naturism – Page 12 – Active Naturists

official(!) naked-friendly trail and water hole in Mohonk Preserve, NY

31 October 201331 October 2013 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

I haven’t counted exactly how much but a good share of our blogposts is about hiking. This one is special because it is about a trail that is officially designated for nude recreation! Yes, there is one (hope not the only one!) – at Split Rock in Mohonk Preserve, New York! I heard about it from Young Naturists America, as they organized a couple of outings there; you can also read about their correspondence with the park officials as to why there is no information about this trail on their website. The bottom line is that this is a private land, and one of the conditions of the owners to give it for public use was keeping its tradition of skinny-dipping. Well, if only more land-owners were like that!

Unfortunately, clothing is only optional behind the actual Split Rock formation (the name speaks for itself – it’s a split rock with a creek and small waterfall in the middle), and the nude-friendly trail is just about 10 min walk of easy hiking. I had a bitter-sweet feeling about this place. On the one hand, it was exciting to finally find an official place for naked hiking. On the other, it also seemed unfair to not include the main attraction in the clothing-optional part. Come on, if you decided to give ONE single trail of a huge preserve for nude recreation, can’t you give at least this one entirely?

naturist 0000 Mohonk Preserve, NY, USA

Nevertheless, I was happy to see this sign – I could get naked in the forest, ‘as nature intended’, without worrying about rangers. I finally got relaxed, after spending several hours to get there! Long story short: I was supposed to go with two buddies by train to Poughkeepsie and then bike all the way to Mohonk Preserve, but I got a flat tire, and of course it was the only time when I didn’t have a spare tire with me; I didn’t want to keep my friends for too long with me and let them go ahead, but by the time I found someone with a spare tire it was almost too late to bike to Mohonk… Luckily, I got a ride almost all the way to Split Rock! However, my friends were already leaving by the time I got there, so as most other visitors.

naturist 0001 Mohonk Preserve, NY, USA

I could see only one [naked] figure wandering in the evening fog. I found another split rock water hole, much smaller than the first one though. The water was clear but pretty cold. I guess that’s why it’s called skinny dipping there.

naturist 0002 Mohonk Preserve, NY, USA

A bit later, the only other visitor came by and we started talking about this place. He was surprised to hear that I was going to return by bike and offered a ride to the town of New Paultz. I actually wanted to ride my bike, as I didn’t get to do it much that day. Then, as I was unlocking my bike at the parking lot, the ranger on duty also raised her concern as it was getting dark and the road didn’t have shoulders. When I saw a ver dark cloud coming and heard thunder, I finally gave up. Few minutes later, on the way to New Paultz, a sever downpour started! So it wasn’t a bad decision to drive to New Paultz and stay in a hostel there… Next day, I hitch-hiked back to Split Rock and when checked on my bike, found this big (I thought at the moment) garden spider under my seat!

garden spider 0000 Mohonk Preserve, NY, USA

The weather was quite good again, so I went to the creek once again. This time could sunbathe on the rocks, so refreshing in the water hole was more pleasant. Then I noticed something awesome on the bank of the creek:

wolf spider 0000 Mohonk Preserve, NY, USA

Now, that is a BIG spider! To be honest, I had no idea there were such huge ones in New York state (just look at the fir-tree cone next to it for comparison).

wolf spider 0001 Mohonk Preserve, NY, USA

Well, after posting this, I guess Split Rock won’t get any more popular… On the other hand, it’s not exactly the place that you want to get crowded, so it’s up to you if you want to face this monster! 😉

Another justification for writing about spiders now is that it’s Halloween! That’s my contribution here. I remember one of the readers wrote me he freaked out about the picture of harvestman (aka daddy longlegs) that I posted in my first story about Harriman State Park. Let’s see the reaction to these! It’s worth noting though, that while harvestmen are among the most poisonous animals out there, they are simply not able to bite a human. Unlike wolf spiders! (That’s the name of this beauty, if you haven’t guessed.) Apparently, nothing bad can happen if they do bite you, but it won’t be pleasant.

wolf spider 0002 Mohonk Preserve, NY, USA

I have to say some good words about wolf spiders though. They are actually caring mothers. The keep their their eggs in a special sac that they carry around everywhere with them; on the photo above you can even see how the sac is attached to her spinneret (silk-producing organ). And what’s even more remarkable, after hatching, little spiders stay on their mother for a week or so. Maybe I’ll see that next time.

