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Ashevillian
01-11-2011, 16:42
During my last few days of being snowed in, I’ve read in more than one place that on the summer solstice that many ATers packback in the buff, it this a myth or reality?

handlebar
01-11-2011, 17:05
It's not a myth. I can vouch for 3 participants in 06.:D

Mrs Baggins
01-11-2011, 19:02
Nekkid Hiker Day!

Ashevillian
01-11-2011, 19:16
At 46 years old (although in good shape) I would be way too modest to hike in the buff. My wife on the other hand who love loves to run around in the woods all natural (Sp?) would probably jump right in.

Rain Man
01-11-2011, 19:35
I'd say more than half the AT hiking books I've read describe some form of nudity in the woods, mostly skinny dipping and the like.

Just watch out for all the prudes who want you to hike their hike. From what I can tell, they'll get the Barney Fifes on you, miles from anywhere.

There are way more important things in the world to fret over.

Besides, pretty soon, it seems that's how we'll all have to board airplanes.

Rain:sunMan

.

Ashevillian
01-11-2011, 19:53
Not fretting over anything, just don’t want to be under fashion (or WAY under fashion) on June 21st.

BrianLe
01-11-2011, 20:15
This is a thru-hiker tradition on more trails than just the AT. But in fact, there are often a lot of reasons to wear clothes that day. On the PCT is was mosquitoes if I recall correctly (or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

On the AT, I just decided that it was a gift I was giving to other folks on the trail for me to stay covered up ... :-) Good thing too, as partway into the day I ran into two women walking with their children. I would have been really embarrassed to make them feel uncomfortable (and disgusted).

The one rule of thumb that I've heard about naked hiking day is "No one that you would want to see naked will be hiking naked". From my limited experience, this is true.

Now, the clothing optional hot springs right next to the PCT in California, that can be a different story ...

Rain Man
01-11-2011, 23:43
Not fretting over anything ...

Not you, the prudes and Barney Fife types. :eek:

Rain:sunMan

.

jesse
01-12-2011, 01:29
So everyone who doesn't want to see some old fat guy naked, is a Barney Fife?

Rick500
01-12-2011, 02:09
I'm pretty sure it's all done in celebration of my summer solstice birthday. You hereby have permisson. Go forth and frolic or whatever. ;)

Vinya
01-12-2011, 02:32
dude...this sounds awesome. but alas, I'll be hiking with my brother. Aaaaawkward. Maybe I'll do another hike with friends instead someday xD

Torch09
01-12-2011, 05:55
I've heard the proper 'trail etiquette' is to have a bandana (or similar item) handy so if you see approaching hikers, you can simply hang it from your pack's hip belt as a sort of loincloth.

Freedom is a two way street-- you might want to hike naked, but other people probably don't want to see you. There's gotta be compromise.

Personally, I like the idea... might give it a try :)

Torch09
01-12-2011, 05:57
One more thing... do you think wearing shoes would be more awkward or less awkward?

Marta
01-12-2011, 08:06
...besides, pretty soon, it seems that's how we'll all have to board airplanes.

Rain:sunman

.

lmao!!!!!!!!!!

fredmugs
01-12-2011, 09:19
I saw two different people in PA. One was a thru hiker carrying a full pack and the other was a young kid holding a guitar in front of him.

garlic08
01-12-2011, 09:34
...The one rule of thumb that I've heard about naked hiking day is "No one that you would want to see naked will be hiking naked". From my limited experience, this is true....

My experience, as well. One naked person I saw on the AT put me off my feed for a while. Yes, there are a few every year, on all the trails. Not necessarily just on the solstice, either.

One thing to keep in mind--in many parts of this country public nudity is a legal offense and could possibly lead to registration as a sex offender. So don't be stupid about it in populated areas (pretty much the entire AT). That mom hiking with kids may be related to the local sheriff.

jesse
01-12-2011, 16:30
I've heard the proper 'trail etiquette' is to have a bandana (or similar item) handy so if you see approaching hikers, you can simply hang it from your pack's hip belt as a sort of loincloth.

Freedom is a two way street-- you might want to hike naked, but other people probably don't want to see you. There's gotta be compromise.

