Blazing the Trail: A Stealth Adaptation

02-09-2015

First leg of the trail is accomplished up to the big saguaro. The trail is deep in growth, and so fluid with nature, at this point, that I lose it easily, as it meanders. There is a lot of biodiversity along the way and some Indian pottery chards; it’s a great nature trail. I’m away from places where it might be discovered. I have left only subtle markings to keep it less evident. With use, some of that will change. I’m attempting to keep the footpath away from vegetation and rocks that might hide rattlesnakes in their shade, when they come out, so I will have no surprises. I need to create this thing before the snakes come out of hibernation, which with this warm weather, may be sooner. So far, I don’t believe that I have had to kill a single plant, just trim and explain to them. One in particular has twice voiced disapproval on my wrist which has two streaks of blood presently. In this desert, everything has pricks and scratches waiting to defend its space.

I’m probably one third of the way done. The next leg will require more survey, as it leads through rocks on a ridge and out of the flood plain. I have used some old rusty things like a barrel ring, or a carpet scrap that are not native, and put some dead cholla trunks in unnatural positions as cairns. In the hills it will be more difficult, or I may have to import these objects. There are many places where the route will travel across rocks. I’ll need clues, to remember the way. It is not straight at all. It is a series of openings to avoid sharp vegetation. It is also placed to keep me covered. I get the feeling of being totally away from man, naturally.

It is interesting making and planning a stealth trail with a free range naturist’s stealth craft and wisdom. It is a non-trail trail. If it rained tonight, I would lose the track.

There are trails made by animal tracks out here. Since they already exist, I must use them to link together my unseen stealth trail.

Some of the trail follows the paths of the animal community

A Continuing Series

It is good to have a special place that is near. A spot to enjoy nature, to roam naked and naturally, to meditate and just be. This is the first installment of a series, which takes you with me, as things progress. I’ll explain how this works. Perhaps you will create such a place.

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The Trip Up: End of June 2014

I’m going to have to do this in three parts over three weeks. “The Trip Up”, “Rainbow Gathering”, and then the trip back down, “Home to Home.” Remember, you can click any image to bring better clarity and framing perspectives.

Tenacity and opportunism will see the day through…nude.

Up Saturday morning to take the familiar cruise to Phoenix. We on our way to Lake Powell region, Bryce, Zion, The Rainbow Gathering in the Utah Alpine region and any piece of Americana that we fancied that was in between.

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New Year’s Day 2016: Tortolita Downstream Revisited

It had been a very late evening into 2016. New Year’s Day was looking like a window of opportunity, like a calm before a storm. The temps in the 60F’s would most likely be with no wind and clear blue skies. Grabbing a smoothie and setting up dehydrated snacks for later, we decided on a jaunt up into the Tortolita Mountains where I live. I had just set up a report to publish about a downstream hike in 2011. We thought it might be fun to see how things have changed, or not. Lesson for New Year’s Day: Everything has change.

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2011-01-30

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.

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Ventana Canyon Early 2011

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.”

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2013-09-13 in Romero Canyon

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.

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Resources:

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

2.) Words of wisdom from someone who does:
http://appalachiantrials.com/5-questions-i-get-asked-about-barefoot-hiking/

3.) Hilarious:

More hilarity with some practical wisdom:

4.) Society for Barefoot Living
http://www.barefooters.org/

5.) Fun quotes, legal issues don’t really exist, much more and links:
http://www.barefootny.com/quotes/

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.

http://www.barfusspark.info/en/park.htm

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

2013-12-25

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.

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2013-02-20

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.

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