Getting Naked Outdoors

Vegan.Hiker said:
I don't think it would be feasible in the northeast unless you were on private land. Our wild areas aren't as big and remote as out west so there'd be a pretty decent chance of having the authorities called on you. The concept doesn't bother me but it's not something I've ever felt the urge to try personally. I do however, think it's BS for anyone (like the guy you described on the other forum) to make the claim that it's something that all "real" outdoorsmen or "aficionados" partake in. That sounds sort of snobby and judgmental.
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Not true! Vermont is unique in that it has no statewide public nudity law. It's prohibited by certain town ordinances, and it's possible you might still get busted if you were on federal (i.e. NFS) land, but it's definitely possible, legal, and not altogether frowned upon.

Source - June 21st outside Norwich VT. :)
 
As much as I like to swim & sunbathe naked in the wilderness, it's good to remember that most people don't want to see me/you naked. I've seen a few naked people in the wilderness and most gagged me. Hiking down a public trail naked is just pervy.
 
That reminds me of another story. Back in like 2005 I was hiking into Death Hollow on the BMT. From like 800' up we could see some naked bodies down at the first campsite on the big bend at the bottom of the BMT. We hurried down and started walking the river just to come around the bend and see two European dudes laying on the beach with their junk WAY out. They were super friendly (maybe too friendly????), but still. I was really hoping it was a couple of cute college chicks. :cry:
 
We saw some nudies bathing in the falls of calf creek last year. They were pretty secluded and hidden so it wasn't very likely they would be seen, but sure enough, two from our group saw them.
 
First, @Mannox you should add Katie Lee to your list of outdoors authors going without clothes in the outdoors. Her book All My Rivers Are Gone should be a must read for anyone on this board.

I've always thought wilderness and nakedness fit well together. Starting in my teens with a few hikes up around American Fork Canyon. Later in my 20s with an adventurous girlfriend up around Silver Lake Flat, Mineral Basin, and Sagebrush Flat up behind Mahogany Mountain (too many damn people up around those places for nakedness these days), and branching out for my first trips to Moab and Canyonlands with that girl. So many lonely places in the desert. And continuing up to the most recent sans-clothes hike in southern Utah late last fall, most recent skinny dip at Diamond Fork just a couple weeks ago, and looking forward to some Colorado hot springs action this weekend!

I started trying to make a list of all the places I've skinny dipped or hiked naked but it got really long so here's the high points starting with my favorite; I once skinny dipped the Persian Gulf! I streaked the Battalion Headquarters wearing only flip-flops and an Iraqi head-scarf while on my first Iraq deployment (for that I received a stern talking-to)(Skinny dipping the Persian Gulf was on my second tour). I was once the highest naked person in Utah; stripped down for a picture wearing only my hat (not on my noggin) on the summit of King's Peak. I don't know what ever happened to that picture. That same day, we got back down to Dollar Lake early in the afternoon and we started talking about cheeseburgers so we decided to pack up early and hike out. My buddy Josh and I went all the way from Dollar Lake to the Henry's Fork trail head wearing socks, boots, hats, and backpacks. @Cody was there that trip, I think he stayed like a mile ahead of Josh and I while hiking out so no one would associate him with the naked guys.
I've hiked naked in all 5 of Utah's national parks, plus Escalante, the San Raphael Swell, Cedar Mesa, Lake Powell area, and various places in the Wasatch and Uinta mountains. I even hiked part of an especially warm day at Freeze Fest naked once. The best is always the desert. And of course it's always more fun with friends, especially if you can find an adventurous girlfriend/wife (/spouse/partner, or whatever works for you) who is comfortable naked. ;)

Also, don't forget about naked biking! I've done a bit of that too!


Ok, I take it back, the Persian Gulf story is not my favorite. Here's my real favorite. When I was young (and viewed the world through a very different lens) I spent 2 years in Iowa serving as a missionary for the Mormon church. Iowa is known for its corn fields so one of my goals going to Iowa was to run naked through a corn field. (Which as it turns out, is NOT a good idea; the corn leaves are rough and scratchy.) Not only did I accomplish that goal, but I got a couple other missionaries to do it too. And we posed for pictures! (Wearing baseball caps as fig leaves.) Hahahaha. Good times.


