2016-07-10

We planned an overnight trip to explore a new place. I have been looking into the area for a couple of years as one hike, but realized that it would be too much for one trip. During this trip, we will explore the Wilderness of Rock to Lemmon Pools. It is 1.2 miles up Marshall Gulch to a saddle and three or four miles downhill through scenic hoodoos, to some swimming holes. The following day, we will casually return, climbing the 1000 ft. elevation gain over the course of the day. Other than that, not knowing what we might find, our plan is flexible. We don’t know yet, but we are embarking onto a trail through a place that can suitably be called “magical.”

We drive up to Summerhaven, a small town in the Catalina Mountains on Sunday morning. The town has been a cozy get away for Tucsonans for many decades. There is a nearby ski complex. Our trailhead is found after passing through the town at the end of the main road.

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2012-06-10

In the following, is an article that I wrote for “N” magazine’s Spring 2016 issue. The published article picks up after the following experiences, while lying in an outdoor bed.

Blooms Become Buds

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Tuesday 2016-06-28:

We are still at the Orient Land Trust. It is organized to preserve the land around what was once known as the Orient Mine. There are several ecological layers creeping up the mountains, ruins, fun wildlife, a tremendous bat cave, and hot springs. The entire property, bordering on Federal lands is clothing optional. One overwhelmingly potent descriptive word for this place is “VISTA!”

We venture through the woods to tour some of the tent camping sites.

Crystalline Daisy

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Monday 2016-06-27:

We awaken to the sun rising above the steep mountain above and down into our eyes. We are awake a tad late, but it IS a vacation. A stream gurgles a few feet from the tent, everywhere we see rich greens. A slight pocket of blue can be seen through the tree tops. Hardcore nudes, we quickly prepare to dash out of the dark forest infested by a swamp-like infestation of mosquitoes and out into the safe sunshine for a blueberry/banana smoothie breakfast. `The tense crowded feel in an unfamiliar kitchen is passing as we begin to get orientated and the weekend crowds go off to work. We are settling in and loving this place.

I am ready for a shower and then head to the agua caliente mecca, but curiously, at 9:00am the bathroom is being cleaned. I inquire and I am directed to the pool showers. Cleaning up feels really good, the first air dry of the day.

Bats at Dusk

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2016-06-26

Orient Land Trust is organized to preserve the land around what was once known as the Orient Mine. There are several ecological layers creeping up the mountains, ruins, fun wildlife, a tremendous bat cave, and hot springs. The entire property, bordering on Federal lands is clothing optional. One overwhelmingly potent descriptive word for this place is “VISTA!”

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A Continuing Series:

Finding a good Location:

When I was a kid, there was always a place found for secret or private activities. It was our own little world. It sometimes was a meeting place, or a clubhouse. We would find this in the blank spaces along the housing development, the highways, or the farming fields. It was usually wooded. Everywhere that I lived, Virginia, on military bases, around Paris and in Michigan, it was very common to find these spots. We could talk freely, we might smoke some illicit smuggled tobacco, camp-out where we could walk to, or just have a place to feel free. They were used as a base for secret naturism, or walk with girlfriends, or drink on weekends, as I got older. Sometimes, there was a creek, or water flowing there, sometimes a ridge with a view, sometimes just a clear spot among trees in a strip of forest.

These spots were sometimes identified as places where other kids weren’t hanging out. Sometimes the other kids weren’t there in any frequency. Younger kids would stay away from where scary older ones were frequenting.

We can utilize these same spots for sunning, or other naturist experiences. We can find similar in more remote, or more populated areas.  These can be found in someone’s small forest on top of a hill, a wind break, a property boundary, a spot waiting to be developed, or a field lying furrow for a season, or a real-estate investment languishing for years. In the countryside, it can be a creek area that floods, or has too much slope for farming and so is not useful to cultivate. A spot that is used to collect mushrooms, or a wild crop in season, or a stand of Christmas trees, or lumber growing may be a safe harbor. I’ve lived back east, I’ve lived in Europe and I’ve traveled extensively in both, mostly at a young age, in which I was attuned to these kinds of places. Sitting in the back seat of my parent’s car looking out of the window, they are found everywhere. The mischievous teenager watched for these places, too.

Everything needs its place and sometimes to be hidden. Can you find it?

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2016-06-24

We took off Friday afternoon after DF got off work. Our plan is to get under a huge cottonwood next to the Gila River tonight, set up the quick dome tent and get an early start in the morning. It is more than a twelve hour drive to the Orient Land Trust and its hot springs in south central Colorado.  This way we can save three or four hours this evening, giving us time to more leisurely cruise through the back roads near Reserve, New Mexico, a place that I had been curious about for years.

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When we left off the last time…

…we were trudging up a steep rough incline rock to rock, step by step. The altitude and exertion were making DF sick to her stomach. My legs were getting shaky from the climb. We had seen no water near the trail and no place to stop and camp.

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Heat

It had been 112 plus all day. The intersections, filled with heating asphalt, fueled by car exhaust and many hot motors add another ten, and more, degrees. It was something that we call “Way too Hot.” I had many errands to run, requiring clothing. The little rice rocket’s air conditioner, wasn’t kicking out as it should. “A bad time to have an air-conditioner go on the fritz,” I thought. It was discovered that the air conditioner wasn’t broken. It wasn’t going bad, The Freon wasn’t low, no leaks. It just didn’t have the capacity to handle that kind of heat!

The hot water comes out of cold water taps. Cars designed to operate at the extremes of weather around the world are not able to keep up. It’s way too hot. Naked bodies are the answer to clothed bodies that don’t function and that’s the message a naked body gives. Run for cover, it’s way too hot. Clothed hikers, with limited senses, or some might say no sense, coming out of their air-conditioned buildings, expecting a user friendly environment. A turkey in an oven is basking in a “dry heat.”

Can you imagine the police sent to arrest someone for being nude on a day like this? The officers are in their black uniforms, full body armor, leather boots and utility belt. The patients are running the asylum.

This Phoenix heat, this Yuma heat is near record highs. It is not typical Tucson weather. It has been dashing well laid out plans.

So, this is summer solstice and official Nude Hiking Day, a time for celebration. I have been looking for ways to do both, but this extreme heat just keeps dashing plans.

World Naked Hiking Day

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2016-06-04

Friday afternoon we are on our way to the Pinaleno Mountains. At the base of Mt. Graham, 9300 ft. is the trailhead for Ash Creek. A tough hike, but worth the effort, or so I had read.

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