Wreck Beach, the largest nude beach in North America!

22 October 2013 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

This is another guest entry, now from our devoted reader-turned-contributor Nat

Wreck Beach is North America’s largest nude beach. There are actually three nude beaches – Acadia Beach, Towers Beach and Wreck Beach – however most refer to the whole 8 kilometres around the Point Grey peninsula, as Wreck Beach.

naturist 0000 Wreck Beach, BC, Canada
The beach is located on the campus of University of British Columbia in Vancouver. It is easily accessible by transit, car or bike. It’s a 15 minute car ride from downtown to Acadia Beach which has a gentle slope for those that can’t do stairs.
As NW Marine Drive curves around the point, the slope get higher so that by the time you get to the main Trail 6 you have a few hundred steps to get down to the beach.
They are well built steps, however coming up is a good workout for some.

At the top of the trail you usually see lots of bikes and a concession stand selling snacks etc.
Trail 6 is the main section where you see thousands on a busy summer weekend, It is also one of the better places for swimming since when the tides are out you get large expanses of sand to run and play.

naturist 0001 Wreck Beach, BC, Canada
The beach has a breakwater. Near the breakwater is one of the area’s where gays like to hang out.
You will also see many licensed vendors selling food and non-alcoholic drinks. Alcohol is illegal on the beach. You will find people selling it, but when the police come down, it suddenly disappears. Be discreet, or if they see you, they will pour it out.
If you go continue to your left, you can find a trail that takes you to the gay beach.
You can also choose not to go down Trail 6, but continue on NW Marine, it turns into SW Marine Drive and go down Trail 7. You will need to look at a map if you plan to go to Trail 7, since it’s on Old Marine Drive, an offshoot of SW Marine Drive.
Once down Trail 7, again well maintained steps, you can go left for an older crowd (jokingly called Jurassic Park ) or right for a younger crowd. If you go right it’s about a ten minute walk or so to an area called Oasis.

naturist 0004 Wreck Beach, BC, Canada
The only thing that is not so great about Oasis and the beach along Trail 7 is that it is not good for swimming. Many just walk the trail towards Trail 6 and the main beach to do that. The area of Trail 7 is known for cruising.

naturist 0002 Wreck Beach, BC, Canada
There are no food vendors at Oasis, it is much quieter, but on some days you may find someone selling beer.

The great things I like about Wreck Beach are it’s size. You can strip down at Acadia Beach and walk for two hours around the point totally nude and still be within the city limits.

The views are of mountains and forest. When you stand on the beach, especially Oasis, you look at a fir tree covered hill tumbling down into the ocean. You feel very far away from the city.

naturist 0003 Wreck Beach, BC, Canada

Awesome bouldering at a foursome date

20 October 2013 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

This is a guest entry from my friend Ben who you might remember from the post about Burning Man, where he joined me for a naked round of capoeira game 🙂

I was visiting a couple in Grass Valley, CA, that my wife and I had been skyping with for a possible polyamorous relationship. When we arrived, they showed us around town and took us to this beautiful place at the South Yuba river where people of all ages were skinny dipping, and I thought to myself “how often does one get the opportunity to go bouldering naked?” So I chose some short cliffs that wouldn’t pose too horrible an injury potential and let my wife and the other married couple bathe in the sun and take pictures while I “crazily risked my life.”

naturist bouldering 0001 South Yuba River, CA, USA

It was definitely a memorable experience, and more so for the bruises on the soles of my feet afterward. I’d love to go back again and find an area with an overhang so that I could fall off the rock purposefully into the cool summer water.

naturist bouldering 0000 South Yuba River, CA, USA

Hiking to Sykes hot springs in Big Sur

4 October 20134 October 2013 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Our bike trip continued without much naked time as we were passing through farmland and coastal towns on the way to Big Sur. On our approach to the town of Marina, we had a very pleasant surprise at Del Monte Road. This amiable fellow on the photo below greeted us and offered some energy bars!

farmer 0000 Big Sur, CA, USA

He used to be an avid biker too, and now that is his way to contribute to the community. In his spare time, he goes out to local bike routes and supports bikers with some calories and a smile. That was a great encouragement of what was going to be our longest ride in one day – 85 miles (almost 140km). If you don’t think it’s that much, keep in mind that our bikes were loaded with camp gear and food, and the road along Big Sur coast was very hilly.

