Tag: nudist

Active Naturists team gets gold at the Bouncing Buns trail race :-)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist 0000 Sunny Rest, PA, USA

Last weekend my friends and I teamed up for the naked trail race at Sunny Rest naturist resort in Pennsylvania, and we scored two trophies, including the absolute first! Yes, one of us, Casey, ran that tough 6km trail in just 27 min 47 sec. David brought another trophy for the 4th male under 39 years old (8th total).  I was 13th, but I was happy I could run the race at all, as I wasn’t sure how my ankle would feel still not fully recovered from the injury that I got after I was run over by car in January. This was my third year attending the race, and although the route have gotten shorter from 7 to 6km, it has also acquired some steep slopes this time. Probably for this reason, besides the injury, my result was 3min longer than last year despite a shorter track (32:16). It’s a pity another prize-winning ‘Team America’ from last year didn’t show up this time, but there was more than enough competition with 159 participants.

I was also recognized by one of the readers of my blog, who actually said he was inspired by it to participate in the race. This kind of comment is probably the best praise I could expect from my blog, this is what keeps me motivated to run it!

After the award ceremony, we ate lunch and I was glad to find out that the restaurant at Sunny Rest has improved tremendously and offers now a diverse menu of pretty good quality. Then we rested from the race in the pool and hot tub… but not for too long, as we also wanted to play volleyball. We had a few fun matches but needed even more rest afterwards, so we mostly hung out at the sauna and hot tubs in the evening. Next day, our activities started with yoga at the lawn near the tenting site followed by a short hike, partially on the trail that was used for the race.

naturist 0001 Sunny Rest, PA, USA

The outskirts of a field proved to be a good spot for nude photography.

naturist 0002 Sunny Rest, PA, USA

We also played some touch rugby in the afternoon, inspired by the recent match of Nude Blacks in New Zealand.

naturist rugby 0000 Sunny Rest, PA, USA

We played with just 3 players in each team, but it was still a lot of fun.

naturist rugby 0001 Sunny Rest, PA, USA

We all concluded that we should play it more often, so maybe we’ll build up a team some day. And maybe it will be as successful in rugby as in running? 🙂

naturist rugby 0002 Sunny Rest, PA, USA

טיול רגלי בסמוך לנווה מדבר בים המלח

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

 English

אחרי , יומים של שנירקול במפרץ אילת המשכתי הלאה. התחנה הבאה במסעי ישראל היתה ים המלח. חברה שלי אירחה אותי אצלה בקיבוץ עין גדי (זה אותה החברה שלקחה אותי לחוף געש). הקיבוץ שוכן בשמורת עין גדי השלוה לחופו של ים המלח. הימה המלוחה היא הסיבה העיקרית לטייל במקום. אני ארחיב על ים המלח בפוסט הבא. בשמורה עצמה, המיועדת לטיול של יום שלם ברגל, אפשר לפגוש מגוון יפה של צימחיה מדברית ושערות שולמית. בשמורת עין גדי יש שני מעינות המפכים במשך כל השנה; נחל דוד ונחל ערוגות. נחל דוד הוא המתוייר מבין השניים ולא מומלץ להיסתובב בו בעירום. יש סיכוי גדול שתמצא את עצמך מוקף במטילים המגיעים לשם בטיולים מאורגנים.

view 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

שמתי פעמיי לנחל ערוגות. שם יכולתי לפשוט את בגדי ולטבול בנקיקים מבלי לפגוש יותר מדי מטילים אחרים שעברו בנחל.

view 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

נכנסתי לנחל שהוא נקיק צר וחרב. בהמשך הנחל מבצבצת צימחייה ירוקה לאורך המיים. אפשר ללכת על הגדה או לשכשך במיים הרדודים.

view 0002 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

לא יכולתי שלא לטבול את התחת הערום שלי בבריכת הטבעיות שבנחל.

naturist 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

קולות רמים של בני תשחורת אמריקיים הפרו את השלווה. התלבשתי בחיפזון. הזמן חלף ונאלצתי לשוב למהר מכיוון שהשמורה נסגרת ב5 אחה”צ.

