that the pool and day use area at Balmorhea State Park will reopen on June 26.

The opening comes as refreshing news to locals and visitors who flock to the 3.5-million gallon oasis in Toyahvale, an hour’s drive west of Fort Stockton, to rinse off the dust and swim in the same water as the endangered Comanche Springs pupfish. The pool has been closed since September 2019, and before that was open only sporadically since May 2018, when a concrete apron beneath the diving board collapsed.

The enormous V-shaped pool with a natural bottom will remind Austinites of Barton Springs, plopped in the middle of a prickly desert, but the water’s a little warmer. The site once served as a watering hole for Native Americans, Spanish explorers, and American soldiers. The Civilian Conservation Corps transformed the fragile desert wetland into a pool in the 1930s.

Jumping off the high dive into the pool’s clear water is a right of passage for many Texans. Walking the length of the springy board feels like walking the plank of a pirate ship, and splashing into crisp waters of San Solomons Springs is like landing in a giant aquarium. Look down deep – you’ll see catfish swirling in the depths.

Light construction is still ongoing in the pool area and the San Solomon Courts, campground, and cienegas remain closed to the public for now. Crews are restoring the motel to its 1930s appearance, minus the carports, and are replacing plumbing, repairing the roof, and rewiring the electrical system. The campground is getting a new bathroom and showers, too.

The pool is open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. or sunset, whichever comes first. Day passes are available for purchase on the Texas State Parks Online Reservations Center. They can be purchased up to 30 days in advance.

For more information go to the park page on the TPWD website.