Posts Tagged With: spirituality

2018-09-22

It’s early in the evening; the driving is slow up the dark twisted switchback road to the Ramsey Campground. The road’s dark edge is as near as the other side, the illuminated steep slope upward. Both are threatening.

We took off work earlier this afternoon, leaving Tucson to arrive for an earlier sleep. We are gaining a great deal of elevation by driving up here to stage our trip through the Huachuca Mountains to Miller Peak.

We left Tucson of course naked. Protected in the cab of the vehicle, we are still comfortably naked. The air outside is getting cooler as night deepens and thousands of feet of elevation change. A window is cracked, so that we can smell the freshness and pine scent of the air. Our sense of ourselves is adventure and freedom.

As we climb around a bend, there at the next switchback, we see a very large puma, a mountain lion. The massive side of its body is positioned to our view, its head turned toward us. It watches our headlights and listens to the roar of the red SUV. It seems to be in consideration, pondering if we are a danger, or useful and the next course of action, a monarch’s thinking. The powerful athletic physique, as big as a man stands tall, is poised, as we come up the road. It has been dark and then there is this amazing sight in the headlights.

It begins acting like it is too cool to be bothered as big cats do; show no fear. It begins to move and suddenly in one long leap, it gracefully leaps off into the darkness of the steep hillside, disappeared. I have to consider that we are going out into this wilderness naked and alone. Continue reading →

I wrote this article for “N” magazine. It was published in the Winter 2018-19 issue. I’ve added three more pictures.

Liberation on the Trail

We see these advertisements and articles of vibrant people out backpacking on trails across the world. They are athletes crossing wilderness mountains, thru-hiking for hundreds of miles. This is the face of backpacking.

For some of us, this is reminiscent of days of youth, packing 50 pound weights, or military expeditions. Some see a challenge, some an uncomfortable activity. Some will write it off for health issues.

I’m in my sixties, now. I have had back injuries from rear-enders. I’m just not up for packing 45 pounds around the Bolivian Andes anymore. Did you see an elderly Robert Redford and Nick Nolte dragging up the Appalachian Trail in “A Walk in the Woods”?

My girlfriend and I love to explore, to find places remote enough that we can be naturally nude. We can spend days imbibing nature, photographing it, smelling it, and feeling every subtle sensation of our nudity. We find that there is a special sense of spirituality and oneness. We find wonderment and vistas, solitude and the teachings of the wild.

There is a certainty that most of us can participate nude on the trail. Here is our personal story of evolution, from the couch to the wilderness. I hope that it brings to you some inspiration. There are solutions. We can do this!

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