view 0001 Big Sur, CA, USA

We were constantly rewarded by such beautiful views. The weather was perfect for such a ride: warm and cloudy, with mild refreshing ocean breeze.

view 0000 Big Sur, CA, USA

The sun would appear once in a while briefly, and when it reached the silver surface of the ocean, beams of light almost seemed touchable… It was already getting dark though when we hoped to have reached a campground that would bring us close to something interesting in Big Sur. We settled on Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park campground and lodge right off the Pacific Coast Highway 1, it seemed to be pretty close to natural host springs of Sykes, another advice of Dan. We were greeted with a piece of pie at the entrance, which was prepared for the bikers of “AIDS/Life Cycle – Ride to end AIDS” that happened in the same time… We were setting up the tent in the dark and couldn’t wait use some of the lodge’s amenities: a very decent restaurant and a hot shower!

Next day, we started our hike by the Pine Ridge trail. It was easy to follow as it has clear signs for it… Or maybe not so clear, as some of the branches of the trail that looked very much like trails to us we marked as “not a trail” 😀

trail sign 0000 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

This trail goes along the Big Sur National Wild & Scenic River, and it was indeed wild and scenic!

view 0000 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

I was desperate to see an elusive mountain lion, known in the area, but it was too much to ask… and also, they usually avoid humans, so if you do see them, it’s not necessarily a good sign. The views were quite stunning anyways.

view 0001 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA view 0002 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

It was interesting to see how different two slopes of Big Sur canyon were: the one facing the sun was almost bare, void of trees, and the more shady one facing north was covered with coniferous forest. We could also feel that the climate was quite different from the shore shortly after beginning of the hike: the air was much dryer and the clouds didn’t seem to come up there often.

view 0003 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

Some trees were damaged by infamous Californian wildfires, but it was good to see that many of them withstood the fire and seemed full of life again.

revived redwood 0000 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

That was also where I saw my first hummingbird, but it disappeared before I could change the lens on my camera… So here are just its beloved red flowers of zauschneria that it fed on.

zauschneria 0000 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

Pine Ridge trail crosses a couple of springs of the Big Sur river basin, so we could refresh on the way naturist 0000 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

and we didn’t have to carry much water with us (I have an ultra-fine water filter pump).

naturist 0001 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

We packed very light, Tam and I shared one backpack which we swapped carrying, so it was a very pleasant easy hike. It was 7 miles to Sykes springs, which we did mostly bare and barefoot too – Tam, part of it, and I, all the way.

naturist 0002 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

When the trail crossed the Big Sur river, we knew it was time to look out for Sykes hot springs and find a place for camping. We saw some tents along the river and continued towards the hot springs… and we couldn’t believe it when we found a perfect camping spot right across one of the hot springs! While two other guys enjoyed the hot spring, we claimed the spot and pitched the tent. Those two were heading back quite soon after that, as they came just for a day.

naturist 0000 Sykes Hot Springs, Big Sur, CA, USA

After our 85 mile bike ride the day before and then 7 mile hike, we were happy to stay overnight and relax at the hot springs at full.

Could there be a more perfect natural campsite? I would say it was like heaven, except that the hot spring was very much a manifestation of earthly activities, being produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth’s crust. Neither its sulfuric odor was amongst the most pleasant smells you could think of, but we felt like in paradise.

naturist 0001 Sykes Hot Springs, Big Sur, CA, USA

There are only 3 ‘tubs’ at Sykes, but we were lucky to have “ours” mostly just for ourselves.

fern view 0000 Sykes Hot Springs, Big Sur, CA, USA

I couldn’t help noticing that the tubs were surrounded by ferns which always a prehistoric look… We had a very quiet, starry sky and babbling brook kind of night… followed by early morning warm up in the hot springs.

naturist 0002 Sykes Hot Springs, Big Sur, CA, USA

Too bad we couldn’t stay at the hot springs much longer, but the hike on our way back was great too. We didn’t see a mountain lion,

mountain quail 0000 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

but we did come across of mountain quails,

western fence lizard 0000 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

western fence lizards,

Steller's jay 0000 Pine Ridge Trail, Big Sur, CA, USA

and a Steller’s jay dealing with its favorite meal, an acorn. We had our meal at the campground too, jumped on out bike and headed out South… Unfortunately, Niko’s bike broke and we could go as fast as we should. But luckily, as night was approaching, we got a ride from a very friendly couple who agreed to squeeze all our 3 bikes into their SUV and drive us to the next campground. This helped us to get back on schedule, and next day we rode to San Luis Obispo station to take the train all the way to San Diego.