Personally, I like the idea... might give it a try :)

no compromise. keep your clothes on.

The Weasel
01-12-2011, 18:13
I'll provide my annual (or thereabouts) warning here...

"National Nude Hiker Day" sounds kind of quirky and fun, as the posts above show. But keep the legalities in mind, too:

Public nudity is illegal in all of the states along the AT, and in some of them is taken seriously, and not just at the Cog Railway. While citations are misdemeanors and usually involve only a fine, they ARE a "sex conviction" in some places that can result in a requirement as a "registered sex offender" with devastating effect on a person's life. Even when that is not the case, they are a public record of a sex-related offense, and increasingly employers, colleges, licensing agencies and the military find those records and make them disqualifiers for applicants. Disagree with me all you wish, and rage about the foolishness of it, if you think that way, too. But getting busted for exposing yourself, even 'accidentally' to someone, resulting in a charge from a hostile LEO who doesn't enjoy hiker trash doing things like that in their area, has some major risks.

The Weasel

BradMT
01-12-2011, 18:15
Skinny Dipping is every hikers right, and there's no best day to do it. I will say my Birthday falls on the Summer Solstice and I usually try to be in the highcountry on that day...

OldStormcrow
01-12-2011, 20:20
One more thing... do you think wearing shoes would be more awkward or less awkward?Keep the shoes...just sayin'....

Rick500
01-12-2011, 23:49
Skinny Dipping is every hikers right, and there's no best day to do it. I will say my Birthday falls on the Summer Solstice and I usually try to be in the highcountry on that day...

Happy shared birthday to both of us then. Cheers!

Enic
01-13-2011, 00:06
I was doing a section hike right around Pine Grove Furnace last year during the solstice. There were several thru hikers that happened on me while taking a lunch break not too far from the trail... Lets just say some were proud, and at least one pulled on some shorts when he heard noise ahead. Yes it happens. If you can't be naked in the woods, where should it be?

4eyedbuzzard
01-13-2011, 00:56
Vermont has no State nudity law except if done for explicitly sexual purpose - read up and take notes 'cause it's a felony if you are convicted for doing that in front of a child. Towns may have their own laws also. Anyone that wants to hike naked should bring along lots of insect repellent and after bite as well. Fun? Maybe. Itchy and/or painful? Probably.

Snoring Sarge
01-13-2011, 02:21
I am always amuse by the silly way so many people react to nudity. Nightly TV entertainment act out countless murders, rapes, kidnappings, all the CSIs NCSIs, and L&E franchises are making money. The 10' o'clock news is a rap up of the local Murders, rape, kidnappings and thieves. CNN, FOX MSNBC, HLN, are there if you need a update violence fix. This is legal and profitable watch by millions everyday.

Yet see a human in the nude is such a terrible life scarring event?

Why should walking nakked in the woods a few hours on the Summer Solstice ibe a crime worthy of being permanently out cast? How is a college kid streaking across campus a crime on the same level as a pedophile or rapist? Sex offender status is a label that one will never successfully remove.

We need to lighten up and refocus on what is/or should be a crime and what is simple the joy of living.

Oh by the way human were NAKKED for thousands of year before there was wash and wear off the rack.

Snoring Sarge
01-13-2011, 02:59
"In the south there's a difference between 'Naked' and 'Nekkid.' 'Naked' means you don't have any clothes on. Nekkid' means you don't have any clothes on ... and you're up to somethin!":banana

jesse
01-13-2011, 03:59
Hey rumprat, would you like to have your wife, mother, sister, children flashed by a total stranger.

strollingalong
01-13-2011, 09:59
Hey rumprat, would you like to have your wife, mother, sister, children flashed by a total stranger.


BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

you americans are such prudes!

strollingalong
01-13-2011, 10:00
let me add... i don't mean to stereotype. most of you aren't, some of you are laugh out loud prudish though!

Get 'em swinging!

Rain Man
01-13-2011, 12:02
Hey rumprat, would you like to have your wife, mother, sister, children flashed by a total stranger.

"Flashing" is a crime and only happens when the perp has a sexual gratification intent. It has nothing to do with nudism, except to the ignorant or secretly salacious.

