When the water temperature at Lake Tahoe gets above 55 degrees, Susan and Steve Balkenbush have a weekday morning routine: cool-water laps at Sand Harbor.
They've been hitting the beach since 1978, first with their young kids, and now as retirees who love a good shock to the system.
"We've swam in a lot of lakes, even glacial mountain lakes, and there's just no place like Tahoe," Susan said before her Wednesday morning dive.
Steve added, "People who like to swim in cool water, there's no better place than Sand Harbor."
For the first time, the Balkenbush's weekday-morning harbor laps are in jeopardy.
Tahoe Region State Park Manager Allen Wooldridge says he's facing seasonal staffing shortages to a magnitude that he's never seen.
"I've been at Sand Harbor for eight years now, and this is definitely the first year where we've been sounding the alarm bells that something needs to be done," he told 2 News on Wednesday.
Wooldridge says he's short 25 percent of his usual staffing levels - that means fewer lifeguards on the beach and fewer rangers manning the ticket booth. For guests, it'll result in longer wait times to enter the park, in a line that often stretches down Highway 28.
If the shortage continues further into the summer, he may have to schedule park closures.
"I want to get as many people into Sand Harbor as I can," he said. "I don't want to close at all, but we might be forced to."
Intermittent closures wouldn't only impact guests. Sand Harbor is home to a single business with beachfront property.
Kelsey Weist, founding partner and general manager of Clearly Tahoe, runs kayak rentals right off the beach. If the state park closes its gates, she has to follow suit.
"It will certainly affect not just the visitors' experience, in our ability to offer guided tours, rentals, and just incredible ways to enjoy Lake Tahoe, but it will affect jobs. Our employees," she said.
Fortunately, park closures are a last-resort. Wooldridge says he's doing everything he can to ramp up recruitment.
"We are looking at providing shuttle service from Carson City," he said. "We do have the availability of some temporary housing as well to help out. While you're here during the week, you basically get to live in Tahoe."
It's a unique position for Sand Harbor. Wooldridge and Weist both say that a job at the park usually sells itself.
"Our team returns year after year to work because of how fortunate we are to work in such an incredible environment," Weist said.
Wooldridge says he gravitated to the job for the same reason.
"You get to work at one of the most beautiful places in the world," he said.
And visitors like the Balkenbush couple don't want to have to find a new beach to frequent.
Susan she'd be sad to see the park empty. "That would definitely change the culture of the lake."