‘4 mile beach’ full of sea life

27 September 2013 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Next day after visiting Big Basin Redwoods, we mostly stayed on the road heading south, but we had a nice memorable stop at Four Mile beach next to Santa Cruz. This is an official clothing-optional beach, as was designated on our bike map. It was recommended to us by Dan, the masseur from Burning Man who you might remember from my blogpost about acro-yoga in San Francisco. The beach looked beautiful already on our approach to it, and we could see just a couple of surfers there.

naturist 0005 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

As we came down, the beach looked even more impressive, though we were not sure if it was 4 miles long… or where did the name come from?

naturist 0007 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

Besides those few surfers, there were only some fishermen quite far out…

fishermen 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

and lots of birds!

seabirds 0008 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

When we arrived, most birds moved from the sand onto the water, and we could see all beach covered in their footprints.

naturist 0001 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

Then we noticed there also was an airplane! No, just cliffs that look like one 😉 The cliffs were full of birds too.

gulls 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

Gulls were the most numerous,

gulls 0001 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

but there were many kinds of other sea- and shorebirds too, mostly grouped together. The photo below illustrates that indeed birds of a feather flock together.

gulls and cormorants 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

Cormorants were probably the second largest group,

cormorant 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

but there were many pelicans too.

pelicans 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

This was a clear indicator of richness of the ocean waters by this beach. To a large extent, it was probably thanks to the kelp forests, of which we could literally only scratch the surface.

giant kelp 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

Low tide revealed the rocks covered with the densest mussel colony I had ever seen.

seashells 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

That’s a lot of seafood!

seafood 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

In just few minutes, Niko created this seafood bouquet. We didn’t feel adventurous to actually eat any of that, but it looked tasty 🙂

To make this place even more ecologically diverse, there was a freshwater pond too.

sandpiper 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

A sandpiper and a group of ducks were hanging out there away from the seabirds.

ducks 0001 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

And aside from all these water birds, ravens apparently called this place their home too.

raven 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

So as this young snake, whose species I couldn’t identify – any serpentologist among my readers?

snake 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

With all this biodiversity, I thought that we only missed dolphins but Niko said it would be too much to ask from just a couple of hours at the beach… We played some frisbee, which went very well, probably because the beach is protected from wind by the cliffs.

naturist frisbee 0003 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

And then we saw them! 4 dolphins were passing along the beach showing their back fins. I was happy and ran with my camera to the cliffs that went farther into the ocean to take a better picture, but they disappeared.

dolphin 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

And then I saw something that I didn’t even expect to see – a sea otter!

sea otter 0000 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

It even showed me its cute swim on the back while opening a mussel with claws.

sea otter 0001 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

Then I felt like we could leave the place with enough memories…

naturist 0004 4 Mile Beach, CA, USA

And my boys were already checking out the map to see how we would get to the next campground… and we had to get dressed too.

anti-naturist 0000 cafe, CA, USA

Redwoods of Big Basin

24 September 201324 September 2013 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

We spent the first day of our bike trip in California getting out of the urban agglomeration of the San Francisco Bay Area: by Cañada bike trail along the seismic Hayward Fault Zone, and then very hilly La Honda road, we reached a small settlement of La Honda; next day, we continued by Pescadero road towards the famous California State Route 1, aka Pacific Coast Highway (PCH, it’s worth noting that it has a bike lane on the side). There were some beautiful vistas on the way, forests and farmland, and we saw our first redwoods, but our first big stop was meant to be Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The spirit of Burning Man also followed us for a bit in the shape of surrealistic statues on some of the farms, like the one below.

naturist 0000 farm on the way to Ano Nuevo Beach, CA USA

By the way, some of my mates from Burning Man camp, which was Playa Bike Repair, knowing my tendency to spend time naked, that I might be able to bike naked in some parts of our route. I didn’t actually have much expectations for that, as most of our biking would be on the highway, but when we cycled down the small Cloverdale Rd and Gazos Creek Rd before hitting PCH, it seemed empty enough and I took my chance! There was just one car passing by and I was not sure they noticed I was naked. I had to put on my shorts when we got to PCH, but not for too long, as we decided to make a brief stop at the beach of Año Nuevo State Reserve. The beach was totally deserted, and all three of us got naked within a moment to enjoy the late afternoon sun after our first 2 days of biking.