בהמשך הנחל ראיתי את הבריכה המפורסמת עם המפל אבל האמריקאים שפגשתי בדרך הגיעו לשם בהמוניהם ונאלצתי לותר ולהמשיך הלאה.

view 0003 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

סימנתי בריכה נוספת בדרכי כמעומדת למנוחה אם לא אמצא בריכה טובה יותר.

view 0004 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

המשכתי לצעוד מדלג בין השביל למיים בחיפוש אחר מקום מסתור. מצאתי בריכה מוקפת בעיצים ומוסתרת מעיני המטילים והאוטובוסים ונכנסתי ערום למיים להתרעננות נוספת.

naturist 0003 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

ניצלתי את פינת החמד לארוחת צהריים. סיבכי ובולבול גילו התעניינות בסנדויץ שלי ונעמדו ממש קרוב אליי

 

bird 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

bird 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

אחרי האוכל יצאתי לטיול נוסף

naturist 0002 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

פגשתי מעופף נוסף של נרתע מהמצלמה שלי.

dragonfly 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

ואז חלפתי על פני המפל הגבוהה ביותר בנחל.

view waterfall 0005 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

לא התמהמתי שם כי רציתי לראות את כל המסלול.

view waterfall 0006 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

אייך שעברתי את המפל איש השמורה קרא לי ואמר שמאוחר מדי להמשיך בשביל ושצריך לחבור לכיוון היציאה. זה נשמע לי לא הגיוני אבל לא רציתי להיתווקח. שמתי פעמיי חזרה לכיוון ים המלח.

view 0007 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

בדרך חזרה במפל הגבוהה פגשתי קבוצה קולנית של חרדים צעירים ברובם. למה הם צועקים בשעה שהמקום כל כך רגוע. הצעקות שלהם החרישו את רחשי הטבע. נראה שבישבילם זה טיול לפרק שעשועים והטבע זר להם על מימו ובריכותיו הזקים. הבחנתי פתאום בקבוצת יעלים על ראש הקניון.

nubian ibex 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

הם נראו כאילו הם מהרהרים בליבם ושואלים מה לקבוצה הרעשנית הזאת המשחקת במפל ולמידבר. טוב שהם כל כך רעשנעם. כך אני לא צריך לחשוש לפשוט את בגדי כי הקולות הרמים יודיעו לי מתי הם מתקרבים.

הבריכה שסימנתי מוקדם יותר עמדה בשיממונה ניצלתי את המגלשה הטיבעית להחליק על התחת לתוך הבריכה

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xghfk2_skinny-dipping-in-the-desert_travel

אפשר לראות בסרט אייזה כיף זה לגולש על התחת במורד הזרם לבריכה.

מדהים – שרכים ענוגים מסוג שערות שולמית גדלים במדבר על קירות הנקיק מעל למיים עד לנקודה שבו התחיל המדבר

fern 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

מדהים יותר לפגוש סרטן וצפרדע שוחים יחדו בבריכה בלב המדבר

frog & crab 0000 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

לא העלתי בדעתי שאפשר להיתרענן במחיצת חיות בר בים המות

nubian ibex 0001 Nahal Arugot, Dead Sea, Israel

Text in Hebrew by Dror

WNBR NYC and Free Form Festival: free, arrested and then freer than ever!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Last Friday, the weather in New York city wasn’t the most cooperative for the World Naked Bike Ride, and yet a couple of dozens of hardiest cyclists showed up at the Grand Ferry Park. We welcomed the thunderstorm by dancing naked in the downpour, and as the rain was calming down, we took off to the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Despite the weather, there were still people on the streets, and we got cheered by pedestrians, other cyclists and car drivers alike! We got some friendly smiles and hand waives even from police. When passers by asked us why we were naked, I replied that skin was waterproof 😉

By the time we got to Washington Square Park, it stopped raining altogether.

WNBR 2014 0005 New York, NY, USA

But some of us seemed to miss water already 🙂

WNBR 2014 0000 New York, NY, USA

I wish New York accepted nudity, at least in parks, and as these rides show, general public doesn’t seem to be opposed to it, once confronted to a cheerful naked crowd.

WNBR 2014 0010 New York, NY, USA

The World Naked Bike Ride aims to promote safe environments for cyclists and public in general, and who would argue that if you can feel safe in your city while being naked, it must be as safe as it gets?

