Sunday morning, before dawn, it rained. Just enough to get things wet.
I had left home Friday morning and had hiked all day on Saturday and sat for a few hours by two camp fires, so when I woke up Sunday I knew I
HAD to change clothes. My tent was wet inside, from condensate, and out, from the rain. Everything had water all over it. I am just not accustomed to this much water!
I crawled out and went to my truck to dig out a change of clothes. I needed to answer nature's call so I left and when I returned, DF and Jbee were bumping around camp. The 1st thing that came to mind was, "rats, they got up before I could change!" Then I realized, I had been with them all the day before with probably 4-6 hrs of it naked. So I decided that they wouldn't care if I changed clothes in the middle of camp. See what social nudity can do for you!
It makes life easier! If you've ever had to change clothes laying in a small tent, you would know!
This morning we ate in camp. I wanted to leave for home no later than 1:00 pm so we needed to get moving if we wanted to hike longer than a couple minutes. I made what I usually have for breakfast on backpacking trips. I usually mix quick oatmeal, brown sugar, small dried fruits and walnuts in a small ziplock. I then boil water and just before it starts to boil I pour some of the water into the bag. I then hold it and knead it for 5 minutes or so till it's ready. Then eat it, and throw away the bag. No cleanup! Plus I get a hand warmer.
Before we could leave, the Park Ranger pulls up to let us know we were illegally parked! The site we had pitched in looked like part of the Site #1 but apparently wasn't. We were out of bounds. We apologized for the mistake, then Jbee proceeded to pick his brain for any info about where to camp and backpack in the Arizona park system. Park Rangers love it when this happens. They get to engage in the one thing they love the most, talk about the outdoors. They have to do all the mundane tasks required by their job, but in my experience most all of them love being outside and finding someone looking for advice or information, to them it is a chance to talk. I informed Jbee and DF afterward, "It is always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."
We packed everything up and headed out to Jbee's other choice, the Hassayampa River. See the ".kmz" files below. I had never even heard of this river. We had to drive back into town to get over to the canyon where the river was. The roads in the Bradshaw Mtns. are not very well marked. We were looking for park road 79 and weren't having much luck. We found 80 but we couldn't find 79. We got close and because we were running out of time, settled for that. I believe Jbee found it after I left.
Up there, they use
carsonite markers which are sometimes hard to spot. They use a dark brown one so that it blends in nicely with the colors of the landscape.
Plus some of the road names on signs didn't match road names on the map.
Eventually, we came to a dead end,
see here, and we decided to go for it. The fact that it was a dead end with two private gates nearby, made me a little cautious about disrobing. Jbee, as usual, just went for it so, I joined in. It was a bit nippy that morning so DF decided to do the hike clothed. We
WERE above 6000 ft.
We carefully descended into the river bed and began walking downstream. The rocks are slippery so we move slowly, it's cool and quiet. Even with rubber soled 5Toes it is tricky. There are many stones to walk on in the stream (some not so stable) but we cross when needed and try to stay on the bank.
With all the trees there is plenty of shade with isolated areas of sunlight and that is enough to keep me warm. Had this been in summer or if I hadn't been in a hurry I might have taken advantage of the pools we were passing. No cows down here!
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| Site #1 late Friday night, after Grapevine. Quite a bit smaller. | Lush vegetation helps to forget how close the desert is. | Like Grapevine, many small waterfalls and pools. |
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| An inviting pool but chilly. | Cascading water in background in sight and sound. | A profile of the Hassayampa hike. |
There is evidence of historical activity on the river. Rusted equipment and a pile of tin cans near the point where we decide to turn back. People have been in this place for years. Most likely some sort of mining operation. Even though we are only 6 miles from the edge of town all is quiet. The only sound is that of the river, it is slowly returning to it's natural state. I find myself lagging behind. It is tempting to just be here alone.
I catch up with Jbee & DF and let them know it is getting late
and we turn around. Jbee decides to scout up on top of the bank for camping sites while DF and I head back upstream. He is constantly on the lookout for FRN opportunity. It is no surprise he found these two great sites. Too bad I had to leave.
We get back to the cars quicker as we are no longer exploring but merely hiking out. We made it only about 1/4 mile. As we get ready to leave they ask if I would like join them for a quick lunch. Jbee and I slip a shirt on but that's it. It is getting late but I don't want to get dressed and leave, so I join them. Since we came down to this spot we haven't seen or heard anyone. It is quiet except for the occasional and distant drone of a car or ATV. It is a Sunday afternoon in the mountains!
Wearing only a t-shirt, I get in my truck and we head back. We stop at a camp site that, after strategically parking our cars, provides adequate privacy. All I had come prepared for on Sunday was some road snacks easily eaten while driving. Jbee & DF, on the other hand, had a salad, smoked salmon and some brie. Jbee also had his favorite salt source, corn chips. Yum! I succomed. I needed something to scoop the brie with!
We found a spot up a small hill covered with buffalo grass in the middle of a sunlit glade. DF spread out a couple small blankets. We all sat down, got rid of our clothes and proceeded to have a snack, naked in the sun. What a way to end the weekend! This has turned out to be the best naked outing I have ever had. Bar none. Someone suggested this called for a picture, so Jbee pulled out his camera, set it up using his GorillaPod and took a picture of us on the blankets.
My 1st social nude excursion with my online friends and now real time friends and lots of FRN for most of the weekend was winding down. I still didn't want to go. But, miles to go, etc. . . .
New experiences that effect us we tend tnd to stick in our memory. They become important because of how they effect us. Because of the general outlook of our culture on nudity and it's insistence that it be viewed from either sexual or other similar view, I honestly didn't know how I was going to respond.
I have thought about this since returning. Clearly, who you are with colors the experience. Engaging in that much naked time with several people over two days, I was pleasantly surprised that I sensed the same feeling from those I was with, that this was perfectly normal and ok.
Ken, I had communicated with online only a short time. DF, I had not communicated with at all but was familiar with her from this forum. Amy, I knew almost nothing about. Jbee, I knew a good bit about from our online conversations over the past 9 yrs. But nothing compares with a face to face meeting.
You put a voice, a face, a personality with those written words and it fills out the person you thought you knew. Before this weekend I naturally had a mental image about what they all were like. The 1st time I spoke to Jbee by phone, that changed because I heard his voice and we had talked. Those expectations changed again on Friday evening when he & DF stepped out of the truck at the campsite. The same for the others. And of course it's never what you expect.
In this case, I was happy having met and filled in a lot of blanks about these people that are now part of this experience. If I am lucky I will be able to continue filling in the details about them. Things constantly change and if I am lucky and pay attention I will add those changes to the book of memory.
The old addage about how, "being naked strips away all the pretense" couldn't have been more applicable for me than how this weekend turned out. These are not new friends, but more complete friends because of how we spent our time together.
After I left the camp I drove almost all the way to Prescott nude, then slipped on my shorts as I was looking for a gas station. After finding one, and filling up, I head out. Shortly I remove my shorts and drive the 40 or so miles to I-40 where I slip them back on. This interstate is heavy with 18-wheelers.
The trip home was uneventful and only 3-1/2 hrs. No rain and fast traffic.
Many thanks to Ken & Amy for the original invitation and to Jbee & DF for the effort they put into the ideas, and food. As I said before, the best naked outing I have ever had!
Duane