naturist 0000 Ano Nuevo Beach, CA USA

Our rest stop was pretty active though: isn’t the best way to relax after a particular exercise, say biking, to do another exercise, say running? At least that’s what we did there for a bit, besides, some stretching too.

brown algae 0000 Ano Nuevo Beach, CA USA

Then we found different kinds of brown algae scattered by waves around the beach. This one above looked like a minimalistic copy of a tropical island covered with coconut palm trees. So-called bull kelp proved to be a great toy to play with (in this light, I definitely prefer its common name over the scientific Nereocystis, which means mermaid’s bladder).

naturist 0001 Ano Nuevo Beach, CA USA

Niko found two specimens of the same length and gave the art of poi both naturist and naturalist perspective!

naturist 0002 Ano Nuevo Beach, CA USA

Tam was just swinging the longer one above his head,

naturist 0007 Ano Nuevo Beach, CA USA naturist 0006 Ano Nuevo Beach, CA USA

which Niko then used to hit against the sand as a whip (here comes another common name of this algae, bullwhip kelp).

naturist 0003 Ano Nuevo Beach, CA USA

Not surprisingly, they both had to fight for in the tug of war game after that!

These algae can actually grow even much longer and they form underwater kelp forests along Californian coast. Too bad the water was too rough and cold to snorkel and see them, but we couldn’t stay much longer at the beach anyways, as we still had to find a campground at our next stop, Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The promise to see the forest with some of tallest and oldest trees in the world was good enough stop our frolicking in the sun. It was an easy ride after that, but we hardly managed to set up our camp before darkness. By the way, it felt rewarding to have come to the park by bicycles, as the camping fee was just $5, as opposed to $35 for those who came by cars.

Here, I need to give a preamble as to how I actually ended having the idea of hiking naked in the redwoods and choosing this forest in particular. When I went to the Spring Bash with Florida Young Naturists, I got a copy of “N, the Magazine of Naturist Living”, which featured an article about hiking in Big Basin Redwoods State Park by Bill Schroer. The article said it was possible to find some secluded trails and also mentioned Cahill policy that determined that simple nudity in State Parks was not a criminal offense. Big Basin Redwoods State Park is California’s oldest State Park (since 1902) and home to the largest continuous stand of ancient coast redwoods south of San Francisco. So, inspired by the article and by the magnificent redwoods themselves, we were eager to explore the forest “as nature intended”. We decided to hike Skyline-to-the-Sea trail with diversion to the Berry Creek trail, following advice of Bill Schroer.

camping 0000 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

We woke up shortly after sunrise, and the sun was reaching out from behind the surrounding mountains and tall trees, it was getting warmer.

raccoon footprint 0003 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

Tam found his biking shirt to have been tried and tested by a local raccoon… Aren’t they supposed to wash things, actually? And there was a spring nearby. Well, not like we were going to wear clothes that day, anyways.

horsetail 0000 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

In the beginning of the hike, we were welcomed by pretty tall northern giant horsetails, a ‘living fossil’ plant, but they were not nearly as tall as their long-extinct cousins and of course nothing to compare with the giant redwoods.

naturist 0005 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

Redwoods, being one of the most massive and tallest trees in the world, impressed us from the very beginning of the trail. I climbed one of the stumps to embody the strength of these giants… but still looked pretty small.

naturist 0009 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

Well, there’s one natural power that may be stronger than redwoods – lightning. There were quite a few that seemed to be struck by lightning and partially burnt from inside but still withstood it, but many weren’t that lucky and fell.

naturist 0007 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

But even when fallen, redwoods look majestic!

naturist 0006 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA Walking on a fallen redwood gives you a good perspective of their height (and a pretty way to cross a stream)…

naturist 0008 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

so as sitting under or on these fallen giants makes you appreciate their huge mass.

naturist 0010 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

And yet they look prettiest when they stand tall.

sequoia 0001 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

Looking up in the redwood forest, it seems like green canopy and blue sky are at the same height.

sequoia 0000 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA sequoia 0002 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA sequoia 0003 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

If you want to celebrate the tree-hugging day with redwoods, you would need more than one person to hug a big redwoods properly…

naturist 0013 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

even two would be hardly enough!

naturist 0000 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

Skyline-to-the-Sea trail and its branches go along springs with clear water, so you don’t need to carry much water with you (we used a filter, however)

naturist 0011 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

and can refresh on the way once in a while. Looks peaceful, doesn’t it?

