Swimming hole[/caption]Carol Forsloff---It was a warm afternoon in late July as two visitors made their way to a state park on the outskirts of Carlton, Oregon, not far from McMinnville, home of the Spruce Goose, one of the main attractions of the area, outside of the wine tasting and vineyards that dot the landscape. But it was the old swimming hole that reveals the bonds that make the small town experience special.
Several college students from Linfield had stopped for a swim in the clear waters of the river that winds its way through the park area. Like those old swimming holes of yesteryear, a small waterfall glistened in its background and the smell of grass and flowers mingled with the air’s freshness as folks enjoyed the fresh waters.
Some travel magazines feature America’s best swimming holes. But few might mention this out-of-the-way wonder, as the town that sports the river waters has only a few thousand people. One of Carlton’s best kept secrets is tucked behind the trees, with a trail that is steep enough to require careful stepping as one makes his/her way to swim in the waters that remain chilly most of the season. Still hearty souls brush aside the notion of too cold to declare there is something special about swimming in waters as clean and pure as offered in that old swimming hole near Carlton.
Pancho Doll wrote a treatise on California’s swimming holes. Day Trips with a Splash: Swimming Holes of California, documents Doll’s travel over 25,000 miles to chronicle California’s best. This is what he said to Travel and Leisure about what a good swimming pole should have: “The Holy Trinity of swimming-hole quality is height, depth, and privacy,” says Doll. “Surrounding rock provides a sense of enclosure, often a nice slab inclined for summer repose, even a ledge to jump from.”
And the old swimming hole near Carlton, Oregon represents Doll’s best, as it’s delightful water in its private place makes for a fine afternoon for those who swim and those who watch and wonder and marvel at the bonding that takes place around the old-fashioned swimming hole in summer.