WNBR 2014 0004 New York, NY, USA

Then we headed out to the Hudson Greenway and took some more pictures with iconic views.

WNBR 2014 0001 New York, NY, USA

As to the banner, I personally don’t think NYC should be car-free altogether, but it would definitely become a better city, if half of the drivers switched to bicycles 🙂

WNBR 2014 0003 New York, NY, USA

Unfortunately, our ride after that didn’t go as peaceful and proved that it wasn’t the weather we should have been worried about:

WNBR 2014 0008 New York, NY, USA

All of a sudden, we were overtaken  by an undercover police car (disguised as a yellow cab!) and then even more police came and blocked the street. We can only guess why, but they also arrested two of the participants!

WNBR 2014 0009 New York, NY, USA

It was pleasing to get support from bystanders. One of them shouted that he thought he happened to be in Iran. However, this didn’t stop police, and our two arrestees were detained till next evening! Your can read more at the blog of one of the organizers of New York’s WNBR, Ben, as well as an article from Gothamist.

I was very happy about how our ride went last year, and there is no reason why it should have ended so bitter this year. I’m especially puzzled why this happens in seemingly liberal New York. I bet many spectators of our ride on Friday had that “only in New York” moment, but what they probably didn’t realize was that in many cities of the world and US, the World Naked Bike Ride actually attracts many more riders, and what happens only in New York perhaps is that participants of such rides get arrested. Hopefully, it’ll be better next year. And there’re still some more rides this year too, including WNBR Boston next Saturday, June 28 (read this announcement about at Boston Magazine).

 

Last weekend, I went to Free Form Festival at The Schuylkill County Fairgrounds, PA,  and it was a nice and necessary breath of freedom after I witnessed the arrest at WNBR.

Free Form Festival 2014 0000 Pennsylvania, USA

This festival celebrates anything positive and artsy, anything that brings people together and raises the spirit, and social nudity is a part of it.

I started off with a naked lunch, which by coincidence seemed to be all Tuscan style – featuring Tuscan salami, Tuscan bean salad, and Tuscan salami – despite I bought those at different places without thinking about it :p

Free Form Festival 2014 0004 Pennsylvania, USA

Free Form Festival follows the format of Burning Man, just at a smaller scale and with grass instead of dust.

Free Form Festival 2014 0003 Pennsylvania, USA

I didn’t take many photos, as it was more about having fun and interacting with people.

Free Form Festival 2014 0001 Pennsylvania, USA

Even though nudity is not common there, it’s definitely welcome. As you can see at this photo from a contact workshop, where we pretended to be a school of fish, nobody had a problem with following a naked dude.

Free Form Festival 2014 0002 Pennsylvania, USA

At night, everybody gathered for the effigy burn, and a few people, including me, were dancing naked around. One of the fire spinners got naked too, and had a solo performance on the side. Also, a guy whose dance style was more like Tai Chi got naked too and taught me a couple of principal Tai Chi moves. Then he brought me to a creek with cold water behind the amphitheater. And that was my experience of duality – this year’s theme of Free Form Festival – fire and water, heat and cold, light and darkness…

Hopefully, events like the World Naked Bike Ride and Free Form Festival will make world a more open, accepting and freer place, so that you can feel safe even naked!

some upcoming events this month

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists
WNBR NYC 2014

World Naked Bike Ride will gather thousands of cyclists in many cities of the Northern Hemisphere to promote cycling as a mode of urban transportation, as well as body acceptance. The dress code is “as bare as you dare”, but in my opinion being naked is the best way to get the message across: cyclists use the power of human body for commuting in the city – so, show that body! – and yet we are the ones who are most prone to the truly indecent exposure to the traffic and vehicle pollution. In most cities, the ride will be held on Saturday, 14 June, but in New York City, it’s on Friday the 13th. This will be a hell of a fun ride: an awesome way to finish off the work week, to say the least! You can see my reports from WNBR in NYC last year and 2012, as well as from Madrid in 2009; Philly Naked Bike Ride is in August, and with 3500 participants last year is the biggest one I’ve participated. Although I don’t know the reasons why WNBR is held on a different day here in New York than in most the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, I’m glad that it’s on Friday, because it lets me go for the weekend to yet another amazing event.