naturist 0001 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

Until you notice this monster hiding on top of the stream! 😀

Pacific banana slug 0000 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

Another ‘monster’, a giant Pacific banana slug, seemed much less menacing. Where did it get its beautiful golden color? Maybe from this spring?

naturist 0002 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

We had no clue why that spring had such a color, but given that California Gold Rush times were long gone, we were doubtful we found a source of wealth…

naturist 0012 Big Basin Redwoods, CA, USA

The trail was well-maintained and even had stairs at steep inclines. By the way, we did encounter quite a few fellow hikers and we behaved like being naked was the most natural thing in the world (isn’t it?) – and it seemed to work well – we were often greeted with smiles and witty questions.

It was sad to depart from the redwoods, but we hoped we would see them again, it was a memorable first encounter with wooden giants!

Baker Beach in San Francisco

14 September 20138 January 2017 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist 0000 Baker Beach, San-Francsico, CA, USA

Did you know that now massive Burning Man festival started from a gathering of a few friends at Baker Beach in San Francisco in the ’80s? That’s where I went after my first Burning Man experience last year, to relax after the festival and before the oncoming cycling trip down to San Diego with two friends.

Now, that public nudity is outlawed on the streets of San Francisco, Baker Beach may be the only place in the city where body freedom can be practiced in the open air any time of the year. As long as you find nice enough weather for that. Many people, including me, think of San Francisco as a warm sunny place, as the image of California usually presented in the media. In fact, it can get chilly and foggy there, even in the middle of the summer. Coming there after New York’s hot summer and then Burning Man, I was sort of shocked to see people in jackets. Luckily, the following days got warmer, so we could enjoy the beach.

naturist 0037 Baker Beach, San-Francsico, CA, USA

The beach is surrounded by a beautiful park,

naturist 0036 Baker Beach, San-Francsico, CA, USA

and it provides iconic views of the Golden Gate Bridge too.

naturist 0004 Baker Beach, San-Francsico, CA, USA

The bridge inspired us for some posing, doing the body bridge was the most obvious.

naturist 0005 Baker Beach, San-Francsico, CA, USA

It was also nice to move around, as it wasn’t that warm despite the sun, and the water almost never get warm enough for swimming there. So, if you don’t feel like volleyball (there is a pitch with a net at the beach) or jogging, handstand is a good way to warm up.

naturist 0003 Baker Beach, San-Francsico, CA, USA It was a nice day to get into an active state of mind after our ‘post-burn decompression’ and we were looking forward to seeing Californian coast south of San Francisco.

naturist 0001 Baker Beach, San-Francsico, CA, USA

Yoga is more fun under the sun… and stars

6 September 20136 September 2013 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Last minute announcement: This coming Sunday, we’ll be at Sandy Hook beach with two yoga instructors from the group that I organized a few months ago. There are several yoga groups in New York City that practice yoga naked (see my review of Zensual yoga, for example), but my group started as much less formal gathering of friends; now it’s become a regular, weekly class with 2 rotating instructors and more visiting, and a dozen or so students, and we’ve even had a retreat at the Woods campground!

naturist 0003 yoga, the Woods campground, PA USA

I haven’t announced this group on this blog because it was meant mainly for friends, and it grew fast enough with word of mouth. During summer, we’ve been holding classes at the rooftop of one of us in Uptown Manhattan in the evenings. Well, the sky in Manhattan isn’t very starry, but even so it is pretty amazing to stretch out on the roof under stars… and airplanes. I must say after getting used to doing yoga al fresco and au naturel, it would be hard to practice it any other way. The weather seems to be great on Sunday, you can join us at Gunnison Beach at Sandy Hook (see my previous blogpost for the ferry coupon) to do some yoga under the sun and try something like this:

naturist 0012 yoga, the Woods campground, PA USA

Partner stretch/acro-yoga class was probably the most popular at our retreat in the Woods. Besides that, it was also pretty amazing to have an awakening morning yoga session listening to the rain (that one we did under the roof). After that, we covered ourselves with mud and did the no-rain dance, so the sky was clear throughout the rest of the retreat weekend. This time, it looks like we don’t even need that, the forecast is fine 🙂

