First Encounter

Of course I took the normal precautions of nude hiking in less popular areas and of hiking during the week, so I’d hiked for years and not encounter a clothed person.  I’d even lived at several naturist resorts.  In fact, at the time I was living at Shangri La in New River, AZ.  Then one weekday three of us from the resort decided to freehike about 10 miles north along the Aqua Fria river.  We arrived, stripped, hiked nude to the river, and enjoyed bolder-hopping along the way.  As we rounded one large boulder a voice called out “that looks like a comfortable way to hike”.  An older, clothed couple was resting in the shade of the bolder.  We explained that we lived at a local nudist resort, and hoped our nudity didn’t offend them.  They said “no”.  We asked if any others were hiking in the area.  They said that there was a large group of seniors hiking a short distance ahead as part of a Sun City senior event, and they might be offended.  So we decided to turn around.  Just as we hiked over a high area, we unexpectedly hiked by another older couple and again explained ourselves.  The lady said “that’s okay; we’re from California and aren’t offended by what others do”.  We soon returned to the parking lot where we had to dress.   Of course this freehike was very memorable.