Taking the plunge

It’s the most fun way in the Valley to take a few years off your life in the span of about 30 seconds, and the crowd at the Raven Bar & Grill in Woods Bay showed that plenty of people are only too happy to do it.

With air temperature at 27 degrees and the water only slightly warmer at 34 degrees, about a hundred intrepid plungers rushed into Flathead Lake. The annual dip is over almost as quick as it starts, but the participants will be telling stories — and thawing out — for weeks to come.