QUOTES 9/25/2016

“[I’ve freehiked] . . . at least twice a month for over a decade. . . We hike in 'State Trust Land' in the north part of Phoenix. . . Our 'secret place' is a 2600-acre island of lush desert, with the occasional hiker/ATV/mtn bike/equestrian.  On 90% of the hikes we see nobody else the whole time.  If we do, it's usually while they're far off, and we can step behind a bush, and perhaps slip on a long t-shirt as a cover up.  There are hundreds of these places around the state, but this one is minutes from the house, and has convenient and safe parking. . . I usually hike with one or two friends.” - Desertsax

“I was in Yosemite National Park a few Springs ago . . . a beautiful day, sunny and looking to get warm . . . by the time I got to the top of the falls it was mid-morning and I reckoned this was about the place that most tourists stop, take their pics and head back for home. . . I wondered if I dared risk taking off my clothes. . . But I hadn't seen anyone for a while so I reckoned I should just give it a go.  No sooner had I got my clothes off then I heard steps behind me.  A woman with her young daughter were walking up the path behind me . . . I got the shock of my life but did my best to keep my cool and told them I hoped I hadn't startled them.  She . . . suggested . . . that my clothes might have got soaked in the spray of the waterfall on the way up. . . She even said they had taken their own clothes off through that part . . . Then off they went. . . I can't have been going for more than a few minutes when I heard someone else behind me!  No time to cover up, so I turned to brazen it out.  It was a female park ranger!  Now I was really busted!  But she wished me good morning with nothing more than a smile... and a warning that she was about to meet a bunch of teenagers waiting round the next bend and I might want to cover up. . . from that point on, for the next five or six hours, I walked up and back along the valley trail, completely nude, without meeting a single person. . . I'm very grateful to the two women I bumped into for being so chilled and not scaring me out of my first proper hike!” - Greystoke

“. . . my friends have asked me why I hike naked and how I came upon it.  At this time of year, the question gets around to why I am crazy enough to continue through much of the winter, and in the snow.  My short reply to all of them is that I have found a way to combine two of my passions, naturism, and outdoor active personal sports.  I have since discovered that in this case, the boost to my spirits and other benefits to my life are truly greater than the sum of the parts.  I have found hiking naked to be an effective deterrent to my seasonal bouts of depression.  Every season has its own special pleasures. . . Another answer that I have come up with to explain hiking naked to people who have skinny dipped before . . . is to think of hiking naked as skinny dipping, not in the water, but in the breeze.  There are few experiences that match the cleansing that occurs when one has an opportunity to peel off all of the layers of civilization, leave most or all of it behind for awhile, and play in the sun, moon, dirt, wind, and rain as we did as kids and as our creator intended. . . I feel blessed to have been allowed to experience in person, a special place of beauty and peace in my life.” - Dan

“I have experienced being in the moment many times in my life.  I started practicing Zen meditation a long time ago and I consider it to be one of the true gifts that I have received in my life. . . one of the things that I discovered when I resumed hiking naked, is the ease of sliding into that magical zone of existence while hiking naked. . . there is a strong link between naturism and the meditative practice of living in the moment. . . Being naked may be a powerful shortcut to that uncluttered state of mindfulness.” – FreewalkerMA

“. . . there is a resort near Jacumba, CA that is clothing optional. . . I parked my car and with shoes a walking stick and water bottle headed up into the hills above the resort and out into the desert.  The area consists of a granite batholith that is slowly eroding leaving endless rolling hills of rounded granite boulders.  The shapes and configurations are amazing.  The colors range from light tan to reddish stone and every turn reveals a new panorama. . . The trail system is a mixture of footpaths, old jeep trails and dry sandy washes that cut into the granite creating a meandering path through the oddly shaped rock creatures.  They are so unique that they do seem to possess some personality. . . Walking nude so far from my clothes felt wonderful.  I soaked in the sun and breeze totally.  I wandered on for another hour or so . . . I found myself in a flat sand wash area with cactus and sage and was drawn to a small granite outcropping in the middle of a huge flood wash.  The boulders were stacked about 50 feet high.  I noticed a sign describing the area as part of an Indian settlement . . . I didn't stay long and decided to make this the end point of my hike and return.  On my return I was walking toward the sun mindfully breathing and walking feeling the sun sensing all with my body and mentally at peace and in a semi trance when my reverie was interrupted by a raven sitting in a Yucca plant not ten feet from me.  I stopped and then he noticed me, squawked and flew away. . . The nice thing about returning from a nude hike to this resort is that there is a nice indoor pool to swim in and an outdoor hot tube to soak away any muscle strain from the hike.” - Jay