Bloomington Griffy Lake (#0272)

Jumping away from town and campus, there were basically two ‘swimming holes’ relatively near town – Griffy Lake (this picture) and the abandoned quarries. Griffy Lake (actually a reservoir) was for many years the main source of drinking water for Bloomington, though it was replaced by two larger lakes south of town in the 60’s. Griffy is surrounded by a nature preserve that was there in the early 80’s, but largely untended. Back in those days it was a relatively wide open space, with people wandering along the lake and setting up to swim anywhere – and nude sun bathing in some of the more distant areas. Luckily, because the campus was largely empty in the summer, it was never crowded. I don’t know when the city started exerting more control over the lake, but now they have a canoe rental and I didn’t see people along the shores.

More interesting, though far more dangerous, was various flooded abandoned limestone quarries around town. These were informal swimming places, often past worn out ‘no trespassing’ signs, where there was nothing to tell you what dangers you were diving into or how far down the bottom was. I enjoyed them, but having always been wary of swimming in places where I couldn’t touch bottom, I spent less time swimming and more time watching. My hesitancy turned out to be fortunate – around the time I left Bloomington was when it was discovered that many of the quarries had old electrical transformers dumped in them, leaking mercury into the water. I tried to photograph one of the quarries we had used on this trip, but couldn’t get near one. I suspect they’re all fenced now, and with people no longer driving up to their edges, you can’t see them due to surrounding trees.