With Labor Day temperatures hitting triple digits, people from all over Los Angeles county flocked to Castaic Lake to escape the heat and celebrate the holiday.
“This is a great barbecue spot,” said Chris Mowry, acting superintendent at the lake. “I don’t have exact numbers, but we hit capacity (Sunday), so our numbers are definitely up. Having this many people keeps us on our toes and we definitely earn our money, but it’s what the park was made for. ”
Celebrated annually on the first Monday of September, Labor Day has been a federal holiday since 1894 and honors the contributions of American workers and labor unions throughout American history.
“So many places work you to death, so it’s nice to have a day to take a break from work since the weekends are usually busy catching up on what you can’t do during the week,” said local resident Brianna Fish, who came to the lake with her friends. “That extra day off is so nice.”
Maribel Santos and Marisol Moreno heard that the lake was a good place to relax and came from Los Angeles with their families for the first time after.
“It’s a lot cooler here than it is at home, and it’s a nice clean place to be,” said Santos. “A lot of the swimming pools that we know of are closed, so I’m glad that we can swim here. I feel like my son is really safe here because there are plenty of lifeguards which I don’t always see when we go to the ocean.”
Labor day was also the last day that the swim beach would be open until next Memorial Day. Many lake goers were unaware of the beach closure and were all the more glad that they decided to spend the day swimming.
“I don’t really like swimming in the ocean and the lake is closer than the beach,” said Fish. “I’m so glad that we decided to come here today because I like swimming and this water is much calmer than the ocean and it’s not freezing. I wish they would keep the swimming season longer because it’s still so hot and California seems to be getting hotter all the time.”
Annie Rhodes was invited to spend the holiday at the lake with her friends and said she was impressed by how clean and spacious the lake was.
“It’s crazy how people go all out here with grills and tents and they all seem to really know what they’re doing,” Rhodes said. “I’m more used to haphazardly throwing celebrations together, so I’m impressed. As long as the weather is nice, I’d love to do this again next year.”