Free Form Festival brings together the vast East-Coast creative arts community from 12-16 June at at The Schuylkill County Fairgrounds, Pennsylvania. With its aim to “increase diversity in our local artistic landscape”, it will surely be interesting and fun, and by the way, it is an officially clothing-optional event too! Tickets are still on sale and may be purchased by clicking here. Who else is going?

I’m also looking forward to ‘Bouncing Buns‘ 7k Trail Race in Pennsylvania for American Cancer Society on the 21st of June. 7km is the longest distance that I’ve seen for a naked or clothing-optional race – it’s good to be challenged, moreover for a good cause. Well, in 2012, I passed the challenge pretty well, coming in third! I ran a bit faster last year, but with fiercer competition, I had only 7th result. This year, I cannot hope to run faster, as I’m still not 100% recovered after my ankle injury, but will I have less fun? Of course not! With 150 or so naturist folks of all shapes and ages, everybody can feel comfortable in their own skin. However, I’m going with a couple of fellows again, and it doesn’t hurt to have some healthy competition, just like with the friends in ‘Team America’ that I got to know last year. The event is organized by Pretzel City Sports and you can register for the race at their website: $25 before June 9, $32 after. Part of your registration fee will support American Cancer Society, and afterwards you get an opportunity to hang out at Sunny Rest naturist resort, where the trail race will take place. It’s a great opportunity to run just the way you like. The event is clothing-optional, and we’ll certainly opt for the style of the [authentic] Olympic runners 😉 Also, if you have any doubts about running naked, have a look at my brief overview that links running and our naturally naked (furless) body from an evolutionary perspective – I hope it’ll make sense to you. Besides participating in the race, we also plan to do some yoga at Sunny Rest, as well as play badminton and volleyball.

Last but not least, as the beach season has commenced, it’s worth mentioning that there is a Groupon sale for the Seastreak ferry from Manhattan to Sandy Hook beach: $25 instead of regular $45. Unfortunately, unlike in previous years, there is no $30 coupon on Seastreak’s website, and you can only get one groupon ticket…

body art in a new light

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Camping trips are usually associated with such visually pleasing activities as watching fire and starry sky, but on our outing to Painted Canyon (aka Mecca Hills), California, we had a rather artsy experience – light painting. It’s a photographic technic that uses a light source for “painting” (illuminating certain parts with certain colors) or “drawing” while the camera captures the scene at a prolonged exposure time. Ramon thought of it as soon as he saw a small light with red laser pointer on my key chain. It was of course very different from watching fire, because we were actively creating the imagery, but the other hand it lacked immediacy, as we couldn’t appreciate the result fully until we saw the photos on a bigger screen. However, it didn’t stop us from being engaged with light painting for most of the evening

naturist 0000 body art light

Here, I became fire spirit.

naturist 0001 body art light

Don was about to start flying with his multiple arms that emitted electric pulses…

naturist 0002 body art light

and then he became a pure spirit after separating from the shady and sketchy alter egos.

naturist 0003 body art light

Meanwhile, I was fighting with the Devil himself.

naturist 0005 body art light

Despite his tricky rasteira (a movement in capoeira used to sweep or pull an opponent’s leg in response to a kick), I still won…

naturist 0006 body art light

and became a god of lighting!

naturist 0007 body art light

So, this is what happens when naturists turn into artists 😉 Next day, we also had an amazing hike in the Painted Canyon.

naturist 0008 body art light

The next opportunity for body art, even though it will be a very different experience, is next week already  – “New York Naked Painting Party – World Tour Kick Off!” – see you there?

some upcoming events in NYC area

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Thanks to Travasuns group, even in the cold time of the year we can gather for social naked activities at a monthly Winter Pool Party in Long Island. The next one is this Saturday, March 1 . I’ve been to a few of their events, and it was always fun. It’s a low-key event at a rented gym. They offer saunas, hang-out pool, pizza and even volleyball, which is often unofficially dubbed as naturists’ favorite sport. Given that volleyball is indoors and surrounded by walls, we can also play it as wallyball.

