Day Trips with a Splash: Swimming Holes of the Southwest
On steamy summer days, it's tough not to envy Pancho Doll. For the past eight years he's devoted himself to discovering, chronicling, and just plain enjoying the country's choicest swimming holes. Operating out of his battered 1995 Toyota pickup, the 42-year-old San Diego resident has logged more than 250,000 miles, poured over countless topographic maps, pried information from often tight-lipped locals, taken the plunge into upward to 700 holes, and managed to turn out four critically acclaimed guidebooks in his Day Trips with a Splash series.     (In case you re wondering, Doll describes a swimming hole as moving water on a river or creek six feet deep or deeper. The water is fresh and clean)     "Pancho is a swimming hole master guru dude," says actor John C. McGinley (Scrubs) who along with pal John Cusack spent three days last summer cliff diving into some idyllic Southern California spots. "He's just got this wonderful combination of expertise, enthusiasm and daffiness."    Even today, stumbling upon a fresh beauty is like finding an emerald in a pile of rocks, says Doll. And in it's own way, quite precious. "It's the feeling or immersion where you wash away the dust and anxiety of the work week, he explains. It's more than a buzz. It's like a baptism." --People magazine August 22, 2005Pancho Doll (is) America's foremost professional swimming hole sleuth. he lives out of his truck, canvassing small towns for the best places to cool off on a hot day and pacing the area until he finds them. He takes notes and pictures, then heads back to San Diego -- his base, if it can be said that he has one -- to self-publish his own series of regional swimming hole guides. Anyone who has felt the roots of his or her own life tug too deeply can admire his independence. --National Geographic Adventure July 2003In the season of crowded beaches and pools there is a tranquil alternative. Pancho dolls spends his days driving the back roads of America and hiking remote trails hes looking for those hidden places where mountains, rivers and rocks come together to form the perfect swimming hole.    "The holy trinity of swimming hole quality is height depth and privacy."     The old swimming hole is something that lingers in the American imagination. It's where your great grandfather went swimming. In a world of water parks and swimming pools most Americans have probably never seen a swimming hole, but there are thousands of places like this in nature more fun and more interesting to swim in than anything built by humans. It's a water park built by nature, and it s free. --ABC World News Tonight May 30, 2004