Glacial Lake Dips

As soon as I laid eyes on this month’s article, “Taking the Cold-Therapy Plunge,” on page 28, I immediately thought of my high mountain horseback riding excursions in the Rocky Mountains back in the day.

We’d ride 20 to 30 miles into the mountains, set up camp, and ride out each day to a new destination, always with a stunning view and a tasty lunch. Then we’d head back to camp just in time for supper. Meals tasted fantastic out there in the wilderness—it was like food took on a brightness that didn’t seem to exist in the city. But I digress.  On at least one of the daily rides, we would usually end up above the tree line, where we’d find a beautiful glacial lake—pristine, crystal clear, and freezing cold.

On a warm, sunny day, we’d summon our courage, strip down to our skivvies, and make a run for it into the lake, going as far as we could before chickening out, but not too far to risk dying of hypothermia out there in the middle of nowhere.

Our goal was to cool off after hours in the saddle under the sun on a hot horse, but even more so, to see if we had the guts to pull it off . After our frigid dip—mission accomplished—we felt pretty darn good about ourselves, and a whole lot cooler!

There was a lot of laughing (and teeth chattering), and we oft en thought we’d lost our minds, but it was all part of the fun. It never even occurred to us that there were actual therapeutic benefits to our glacial lake dips—what a bonus!