For someone not ready to take it all off at once, there is a perfect opportunity on Friday night: my favorite night club in New York, Pacha, has a No-Pants party with DJ Michael Woods, who is one of the best producers of progressive house and trance music around. From their press release:

Yup, you heard right. Pacha Has Woods! And when you’ve got Woods, the last thing you need is your pants. Pacha is pleased to invite you to take them off – take them all off. A staple of the modern clubbing era, the No Pants Party is quickly becoming the stuff of legend. Rock out with your everything out all night to the waist-down sounds of our brand new resident: Michael Woods!#PACHAHASWOODS FREE ADMISSION TIL 2AM WHEN YOU CHECK YOUR PANTS AT THE DOOR!

Let’s see how far we can go with rocking out with our everything out, and if Michael Woods himself joins the craze!

Two weeks later, on Thursday, March 13, we’ll have “New York Naked Painting Party – World Tour Kick Off!”  at the Highline loft. RSVP@SocialExposureNYC.com, get tickets here. The title speaks for itself, and I’ve already posted about their previous events at Gallery Bar. Their next event will be in Mexico at Hidden Beach Resort in the end of March.

I would also like to mention the film called ‘Stranger By The Lake’ (L’inconnu du lac). I heard about it a few months ago from a friend in Paris, and now it made it to a couple of cinemas in New York. It’s set at a nudist beach and cruising area by a lake in French countryside. It is a very powerful psychological drama about reckless passion, friendship, loneliness… It is very realistic and has no music soundtrack, and yet it’s also beautifully shot. Given that I don’t want cruising culture to be associated with nudism, I need to point out right away that, curiously, cruising itself was done clothed, while most conversations and other interactions were done in the nude. I wonder if this fact made the film so emotionally powerful, as there are studies showing that people are more compassionate and empathic when they see images of naked people as opposed to clothed people. I’ll say no more, I don’t want to spoil it for those who hasn’t seen the film yet.

‘Naked holidays’ in New York

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Maybe you assumed from my last blogpost that the naturist season is over in New York area, but it isn’t at all! Besides the ongoing naked yoga classes with my friends (and there are even more options, e.g. Zensual yoga), I’m planning to attend two events in the next days.

Tonight, I’m going to an off-Broadway show with naked performers – Naked Holidays, right by Times Square!

I went to their performance last year with a colleague whose friend is playing there, and we are going together again. It is a fun show, and it’ll definitely put me in a more festive mood, as I usually notice arrival of winter holidays with a sort of surprise.

This will be the second year that NYC is left out of what seemed to become a traditional Nude Year’s Eve :-/

But thanks to Travasuns, we have an ‘early Nude Year’s Eve’ – this Saturday, December 28. I was at the previous event, and it was a lot of fun. Although Travasuns has a fame of bringing mostly ‘older’ crowd,  there was no shortage of activities and I saw many familiar faces from events of YNA, Vita Nuda, or local beaches. Judging by the calendar, they might be as well the most active nudist group in winter season. They offer saunas, hang-out pool, pizza, but what’s especially cool is that they manage to provide volleyball in winter, which is often unofficially dubbed as naturists’ favourite sport. First, I was quite sceptical about indoors volleyball, but in the end my friends Yassin, for whom it was the first naked event btw, Sergei, Liza and I just couldn’t stop playing and were the last ones to leave the field…

Looking forward to these events! Stay tuned for reviews 🙂

North 40 Natural Area in New York City

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist 0003 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

Do you dream of having a naturist area in the Big Apple to have an easy escape from the hustle and bustle? I think we’ve found a perfect candidate place –  North 40 Natural Area, a part of historic Floyd Bennett Field in Jamaica Bay. It is on the federal land and is a part of Gateway National Recreation Area, just like Gunnison Beach in Sandy Hook, so technically, no change in legislation would be necessary to allow nudity there… (Another possible location would be Fort Tilden, as was suggested by one of our readers.) Well, that’s if this place remains a park at all, as there is a controversial plan to build a massive gas pipeline going through this territory! How is this legal?

view 0000 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

It will be a big shame for New York City to lose one of the few relatively untouched pockets of nature within its boundaries.

berries 0000 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

We were lucky to enjoy this place on a warm weekend in late September, and it seemed like not many people knew about this place. 

naturist 0000 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

It felt liberating to disrobe and walk in the buff.

naturist 0001 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

Buns and bunnies seemed equally natural to us 😉

rabbit 0000 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

We went through a couple of winding trails, and it was nice to see that the forest was actually untouched besides the trails. The only other destruction was probably due to storms like Sandy. It’s hard to imagine what else could have made a tree to fall like that with its roots lifting all the soil under it.

