We had a computer meltdown on publication day, sorry for the delay. Another post will appear in just a couple of days.
We decided to explore the downstream side of a wash, that cuts across the jeep road, which leads up into the Tortolita Mountains. We usually head upstream, and I had only traveled a short distance in this direction. There had been construction of an exclusive subdivision somewhere past here. They had been putting roads in to connect the multi-million dollar lots. It needed to be seen before the changes and there was curiosity.
It had been wintery warm 60’s and Df and I decided that we needed a hike on Thursday. The weather report told of a high around 69, very encouraging. We awoke to the sound of dangling jingling wind chimes and lay looking out the window at swaying reeds and mesquite branches, at her house. The plan had been to try out her new 5 finger KSO’s at Redington Pass, but that wind would create a strong chill factor. After deliberating for way too long, we couldn’t hold back, there was a chill, but things were pretty comfortable in the windbreak of her backyard. We decided to try a closer short hike up Ventana Canyon with clothing on. Ventana trailhead starts in the lush growth of the foothills, next to a resort hotel of the same name. I hadn’t been up in there. She had once when there had been torrential rains and rushing water flowing. It is on this day, bone dry. Extremes being the rule around the world, our latest here is that this is the first January in the history of measurement that it hasn’t rained in the “old Pueblo.”
I had wanted to get to these illusive pools for about 35 years. I recently had been told by a friend who knew the area that she would show me the best of the pools. There were the Romero Pools and then there were more. These are amongst the Catalina Mountains. We look at this place in the vista from my home in the Tortolita Mountain range. As I began to research online and with topos, I found that it had become a popular destination. There is a designated trailhead in Catalina State Park, where we sometimes attend full moon drum circles. I had been up there with Jeannine about ten years before. We found pools that it seems no one knows about, but I now realized that we hadn’t gone far enough. We had spent a long time absorbing and documenting about 42 different flowers along the trail on that spring day and I was in one of my less healthy periods. Another half mile would have found us at the Oasis.
My friend told me that week, that she couldn’t do it with the current heat and she claimed to be out of shape for such a strenuous climb. DF was in Colorado, visiting with her sister at her cousin’s (hadn’t seen him in 30+ years) home in a Colorado Rocky mountain paradise, turned disaster area. USA Today reported “Biblical Floods” and she was stranded in a mountain mansion with an extensive wine cellar.
I decided that I had enough information to just go it with no guide. The general temperatures should be 10F degrees lower (low 90F’s) that day and would eventually be cooler still, with the elevation gains. It was Friday, not a weekend, and the monsoon was in a reprieve. I figured that the hike back would be in the mid-day heat and there would be fewer textile hikers, even though this is a popular trail. The sun beats down as the slope faces west. Seize the moment, Carpe Diem.
These are fun, some funny and some deliver very in-depth knowledgeable information. I can recommend these sources:
1.) “The Barefoot Hiker”
Published in the Spring of 1993 by Ten Speed Press of Berkelley CA., the $7.95 paperback edition of this work (ISBN 0-89815-525-8) has since gone out of print. It is around here and there to read in the woods, http://www.bhthom.org/hikertxt.htm
6.) I also sat down and read straight through “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. What fun book! There is a whole section about anthropological studies about how we survived, and our scientific mind developed, from barefoot hunting and tracking. It puts a whole new twist on this aspect of “naturism.” There is a mention of a forest service worker who spent a lot of time running through the woods naked, which developed into a world class runner. There is a man running the race through the harsh and remote Copper Canyon, Mexico barefoot. There is some fun history and the story itself is compelling.
“Born to Run: A hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World has ever Seen.” By Christopher McDougall. Copyright 2009. Random House, ISBN 978-0-307-26630-9.
7.)Barefoot Parks in Europe are sensual and mindful ways to love a body.
8.)Medical advice: This Doc is good. Numerous videos for conditioning your feet to develop flex and natural protection. Explanations. Fixing feet and spinal problems: http://teamdoctorsblog.com/category/barefoot-running/
9.) This guy is passionate. I mentioned him before, the one who suggested running on asphalt, my feet weren’t conditioned and they got shredded. Be careful, but listen to the wisdom and enthusiasm. http://barefootrunning.com/?page_id=432 Further information:
Find a barefoot hiker and hangout with him or her.
Try it. Try barefoot walking AND THEN hiking. Take shoes for backup during experimentation with ultra-marathon and thru hiking. Increments in learning, it is fascinating.
Next in the series:
I’m slowly trying out a pair of different “make your barefoot shoe” experiments. I’ll add those to the other make your own, solutions and that will be the last in this series. Next Week: Romero Canyon, and the value of water.
You know you’re old when someone compliments you on your alligator shoes, and you’re barefoot.