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Nick said:
Ha! I was feeling a little shy about the whole experience. Meanwhile my friend behind me on the trail dropped his pack and put on the long lens. He's even got one of her looking right at the camera smiling ear to ear. It's been like 4 years, I think this thread needs pics... big pixels added to keep it family-friendly and to protect the not-so-innocent.

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So you weren't lying! ;)
 
Just old and old fashioned here. The only time I'm clothesless in the backcountry is when washing up and then it is usually very brief or you are in need of a blood transfusion. I will admit to some skinny dipping in my youth but most of those places the water was so cold you had turned and headed to shore before you ever hit the water.
 
I don't find anything liberating about being naked. The only reason I skinny-dip is because I don't want to carry a suit, and the only reason I dry by sitting out on a rock in the sun is because I don't want to carry a towel. But it's all completely pragmatic. I don't see any point in being naked for it's own sake; quite the opposite; I don't want scrapes, cuts or awkward sunburn or mosquito bites in places that no mosquito should ever have access to.

That said, I was surprised to find that Naked Hiking Day is actually a real thing. Since it also happens to fall on my wife's birthday, I've jokingly tried to talk her into trying it out. But she's very demure, especially if there's the chance of bumping into strangers, whereas I don't really care very much what people think about me.
 
steve said:
We saw some nudies bathing in the falls of calf creek last year. They were pretty secluded and hidden so it wasn't very likely they would be seen, but sure enough, two from our group saw them.
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Pretty sure there was a couple in Coyote Gulch as well if I remember right.

I have never really giving this idea much thought, though it is a little intriguing now :)
 
Oops, I meant coyote gulch, not calf creek. They both start with a c. :)
 
I don't go naked much. Usually just when I wash up in the river.

I would consider myself a bit of a hippy, almost always in tie dye if I am not at work, spent a few years following Widespread Panic, never miss a jam band show, and yes I even sold grilled cheese when I was busted in Lake Tahoe and trying to get gas to the next stop. Still, I am not sure how I would react if a group of naked people came down the trail and ran into me with my daughters.
 
I just can't imagine it being anything other than a horrible idea to do this in the Wasatch. Too many people, too many families, too many people who wouldn't appreciate it.

On the other hand, the Oquirrhs would be the perfect place to do this. Nobody's over there (just stay off of Kennecott land!), there's big views, and miles and miles of ridge to hike. You might consider doing this on the summer solstice, while the Wasatch is still melting out. In fact, you might even make it an annual tradition. Of course, this is merely all a hypothetical :) The only problem with the Oquirrhs is that the range is rather brushy with few maintained trails, so it's a good idea to pick your spots carefully!
 
I was a 12 or 13-year-old Boy Scout camping up above Mueller Park when a nude hiker streaked through our campsite. Just don't be that guy.
 
Hiking naked, no way. Stripping down to bath off after 5 days in the back country, hell yes! There is nothing better after backpacking for a few days then stripping down and taking a plunge.

One of the hottest ladies I've ever seen hiking, was topless and washing off in the Cirque of the Towers. Above the falls back on the west side. To bad the scout troop I was in with all turned back to camp at Jackass Pass. Her boyfriend was sure glaring me down when I hiked up over the top of the falls and stopped dead in my tracks. I wonder what he would have done with 11 Scouts staring her down.

She didn't mind me standing there, she stopped, looked and me and was back to her splash bath:)
 
This caught my eye as I was looking for spring trip ideas. I'm sad to see folks gagging and using the word perv about being naked outdoors or hiking naked. Too bad our own bodies creep us out so much. I've hiked, biked, boated (much of Labyrinth and Stillwater in fact), even skied without any more than a hat. Of course if there's noon sun, mosquitoes or bushwhacking I wouldn't. I haven't that much for years, as our boys don't have much interest in being around me like that, even though they put up with it at lakes. And I really don't want to upset anybody. I've only done it where I'm far enough in that there won't be young kids.

But it's pretty fun toward the end of the day backpacking, if it's hot, sun's low, to just strip down and keep going like that. It's very liberating to me, and it's too bad it bothers people. I would do it way more if it didn't, but I won't since it does. But as I've found, there are a few beaches and backcountry hot springs where you're the odd one if you wear clothes. Just can't always get to those. If you're ever at one like Conundrum Hot Springs in Colorado where you're close together with 20-30 other naked people, you just get used to it. It's no big deal. And what a way to experience nature.
 
I have always wanted to go to a nudist hot spring. My only concern about hiking is for kids and the safety of my wobbly bits.
 
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