Mid-September, my husband and I enjoyed our first adult-only camping trip. We did a quick, over-nighter at Bigfoot Beach State Park in Lake Geneva. The park was only a couple of miles to downtown, with lots of good restaurants and shopping.
After camping on Saturday night, we got up at a leisurely pace and enjoyed some cinnamon rolls, blueberries and coffee over the campfire.
I had always wanted to run or walk the 22(ish) mile loop around Lake Geneva. I had heard so many great things about it. I had been on only a mile of the path towards the downtown area previously. I had also tried biking on the roads around Lake Geneva previously. But a bee sting and a flat tire prevented me from finishing the loop. The path is not bikable, however. The path winds through the backyards of the mansions and lake houses for 22 miles along the lakeshore. They are each maintained differently.
My husband helped me fulfill my dream of running/walking the Lake Geneva Lake Shore Path. We went in with pretty much no plan other than to try and complete as much as we could. We had called an Uber the night before to take us back from dinner to our campsite (since we couldn't return on foot in the dark). So we knew that we could easily bail-out if needed.
We packed up the campsite and drove the couple of miles to downtown. We parked near the library and filled up the meter. I believe it was five hours. We weren't sure what our plan was once the meter ran out - because it was definitely going to take us longer than that. We had no plan other than to run and walk as much as we could. We headed out counter-clockwise from the library. The path is really difficult - uneven, constant different terrain, tons of stairwells through people's backyards. We stopped at a beach around mile seven to use the bathroom and fill up our handheld water bottles. The further you went towards this beach, the larger the lake appeared to be, with all of its inlets. I was stoked, but felt bad for my husband. We saw quite a few people walking, only a few causal joggers scattered throughout the path. Most walkers were in groups of 2, 3 or 4 and there were quite a few of the same groupings that we saw on the other side of the lake, too. They were apparently tackling the loop on that hot Sunday as well. We also stopped in Fontana for the restroom and a bottle of Coke. We only got lost once, when the signs didn't really make sense. And perhaps we were a little disoriented, just past the Country Club.
We saw hundreds of mansions, bridges, boardwalks, waterfalls, stairs, beaches and even the yellow brick road! We finished in 5:28 after grabbing water at several beaches, snacking on crackers and CLIF Bars along the way, grabbing that coke from Fontana Paddle Company, and some ice cold waters from an elderly man’s boat house who told us “wow, you still have a long way to go!” when we ran out - around mile 15 or so.
This photo was at the half-way (ish) point in Fontana. We purchased a bottle of Coke and chugged on that together for a mile. Maybe we should have bought two?? I was also able to use the restroom there.
We ended up running WAY more than I had expected that day. I had run a couple of recent twenty milers and walk about 5-10 miles daily. But my husbands mileage pretty much had included only several daily dog walks and the occasional run when his schedule allows. I was so impressed. It was also around 90 degrees in the afternoon. Since we didn't get up and out of our camping site early, it was extremely warm and sunny while we were completing this jaunt. But we ran about 18 miles together. We walked about 2 miles together near the Country Club. When we got to mile 20 at the state park (where we camped), my husband was done - and the temps were soaring. I found him some water, fueled him up, and called an Uber. They drove the two miles, while I ran the last two miles (that we had completed the night before on our way to dinner).
