The Northern Hemisphere summer solstice arrived at 5:46 UT this morning (1:46 a.m. EDT). Now we’ll experience the longest day, the shortest night, and perhaps a spate of naked hikers.
Hiking au naturel is not legal in our national parks. That’s not to say it doesn’t occur on the park trails and elsewhere on the many thousands of miles of trails in this fine country. If you’ve spent a good deal of time hiking the more remote trails, the chances are that you’re already aware of this phenomenon. No doubt some of you reading this have …. ahem … participated.
I recall a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail a few years back that was enlivened when our little hiking party encountered Naked Guy, which is what we call that particular hiker in our recountings of the event. Naked Guy was German, and as you may know, there is a lot of naked hiking going on over there in Europe (though it is discouraged in many places).
Whatever. Today is a day when the odds of spotting unclad hikers on trails right here in the U.S. are significantly higher than normal. That’s because people who like to hike in the buff have informally declared the summer solstice to be Naked Hiking Day.
On Naked Hiking Day, they say, we should just go ahead and let it all hang out. Just say to hell with the insects, thorns, and sunburn. But be considerate and pick remote places. Don’t be crude or lewd.
That part about being discrete is very good advice. The vast majority of hikers believe that nude hiking is inconsiderate or rude. Law enforcement officials are not amused, either. In the national parks, rangers stand ready to cite naked hikers for indecent exposure. That doesn’t happen a lot, because nude hiking is apparently still rare on national park trails.
But then again, if nude hikers are doing their thing in places where other people don’t see them, how are we supposed to know for sure how much of this is going on? Hmmmmm. Looks like we might need a government grant to study this. About three hundred thousand bucks should do it. Be sure to let us know if you spot an RFP. A couple of old college professors of my acquaintance might be willing to come out of retirement for this one.
Postscript: If you are going to declare a Naked Hiking Day, it makes a certain amount of sense to choose the summer solstice. Since time immemorial, nudity has been a feature of pagan festivals and other rituals marking the arrival of the summer solstice.
Comments
Bob. There are times to "look the other way". Then again...........
One thing that I'm trying to get a solid handle on is what the current status is regarding ramifications or legal trends against anyone caught hiking naked on federal lands that are in the proximity (within a mile or two) of residential areas? How has Megan's Law affected the policy of looking the other way? Are more hikers being arrested for lewd conduct/indecent exposure which are felonies rather than the prior occasional misdemeanor or admonishments to "putyer pants back on"?
Perhaps it is time for the NPS to designate just a few trails as "clothing optional" and cite anyone who appears nekkid in other areas of the park. This would give both of the naturalists and the nervous each a separately designated area and allow those of us who neither care if you are prude or nude the ability to go anywhere on the trails with the understanding we may or may not encounter nudity. Mostly I think people are concerned about junior or his sis seeing something the parents have not yet discussed with their children, no problem and I understand completely. But then again mom and pop should not freak out when seeing a naked body enjoying the full outdoors if they venture onto a clothing optional trail, I doubt mom or dad was clothed when the offspring were conceived.
Nude is how we arrived in this world and when you die a stranger will strip you nude and dissect and/or bathe your body in preparation for burial or creamation. People should be less uptight about nudity and accpet the fact that nudity in and of it self is not obscene but only natural. It is clothing that makes people "class segregated" and conscious of their appearance. How does someone explain nipples on a man are OK to show in public but nipples on a woman are not? Why is it OK for a young woman to wear a thong to the beach but anyone else is considered gross or perverted? Plain discrimination I see.
This was attempted at Assateague Island for awhile. A section of the beach was set aside for nudist, but they wouldn't stay in their designated spot and would wander on down the beach. The people who prefered suits knew there were nekkid people up north and wouldn't go there, but the nudist would ignore the boundaries and would wander on down, showing it all. I have no problem with nudity, but many people do and that needs to be respected. I'm not saying that all nudists are like this, but a good majority at the beach felt they had the right to go where they pleased.
Also in Shenandoah, there's "Naked Creek" and it's called that for a reason!
Nekkid is a wonderfully useful term, don't you think? It puts me in mind of a standup routine that the late comedian/author Lewis Grizzard used to do. He would say: "There's a difference between naked and nekkid. If we say that Darlene is naked, we mean that she has no clothes on. If we say that Darlene is nekkid, we mean that she has no clothes on and is up to something."
Of all the really important things that face on a daily bases how on earth can people get themselves on there ear over whether people are celebrating Naked Hiker day!!! Perspective People!!! It's just one more way for people to enjoy themselves without hurting anyone.
I suspect that people who walk down trails nude are often 'in it' for something besides the simple 'naturalism'. They are going to encounter clothed hikers who are not prepared for nudity, and will thereby create a socially & psychologically challenging scene. This activity seems pretty closely related to 'flashing' people by opening a trenchcoat, or unzipping the fly.
Nude or clothing-optional *locations* are a whole different thing.
RangerLady is right: most people - WAY most people - accept the nudity taboo ... and the facts of childbirth are bogus.
amen!