Rattling around in Harriman State Park woods

1 August 2013 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

I though I had seen all what Harriman State Park near NYC provided, but a week ago, I saw something there that gave me goosebumps… and the urge to post about it, as a warning to other hikers in the area. So, this is what awaited me at the white trail right by the Pine Meadow Lake:

rattlesnake 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

Yes, a rattlesnake! Curiously enough, when we were hiking towards the lake the day before, Sergei wondered if we should watch out for snakes. None of us had seen venomous snakes in the area (but I did report on non-venomous snakes in the previous blogpost about Harriman), and I noted they were actually pretty rare in New York State. But I was lucky to see one on the way back.

rattlesnake 0001 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

Well, when I said I was ‘lucky’ to see it, I really meant it and for two reasons. First of all, if you see a snake, you are more than likely to be safe, unless it is a spitting cobra. Snakes don’t have any reason to bite humans unless they feel threatened… which mostly happens when we do not see them and step on them. Second, it was a rare for New York State timber rattlesnake, a threatened species actually; threatened, in wildlife conservation terms, otherwise it looked magnificently calm. This was probably the third reason why I felt lucky to see it, I was thrilled to take some photos of it, there was indeed something hypnotic about its gaze.

rattlesnake 0002 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

Was it daydreaming looking in the clouds?

rattlesnake 0003 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

Or was it waiting for a hiker to bite? Seriously though, I was concerned that the next hiker might be not that attentive and could step on it. I hesitated on whether to try to scare it off the trail or just leave it alone. I took a loooong stick and knocked on the rock near the snake, to which it moved slowly and took the tongue out to get a sense of what was happening around.

rattlesnake 0004 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

It still seemed to be very calm, so I decided not to disturb it anymore and leave it alone without making it aggressive (and feeling threatened!). The best thing I could do was warning the next hikers on the trail about it (just one couple), I hope they took it seriously coming from a naked guy! But again, if there was anything that the rattlesnake wanted to get a bite of, it was rather something like this toad – easier to swallow and digest.

toad 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

Later on the same trail, I saw a much more dramatic episode from arthropod life. See this little hole in the ground covered by moss? It’s a home of a cricket, but not for too long!

ichneymon wasp, spider, cricket 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

First, I noticed an ichneumon wasp carrying a paralysed spider heading towards the hole. I immediately recognised it, because by coincidence, ichneumon wasps were mentioned in the chapter of the book that I was reading on that day in the morning – ‘The Greatest Show on Earth: the Evidence for Evolution‘ by Richard Dawkins. He mentioned that young Darwin was disgusted by their behaviour, which made him wonder about presence of any kind of ‘morality’ in nature, as they lay eggs in paralysed but still alive victims that are later being eaten alive by the larvae! But in the end, nature is neither moral or immoral, it is amoral… So, my amoral ichneumon wasp left her paralysed spider aside and went to check on the hole.

ichneymon wasp, spider, cricket 0002 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

That’s when I saw the cricket, the wasp clearly didn’t want its company, and the cricket left.

ichneymon wasp, spider, cricket 0001 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

By the time the wasp went to pick up the paralysed spider, the cricket returned to the hole; now the wasp put the spider closer and went into the hole again.

ichneymon wasp, spider, cricket 0004 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

It must have been much clearer with the cricket this time, as it left the hole and jumped away immediately. Finally, the was could bring the spider in the hole…

ichneymon wasp, spider, cricket 0003 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

Well, if it was only that easy! She didn’t think much about what side she should have carried it first (I bet she should have pull it from the head first), but eventually she managed to pull it down in the hole… and do her dark deeds, for which I (thankfully) couldn’t be a witness anymore.

ichneymon wasp, spider, cricket 0005 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

To continue with the insect topic, there was one type that I was particularly hyped about this summer – cicadas. 2013 was the year for the East Coast brood of 17-year periodical cicadas to come out.

Here is a great video about them.

I thought Harriman State Park would be an ideal place to camp out with the cicada noise on the background, but we haven’t found a place where they’d be as abundant as on the video above.

cicada 0001 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

However, we saw some blueberry bushes with a lot of exoskeletons shed by cicada nymphs after molting, and I even noticed one on the top of a dry tree at the final stage of molting (just like the video explained),

cicada 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

but there was no such overwhelming background noise as I expected; maybe our timing was wrong.