Phyllis Diller
“It is important that students bring a certain rafamuffin, barefoot, irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it”
Jacob Chanowski
Df has been curious about the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. Her daughter and family live out in the foothills of the area. I looked at my 13 year old topos. There looked to be potential for a good hike. One jeep trail seemed to lead to Sycamore Canyon, which is rife with old mines and possibly actual sycamore trees. The other trail leads out passing where I used to go to target practice, back in the 80’s. We knew that there are a few homes back there as they are visible from a distance. The trail appeared to lead to a loop just inside Federal lands (where nudity is not illegal. We would be in the area on Christmas Day after attending the big unwrapping of Santa’s bounty in the morning.
Sunday was a great day at the sweat. It is quite the community, very spiritual. A great deal of energy and ritual today, helping a mother and family. They had just lost an 8 week old child to SIDS. Wonderful love and support from everyone. Just nice naked weather with friends and new acquaintances. Monday, I found myself studying in the sun, I nearly burned, getting quite red. Tuesday, it was once again a good day for the sun bathing. Wednesday, BLIZZARD! Not desert lizard! I said, “Desert Blizzard!” Two or three inches in the afternoon and three more towards evening, AND then some. Maybe not much where you hang out, but here…! This IS after all, the Sonoran DESERT.
Injured, I have not been out and about on a hike in six weeks. My body has been unused and weakened from inactivity. I am determined to get started on my recovery. The day is perfect for a trek up into the Tortolita Mountains. There’s not a cloud in the sky. The temperature will top out at 75F. There is no wind to chill, just warm sunshine.
We have been told that the gate that has blocked out access into the Tortolitas has been damaged and remains open. With the option of driving further, we haven’t decided where to go. Maybe to visit the petroglyphs, but I don’t want to overdo it. I’ll go as far as I can get comfortably. My body will tell me.
We are dismayed. The gate has been repaired. I back down and park the truck nearby. There will be no four wheeling today. We will have to climb the hill before getting into the best of the mountains. I’ll probably not get as deep into them, but it is the journey, not the goal. The desert is lush and green after the weekly rains. There will be much to see.
On the website, I keep reading comments like, “wish that I was there” and what seem to be torture experiences from people socked in, in the frozen North. I thought that I would present this differently and help you get a sense of being there with us in a present sense. The intention is to bring you and all of your senses into the journey, so that you may feel like you have had some fine free range naturism during your wintertime, when opportunities are more sparse. Please, read slowly and hopefully an experience will take off, soon. Remember, you can click any image to increase clarity and form.
Day #4
I have an idea where four cave dwellings and two arches are. They are on a four-wheel drive road. That’s where we are going…naked.
After a day climbing and walking, then that hot tub and massage, we slept dead through the night. I awoke to a humming sound. An “A” pitch. It seemed to come through the vents. Could it be the heater? A perfect “A” it seemed. Here in Sedona, “A” is the note associated with the sixth chakra, the third eye, intuition and indigo. Could it be a conspiracy to pipe this subliminal music through the land of tourists and get them into a spiritual mood? Could it?… It was the hum of the refrigerator, through the vents connecting to the kitchen. Frigidaire was the subtle purveyor of “the force.” Hey, I’m in Sedona! Here, Woo Woo absolutely rules! Even golf is a meditation.
Day #3 and time to get out there, get naked and hike! We choose the Cathedral Rock vortex, the back way, going next to the Oak Creek.
Yea, taking two years, or more, to get used to being naturally barefooted seems like a lot of effort. Even if it is, I see it as worth the effort. The posture and utilizing the natural spring flex takes a great deal of stress and inflammation out of the body. The muscles that support the spine are better exercised. Joints are less stressed, preventing injuries and wear. Looking at a reflexology chart, or how the spinal nerves are attached to organs in a chiropractor’s office desplay, shows how the internal system can be affected by shoes and improper adjustment. Some natural adjustment and effort, even for a couple of years, will be worth so much in terms of long term health and quality of life, as the body gets older. AND don’t forget to do anything to avoid debilitating, or irritating back-pain. It is a complex, interrelated system that we live in. It is designed to work best, just as that.
By reducing inflammation, the new pains from body use and recovery time can be mitigated. Using something like Ibuprofen helps to minimize the downside. I have been experimenting with an Earthing half-sheet. This has given surprising results. The blood structure obviously changes as documentation shows and inflammation subsides. This has dramatically reduced aches and pains. But then, that’s another story.
Life obviously feels even better, or joyfully bare when completely nude. To get a grip on that freedom is a tantalizing goal. There is a greater wisdom to that phrase “Nude and Natural.” It IS more healthy being nude than in modern unnatural clothing and fashions, many of which are plainly unhealthy, particularly shoes.
Because trails tend to have prickers, sharp rocks and I can’t be out on them every day, I have tried different shoes to arrive at as close to barefoot as possible.
The Free Range Naturist 