So, no, I would not want my wife, mother, sisters, or daughters around flashers ... or salacious individuals, pervs who think every single instance of innocent nakedness is sexual.

One should keep one's mind out of the gutter, in other words, or else one is there with them. Lazy, false comparisons can make the sexual predator lists somewhat of a joke. Sex crimes are no joke and deserve no perverse comparisons.

Rain Man

.

strollingalong
01-13-2011, 12:23
One day, Rain Man, once I have matured somewhat, I will aspire to make intelligent counter responses like your own. Nice one.

OldStormcrow
01-14-2011, 09:51
Hey rumprat, would you like to have your wife, mother, sister, children flashed by a total stranger.
My teenage daughter hikes with me sometimes. She is mature enough that she doesn't get freaked out by skinny-dippers and would probably just be highly amused if she were to pass a naked hiker on the trail. I would much rather her see a naked person in the woods than Freddie Krueger on t.v. My wife seems to run into more naked people than anyone I know.....walking on SC beaches, in the woods, etc., and she just thinks it's funny.

orangebug
01-14-2011, 10:20
Looks like a _____, only smaller.

There is far more titillation in discussion of this Summer Soltice tradition than in the real event. Smelly sweaty nude hikers are just as attractive as smelly sweaty fully dressed hikers.

TIDE-HSV
01-14-2011, 10:52
Getting away from the trail for a moment, I was in Denmark on the Solstice once and they light bonfires around the coast and people dance around them naked. Some of the dancers were easy on the eyes, too. I was in Norway two years ago during the Solstice and saw nary a bare bum. They tend to be a bit more prudish than the Danes.

When I kayaked the Grand Canyon, nude bathing became the norm because the campsites were simply too small to allow for modestly, although some did just bathe in their clothes, sort of. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but, after a few days, I really didn't notice if the person I was speaking to was clothed or not. I was the oldest male at 39...

4eyedbuzzard
01-14-2011, 11:29
Getting away from the trail for a moment, I was in Denmark on the Solstice once and they light bonfires around the coast and people dance around them naked. Some of the dancers were easy on the eyes, too. I was in Norway two years ago during the Solstice and saw nary a bare bum. They tend to be a bit more prudish than the Danes.

When I kayaked the Grand Canyon, nude bathing became the norm because the campsites were simply too small to allow for modestly, although some did just bathe in their clothes, sort of. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but, after a few days, I really didn't notice if the person I was speaking to was clothed or not. I was the oldest male at 39...

Likely helps when the naked folks are all under 40. Just being realistic. Naked octogenarians like over in VT on hike naked day can have a negative visual impact on the trail experience.

Bearpaw
01-14-2011, 12:19
Use a little judgement. When you get within a mile or two of trailheads, where dayhikers roam with families, put on some clothes. It's about respect.

Gray Blazer
01-14-2011, 13:03
Hey rumprat, would you like to have your wife, mother, sister, children flashed by a total stranger.
Who did you have in mind?

The Weasel
01-17-2011, 04:30
Getting away from the trail for a moment, I was in Denmark on the Solstice once and they light bonfires around the coast and people dance around them naked. Some of the dancers were easy on the eyes, too. I was in Norway two years ago during the Solstice and saw nary a bare bum. They tend to be a bit more prudish than the Danes.

When I kayaked the Grand Canyon, nude bathing became the norm because the campsites were simply too small to allow for modestly, although some did just bathe in their clothes, sort of. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but, after a few days, I really didn't notice if the person I was speaking to was clothed or not. I was the oldest male at 39...

Well, folks, just remember: Georgia ain't Denmark. And frankly, there aren't a lot of places I'd less want to get busted for public indency - that's what they call it - than Arizona. Well, being busted for anything is sort of nasty in Arizona, but Arizona is, essentially, like being in Texas, without the sense of humor, in terms of law enforcement.

Overall, if you want to let it hang out in the wind, join a club.

TW

Marta
01-17-2011, 08:15
Keep the shoes...just sayin'....

"But officer, I wasn't naked...I was wearing shoes!"

Mayer
05-30-2013, 01:32
Thank you rain man. Don't be brainwashed by human institutions. There's nothing wrong with nudity.