Now, periodical cicadas are gone underground for another 17 years, but while hiking in Harriman last time, we noticed that the grasshoppers were particularly plentiful.

grasshopper 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA grasshopper 0001 Harriman State Park, NY, USA grasshopper 0002 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

To finish off with the insects for now, here a pretty furry moth – looks more like a winter outfit to me.

moth 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

By the way, blueberry bushes were not only full of cicada nymphs but of the fruit too! I’m not posting more photos with blueberries as I did enough last year – luckily, these do not come about only every 17 years! There are also some other fruits that will ripen later in summer.

hickory 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

These are fruits of hickory; they are related to walnuts and pecans, but depending on a species may be too bitter to be eaten… there is only one way to find out.

witch hazel 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

And these are witch hazels; despite the name, witch hazel is not related to hazelnuts but is edible and has some medical properties too.

Here is a couple of odd trees from the last hike.

bizarre tree 0001 Harriman State Park, NY, USA bizarre tree 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

I mentioned Canada geese at Silver Mine Lake in my first blogpost about Harriman, but this summer we saw some young ones too

canada goose 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

and they were really cute.

canada goose 0002 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

It is funny though, that in my first blogpost I used Canada geese as an example of an animal less menacing than a bear (we saw one in Harriman in 2011), and I still think they are, but one of them got particularly friendly with us, especially with Christian. Well, friendly is probably not the right word as it was very attracted to his toes and a couple of times tried to bite them! Christian was lucky though it was a foot fetishist goose 😀

canada goose 0004 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

Not that it looked really dangerous, but it might have been a serious bite, judging by the strong beak and spiky tongue of the goose.

canada goose 0003 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

After that scary incident, I had to meditate in tranquility to feel safe again.

naturist 0002 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

You can actually find some very cozy places to sit and reflect about life

naturist 0003 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

or simply enjoy the view.

naturist 0004 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

Mountain laurels were in full bloom by mid-June, and Lake Skannatati looked particularly picturesque.

naturist 0005 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

This summer is apparently wetter than usual, and you could tell by the waterfall at the dam of Lake Skannatati. Not that it couldn’t be blocked by two strong men 🙂

naturist 0008 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

We also noticed some drastic changes downstream, probably due to the storm Sandy, but it still provided a great background for photos.

naturist 0007 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

Well, that’s about it for now, it was quite a diversion from my plans to start posting about my bike trip in California last summer. This was one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen, I loved it how the sun was going down behind the trees on the hill and you could still see it.

sunset 0000 Harriman State Park, NY, USA

PS There probably will be another blogpost before Californian series, as I just got fully body-painted at Times Square yesterday!

coupon for the ferry to Sandy Hook (another excuse to post about the beach)

17 July 201317 July 2013 by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

We had quite an awesome blogpost about Sandy Hook beach for the 4th of July, but as I am often asked about the discount coupon for the Seastreak Ferry that brings you from Manhattan to the beach, I am just posting it here on my blog (they don’t make it easy to find at the Seastreak website).

This is also a good excuse to post some of the older photos that have been waiting for a moment like this.

naturist 0002 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

So, as you can conclude from the company’s name, the ferry brings you to streak by the sea 😉

naturist 0001 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Well, this is not exactly streaking, as the Gunnison Beach of Sandy Hook is a legal clothing-optional beach. By the way, as you can see, even nudists are not opposed to using fabric… and there are some other options of using it besides clothing 😉 It is nice to see it waving in the wind.

naturist 0000 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

In the end, it is all about freedom, you can leave your ~~hat~~ niqab on 😀

naturist 0003 Gunnison Beach, Sandy Hook, NJ, USA

Here is a couple of photos from the last two visits. When many people got scared of rain and clouds last Saturday, not only did they miss the Tacoboy’s Beachfest and perfect weather for volleyball, but also a full rainbow in the end of the day!

rainbow 0003 from Sandy Hook to NYC, NY, USA

Sunday turned out to be a full day of sun, and the last ferry was bringing us to the city with a stunning sunset view!

naturist 0002 from Sandy Hook to NYC, NY, USA

Could it be more perfect? Maybe if the sun was right by the torch of Miss Liberty… but let’s not ask for too much from a casual trip to the beach.

naturist 0001 from Sandy Hook to NYC, NY, USA

Seeing these iconic views on the way from the beach makes taking the quite expensive ferry worthwhile (besides bringing you to the city faster than by car).

naturist 0000 from Sandy Hook to NYC, NY, USA

By the way, I almost forgot about the discount coupon with all these views, here it is.

Tag: naturism