I would never go in the water up there without shoes--I have a terrible fear of getting a fishhook in my foot.  Perhaps not rational, but nevertheless, I think water shoes are necessary.  I will never, ever go barefoot in camp for the same reason.

As for swim attire. . .when I was much younger and we went deeper into the parks with more solitude, skinny-dipping wasn't out of the question.  As I got less mobile, I felt less inclined to do so, particularly because we were in the BWCA and not always sure about privacy.  But I have always figured that if I am in my underwear, top and bottom, that I am covered as much as a bathing suit and, therefore by definition, "decent", should anyone happen by.  Now that he is on the insulin pump, Spartan1 rarely swims with me, so he watches from shore and helps me in and out of the lake if need be.  There usually isn't a "beach" and I never have done slippery rocks well.

We haven't had a canoe trip since 2013, and I haven't swum on one since 2011, now that I think about it, so this is all talk about the past.  Kawishiwi Lake was the last time.  It was delightful.  It was a hot day and there was a lovely beach.

And the blackberry brandy was never my idea.  My husband was the one who introduced me to canoe-tripping, and on our first trip in 1971 he explained to me that the drink to take was blackberry brandy.  I have no idea why.  I think it is because the guys he went with on his first trip (five fellow camp counselors from Camp Easton on Little Long Lake outside Ely) took it, so that made it "the thing".  We took it in a clear plastic Colgate 100 Mouthwash Bottle on our first few trips.  That was our "flask".   We didn't graduate to bourbon for probably 15 years or so after that.  But to this day, whenever I taste blackberry brandy, I do think, "canoe trip."   :'(   And I do like the flavor, too.