It?s hard to imagine Summertime in New Hampshire without swimming. Most people are content to swim in the ocean or in a lake or even in a backyard pool. Then there are the self-described ?purists? -- those who will swim only in the fast- moving, pristine waters of what is traditionally known as a swimming hole. Pancho Doll is one such purist. He?s written a guide to swimming holes from Virginia to Maine.
Day Trips with a Splash "Northeastern Swimming Holes" contains more than 200-entries, eight of them in New Hampshire. New Hampshire Public Radio?s Doug MacPherson recently accompanied Doll on a visit to a swimming hole Doll recommends in Sandwich.
?Northeastern Swimming Holes? is the third in a series of Day Trips with a Splash.
The first two guides are for California and the Southwest.
Pancho Doll researches and writes the guides. It?s a job he took on after he went looking to buy one and found none existed.
Doll is selective. He says for every five swimming holes he visits, only one makes it into the guide. The guide provides a photograph, a map, and -- for g-p-s users -- the latitude and longitude. The guide rates each site for accessibility, and tells you whether it?s a good place to bring kids or dogs, and whether a swimsuit is really necessary.
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The swimming hole at Smarts Brook is located in Sandwich ? about a mile?s hike from Route 49. Doll looks for places farther than anyone would want to lug a beer cooler.
When we got there, I asked Doll to read a portion of his description.
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