Hello everyone. Glad to be back here again. Sometimes, life does get in the way....not in the way of getting out to freerange.....there has been plenty of nude hiking, paddling, and other nude adventuring over the past couple of years for me.....not in the way of spending time with my family, plenty of that....not in the way of working full time, plenty of that also.....but all of that is just the problem, something had to go and it was posting and blogging. Sorry guys. I have just returned from the WNBR which took place yesterday in Montpelior Vermont which was as always, a great and enthusiastically received small town ride....and I am back on the job with a few moments of down time. So I promised John that I would make my way back over here and post a couple of trip reports.
Our hike (announced at the top of this thread by John) between Grout Pond and Somerset Reservoir this past June 3rd was a success. One that was most enjoyable and long anticipated after our baffling winter just past. Or has it past yet? One thing that is for certain is that our persistent rains these past several weeks have produced for us lush green forests, wiped out the gypsy moths with a virelant fungus, and brought us a bumper crop of voracious human-eating bugs. The weather for our hike was just as our ANANEC staff weather prognosticator and photographer Milton had predicted. He, recovering from recent and successful knee surgery, prudently chose not to test the knee prematurely. So I stepped in to lead the hike. And for the same reason, there are no photos, so please don't ask.
Our turnout for this hike was a small but determined group of six. That is a great turnout for an early season group nude hike under the circumstances. One fellow Rich haling from New York City, two myself included, the other being Jim are from the Boston area, and a family of three Johnathon, Christie, and Hiker are from Manchester (New Hampshire). The youngest of our group at barely two years of age, and properly named Hiker Love, has been an intrepid backpacker from infancy. Yes she is a veteran of many nude backpacks already, having ridden enthusiastically in said backpack for many miles and through many adventures.
Our morning broke cool, blustery and overcast, the kind of day in early June that tricks you into a surprise sun burn. The temps never exceeded the mid-fifties through the day. The wind was chilly which deterred my swimming at our lunch spot, a minor disappointment to me, as I have been making it a point to nude swim at least once a month in various local ponds throughout the winter. Jim did venture into the water to wash off accumulated mud and reported that the water temperature was quite tolerable. However this wind was also a bonus for it partially kept the bugs at bay. The swarms of black flies were quite dense all day and were it not for the wind, our hike would have been miserable. Yet for so many reasons, this hike rejuvenated me. I have been working 70 to 80 hour weeks this past month in our most busy time of the year for the business. Even a single day out free and with friends squeezed in like this one, is most welcome.
The daunting weather and the bugs also completely kept the tourists at bay, near perfect conditions for a nude hike. We didn't see a soul all day except for a half dozen twenty somethings who followed at a respectful distance for a while, possibly driven by curiosity, at the beginning of our hike for a time down the trail at Grout Pond, our starting point for the hike. Though we met as planned (see top of thread) at the dam at the southern end of Somerset Reservoir, we decided that morning to reverse the direction of our hike in order to save shuttle driving time at the top or our day.
Our big big mis-adventure of this day started at a trail fork south of Grout. I initially did not recognize a turn that we were to take because of seasonal change in appearance of the landscape despite having hiked this trail many times in the past. So I stopped for a rushed consult of my GPS under a cloud of biting black flies. Persuaded mostly by the black flies that I had just made the correct assessment, we then proceeded the wrong way north up the east branch of the Catamount Trail adding another mile and a half of waist deep muck and swamp to our trek before I discovered my error when the sun broke through for a moment, and I unconsciously caught a fix on the sun direction. Unlike at other times of the year, this entire area south of Grout Pond is rather wet and soupy at this time of the year. Think the Star Wars scene where Lucas Skywalker crash lands in the swamp, wades through the muck and meets Yoda for the first time.
So we backtracked through the same goo and picked up our correct trail to Lunch Point in the north bay of Somerset. Everyone thought it was great adventure and seemed to graciously enjoy every minute of my Tom foolery, possibly because our lunches seemed so well earned by the time that fetched this well chosen spot. South beyond Lunch Point the trail improved considerably, leading eventually to hushed lush woodlands and waterfalls that inspired Milton and I to lead today's hike on this trail. We fondly remember being enchanted during thunderstorm while hiking this section of the trail last summer and this return was just as charming in its own way.
Those of you who may have had to pleasure of visiting the well known naturist spot in southern Vermont called the "Ledges" on the Harriman Reservoir in Wilmington, may also know of the excellent road side food shack call Wahoos. Since our hike ended a short drive from this spot, five of the six of us were able to reconvene there for some great grub at the end of a great day.
-Dan
PS. I am looking for techniques that you guys use here to circumvent the photo limitations of the Simple Machines platform which I otherwise really enjoy using. I am looking for convenient ways to post modern large photo files here. Yes, I can and will use my trusted Irfin View to shrink as I have done through the years on similar forums based upon this platform, but the extra time that it takes to do so is a deterrent when I am in a hurry. Thanks.
