Sunday, June 25, 2006

Hiking Abreast
or
The Naked Truth About Hiking Nude

Perhaps it was the Park Service's warning that the Wagonwheel
Trail is a steep and difficult one, and therefore wouldn't be entertaining many hikers. Maybe that's what gave this particular young lady the green light to expose her breasts to the wilds.
So there I was, barreling down the mountain, trekking poles in hand, cranking like I was skiing. Suddenly I gazed in front of me and what did I see? A young man with his girlfriend in tow. They weren't walking together, but she was walking a breast. That's the first thing I noticed, how couldn't I?
Now, I'm no prude, and I like looking at partially clad attractive young women just like the next guy, but still it always strikes me a bit odd when I stumble upon acts of exhibitionism on the trail.
I've seen it all over the years. And frankly, this is the first time that I didn't immediately want the culprit to cover up. She was quite attractive; nice firm athletic body. Usually I get to witness overweight women sporting a cottage cheese display or a port-bellied middle age man's floury white wrinkled behind. No, this was different, she could probably get paid for that arrangement.

I smiled and made a comment like, "boy is it hot on the trail today." And she just laughed, still struggling to tuck her womanhood back under cover. I mentioned to her that a family with young children were up ahead at the lake. And while Dad may approve, Mom probably won't-and do the kids need to be exposed to this-after all they have the internet to look at breasts.
Seriously though-why is it that some people feel perfectly comfortable bearing part or all on public trails. Yes, I too have dropped my shorts in the wilderness-but at a remote alpine lake-away from public eyes unless you count voyeuristic marmots and ground squirrels.
And nudity is one thing, but I've stumbled upon public sex shows in the wild, too. Once on New Hampshire's Lake Solitude I witnessed a copulating couple and pointed out to them that its only called solitude! On a short nature trail in the Olympic National Forest I witnessed a young couple engaged in a Clintonesque act. Bad enough it was right in view-worse was that these two hornbirds were underage, making me an accomplice to an illegal performance. Sheesh, and I thought it was embarrassing watching elk do the nasty. So, again this leads me to-what's up with the public nakedness? Animals are allowed to go in the buff-but hikers? What's your take on the naked truth?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah the sensual wilderness experience. Hiking or making love with the sun and wind kissing your naked skin. There's really nothing quite like it for those who love the freedom of being outdoors. I would suggest that the proper etiquette might be if confronted with people enjoying nature au natural, to simply pass on by without judgment or comment. No harm, no foul.

Anonymous said...

There is a whole blog devoted to nude hiking mostly in the Cascades.

http://nudehiker.blogspot.com

It wouldn't bother me to see a naked hiker. They try to stay on more isolated trails but sometimes despite their efforts they meet up with people.

Depending on where you see them, they might not be engaging in exhibitionism, but again, it all depends on where on the trail you see them.

Sex in the wilderness must be distinguished from just hiking nude. Now again, I am not necessarily against that if they make a good attempt to choose somewhere isolated, as it needs to be done very discretely. If they are doing it where there is a very good chance of being seen I don't think a hostile reaction would be wrong.

I agree with todd, if the person is merely hiking nude, I would just pass by acting if I didn't notice. Of course, if it is a highly used trail, they are probably engaging in exhibitionism and ignoring them takes some of the fun out of it.

If it is somewhere more isolated, I would just understand that they are engaging in innocent naturism and respect that.

Regarding the topless lady you saw some women believe if a man could go topless, a woman should be allowed to as well.