I few times during the last weeks I had thought about going to our nearby swimming lake … and everytime abandonded the idea again, remembering all the parents, toddlers, teenagers, dogs, bikers, students,… that are crowding this place as soon as the sun is shining. Who can blame them for this? It’s really a beautiful lake surrounded by protected landscape (all the more surprising as it is actually a quarry pond).
But this morning it was cloudy, still warm, but not hot like the last weeks … and I took my chance and drove to the lake. And what can I say: It was me (and the camera), a single biker, a tent (inhabited?), an angler in his boat and about twenty swans (I kept away from them. They really frighten me if they’re too close.).
Everything else was tranquility!
nadel&gabel 
Beautiful photos! I love the one of the boat floaties (I’m sure there is a technical term for those…?)
I also am a little selfish and won’t go to a lot of our parks / preserves as much as I should because of the fear of overcrowding. But, let’s be real, when you want to be in nature – you don’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of strangers but at peace with the beauty around you.
That’s true! But not always easy to find those places!