HELENA – Temperatures at near record highs in the Big Sky state have people flocking to area water bodies to beat the heat.
People were out swimming, canoeing, and sun bathing at Spring Meadow Lake State Park on Friday Aug 10.
Caretaker Carson Thomas said the lake has seen about a thousand visitors a day with around 50 people there recreating at any given time.
Though Spring Meadow is a smaller lake, State Park employees urge people to be safe and wear a life jacket when out on the water.
“It’s actually a state and federal law that if you’re out on a boat you need to have a life vest on you,” said Thomas, “It’s been happening around here, people go out without a life vest.”
Life vests are available for free at Spring Meadow for anyone who needs them and it it recommended for children swimming in the lake to wear one.
State Parks employees also say the algae bloom has not been as bad as previous years at Spring Meadow and so far they haven’t seen any Blue-Green algae blooms in the lake.
MTN spoke with a few dozen people out recreating on Friday and many had mixed feelings about the heat.
Some people said they were ready for temperatures to cool down while others said that given the last winter in Montana they’ll take all the sun they can get.
