Wednesday the Freehiking Utah Group took a wonderful hike near Salt Lake City. We gathered at 12:30 at Saltaire, and by 12:45 we were driving to the trail. A small group of five participated: Ken, Ben, Marty, RO, and Steve. The weather was great for a nude hike – sun, with some overcast, temperature about 95 degrees. We drove a short distance south to a trail on the west side of the Oquirrh Mountain range, just before Tooele.
We parked, and then jumped in Ben’s truck to reach the trailhead at the end of a rough road. Ken and Steve rode in the back – it was quit uncomfortable. We immediately undressed at the trailhead (what a relief), and headed up the trail. It was wonderful, as always; the sun felt so nice and warm, and the scenery was beautiful. The single-track trail wound its way up a wide canyon, starting with sage brush and a few shrub oaks, and soon becoming completely arched over with shady trees.
Nude hiking is at least partly about feeling totally one with nature; you simply can’t feel the same closeness to nature in clothes. Freehiking is so freeing! It’s no wonder so few people hike any more; you almost never meet a clothed person on the trail; who would want to hike in hot, sweaty, filthy clothes. People just can’t have a total, natural hiking experience in clothes.
As we freehiked it clouded up a little more, and even rained a few drops. The rain felt wonderfully cooling on our nude bodies. We almost regretted that it didn’t shower more.
As we freehiked we talked and enjoyed each other’s company. RO was especially interesting as he shared past naturist exploits. It’s great to have good nude hiking buddies on the trail.
As the trail rose up the canyon we reached beautiful groves of aspens. The wildflowers were spectacular. We even picked some extremely sweet wild raspberries. It wasn’t long before we reached one of the scenic rewards of this hike: an old ghost town. We don’t know anything about it. Still it was fun to spend a few minutes exploring the site and wondering who had used it and why. Then it was time to turn around.
The hike back was mostly uneventful. Shady trails, beautiful flowers, picturesque hills, and expansive views of the Great Salt Lake near the end of the hike. Far too soon we had returned to the truck where we were forced to dress. Ken and Marty left as soon as we arrived back to the parking area, and were back to Salt Lake City by about 5:30.
RO and Steve and Ben ate dinner together and talked until later that evening. Good hiking buddies are so fun to be with.
Here are some photos from this hike: ( http://imageevent.com/kenandjane/localhikeaug07 ).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment