Five Lakes One Day Challenge

Swimming in all Five Great Lakes in One Day (US-only version)

On June 23rd, 2020, our party of four completed the Five Lakes One Day Challenge by swimming in all five Great Lakes in one day. In addition, our route was entirely based in the US because COVID had closed Canada to non-essential traffic. A cursory glance through social media suggests this may be a first.

How we completed the challenge

1: Lake Ontario

We drove to Four Mile Creek State Park in western New York the previous day so we would wake up on the shore of Lake Ontario. From Detroit via Columbus to pick up the rest of our crew, this was a longer day than expected. The skunk greeting us on our campsite when we pulled in at 12:30am should have been a bad omen, but he walked off quietly, as they do. I wanted to wake up at sunrise, but after arriving so late I let the crew sleep in until 6:00am. We changed into our bathing suits, took down the tent, and headed to the water.

We swam in Lake Ontario at about 7:00am. The water was flat and the sun was still low in the sky, so it was a very pleasant morning. Rocks skipped forever!

2: Lake Erie

We jumped into the car and made the long drive through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan to Sterling State Park on the western shore of Lake Erie. I had warned our party that road trips means Neil Diamond is on the radio! They were unimpressed.

We swam in Lake Erie at about 2:00pm. It was very windy and everything was covered in mayflies.

3: Lake Huron

Back into the car, a quick stop at home for some forgotten supplies, and a short drive to Lighthouse Park in Port Huron. This is the very southernmost tip of Lake Huron.

We swam in Lake Huron at about 4:30pm. It was still windy, but we could have abandoned the challenge and stayed here all day. It was beautiful! Our favorite beach! We pressed on.

4: Lake Michigan

Another long drive to a public beach access on Lake Michigan between Wilderness State Park and Headlands International Dark Sky Park. At this point it was raining like crazy, and would rain for the rest of the day.

We swam and bodysurfed in the cold, rough waters of Lake Michigan at about 9:30pm, shortly after sunset. The changing area was closed, so we got…. brave and creative.

5: Lake Superior

Our last driving leg took us over the Mackinac Bridge in the rain and dark to the Big Pine Picnic Area near Brimley, directly north of the bridge. The rain had turned to sleet. Our walk down to the beach was quite scary. It was very dark, very cold, very windy, and possibly full of bears. Did I mention the sleet?

We swam in the bone-chilling waters of Lake Superior at 11:20pm, fulfilling our quest! We had swum in all five Great Lakes in one day and had a great time doing it.

I highly recommend you try it too!

What to expect

This is not a full day of swimming. This is a full day of driving with a little swimming. We estimated that for every hour in the car, there was 5 minutes of changing clothes and 5 minutes of water time. Frankly, that’s probably overestimating the water time.

All meals were eaten in the car, so prepare accordingly. Save the pastie, Tony’s, or chicken dinner for the way home.

Plan your route, or not

In a world of GPS in every phone and/or vehicle, perfectly planning the Five Lakes One Day Challenge ahead of time is relatively unimportant. We didn’t prepare a route at all. What is important is knowing where you’re going to camp/swim beforehand and verifying that the GPS knows its location.

The one caveat to this is when you leave Lake Ontario, your GPS will try and try again to send you through Canada. We had to correct it about five times and still ended up turning around through customs. Be careful around Buffalo.

The other thing to keep in mind are the toll roads. We used the toll roads because we felt they were the most direct route, and we were looking to save time. Total cost might have been about $10.

Depending on your goals, there are lots of different route options. You can hit Lake Ontario and Lake Erie in New York, and then drive all the way to the Mackinac Bridge and grab Lake Huron and Lake Michigan as a two-fer. Another option is to grab Lake Huron from Saginaw Bay and Lake Michigan in Petosky. You could even throw in Lake St. Clair if you wanted to. There are lots of options. Once Canada is open for travel, you’ll have even more.

This was our route:

Needless to say, we did NOT complete it in 12 hours and 38 minutes. It was more like 16 hours.

When to complete the challenge

What we DID plan was the date. We needed the Five Lakes One Day Challenge to occur on one of the longest days of the year. In retrospect, this wasn’t really necessary. Any summer day would work.

In fact, we are considering a polar bear dip version of this trip in the winter. There will just be more driving at night.

What to bring

There are three sets of things to consider:

• Things for the car ride
  • Lots of snacks (Was 18 snack-size cans of Pringles too many? Sadly, no.)
  • Meals
  • Ukulele and a ukulele songbook
  • Games
  • Phone chargers
  • Garbage bag
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Neil Diamond playlist
• Things for the challenge
  • Dry-erase board and markers (Obviously this isn’t needed, but if you’re the type of person that likes documenting your travels, you’ll want something. The dry-erase board also did triple duty as a cutting board and game board.)
  • Selfie stick / tripod
  • 5 bathing suits (see what we learned below for why)
  • Maybe you want a different tee-shirt or hat in each pic?
  • Towel
• Things for camping
  • Tent, sleeping bags, etc.
  • Flashlight

COVID considerations

If you’ve prepared properly, COVID exposure will be minimized. We didn’t stop at any restaurants. Bathroom breaks were taken at the swimming locations or reputable truck stops. Hand sanitizer was used after every break. Masks were worn where appropriate. The beaches at Lake Erie and Lake Huron were the only ones with other people, so finding an open spot wasn’t a problem. All in all, I was pleased with how we minimized our exposure and prevented further spread.

The only other thing to consider is that campgrounds require reservations beforehand. You can’t rely on just showing up and getting a site.

What we learned for next time

Initially, I was trying to complete the Five Lakes One Day Challenge between sunrise and sunset. Early in the day I realized that wasn’t going to be possible, and I would have to settle for finishing before midnight.

The amount of time spent changing clothes was definitely something we didn’t anticipate. Next time we would either pack more bathing suits and change only when we got out of the water, or sit on a towel in wet clothes for the shorter legs.

Also, we should have simply started earlier. We could have been in the water at sunrise and been on the road an hour earlier than we did. Between this and better clothing strategies, we could have easily finished at sunset. Next time…….

Having said all that, this is not a race or something that needs to be optimized. Enjoy the beaches! Find a cool rock! Have fun!

Go do it!

Completing the Five Lakes One Day Challenge is definitely something you can do! And why stop there? Try catching a fish, or kayaking, or skipping rocks, or doing that dance that embarrasses your kids, or collecting a rock, or sing your favorite Neil Diamond song! The possibilities are endless!

If you decide to do it, use #flannelandflame AND #fivelakesoneday or #5L1D in your social media posts, and we’ll send you a free sticker to commemorate your challenge!

STAY WARM!

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