naturist 0002 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

One of the smaller trails brought us to the beach. It was full of trash, unfortunately, and we almost left disappointed.

view 0001 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

But then we just tried to see what was behind the tall reeds and found a beautiful meadow!

view 0002 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

It was a true hidden gem, perfect to relax and sunbathe.

naturist 0004 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

Well, apparently our timing was perfect too. Just after we finished our snack break and were ready to leave, the water started soaking from beneath the grass. So, in high tide, this meadow must be filled with water.

view 0004 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

Before leaving, we spent a couple of minutes to enjoy the view of the particularly bright moon.

view 0003 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

We were not sure if passers by on the bridge behind could see us fully, but we could only wonder why this kind of mooning would be frowned upon.

naturist 0006 North 40 Natural Area, Floyd Bennett Field, New York City, NY, USA

kayaking the Sacandaga River and Good Luck Lake in South Adirondacks

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

view 0000 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

Besides hiking, Adirondack Park offers great kayaking too. Teddy, like many locals, has his own kayaks so we went to explore the West Branch of Sacandaga River and Good Luck Lake – with that name, you needn’t think twice about checking it out, and it turned out beautiful too! The banks of the canal that lead to Good Luck lake were full of blooming aquatic plants.

water plants 0000 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

The views from the Good Luck lake made us feel lucky!

Lucky Lake 0000 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

And we were indeed lucky to see a family of elusive loons. Their calls echoed because of the hills surrounding the lake, it sounded quite spooky.

loon 0000 Good Luck Lake, Adirondack Park, New York, USA

We stayed at the lake till sunset, and next day returned to explore the Sacandaga River more.

naturist 0009 Adirondack, NY, USA

That part of Sacandaga River is just perfect for laid-back kayaking: the current is not too strong, and the width allows easy maneuvering and yet being close enough to the banks not to miss any wildlife, that you’re likely to see there.

However, there are some places that hard to go through because of fallen trees.

kayaking 0000 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

Still, we managed to get through without too much hassle.

kayaking 0001 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

The bottom was mostly sandy, but in some places there were algae that looked like smooth golden-green hair.

water plants 0001 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

Going further up from Good Luck lake, we had more and more places that were too shallow to paddle easily,

view 0001 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

so the best way to continue was lifting up and crawling with the arms while still seated in kayak.

naturist 0003 Adirondack, NY, USA

But after the bridge, it became too rocky and shallow to continue in kayaks. We walked for a bit, but there was no sign it was going to improve any time soon.

naturist 0008 Adirondack, NY, USA

I think I forgot to mention, that ironically, Teddy’s dog was the only one clothed 😀 Teddy just didn’t want him to get lost.

blackberries 0000 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

It was nice to make a pause from rowing and get some blackberries. After that, we headed back downstream, and stopped at a little sandy beach. There was a fellow kayaker passing by, he seemed cool with us being naked but wondered why we didn’t have any ladies with us. We suggested him to work on that next time 😀

view 0002 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

Down another bridge, the flow was even calmer. We tried to go through a small channel, but it was blocked by a beaver dam.

beaver dam 0000 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

Well, it turned out that main branch was dammed by beavers too, just a few feet up!

beaver dam 0001 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

But it wasn’t too difficult to get over it and was actually fun!

naturist 0004 Adirondack, NY, USA

We heard some big animals running through the bushes – could be deer or bears – but the only wildlife we were lucky to see that time was a blue heron.

heron 0000 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

It seemed to be pretty busy fishing and didn’t pay much attention to us.

heron 0001 Sacandaga River, Adirondack, NY, USA

Given that Adirondack Park is ‘the largest state-level protected area in the contiguous United States’, there is obviously more to explore. Looking forward to the next trip to Adirondacks!

hiking to the Tenant Creek Falls in Adirondacks

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

naturist 0000 Adirondack, NY, USA

Sorry for having been quiet for the entire month of November, but hopefully we’ll be more active at blogging this month. Luckily, there’s never a shortage of what to post, just the lack of time. After writing about the hike in Mohonk Preserve in New York, I thought I should add a couple more stories from Upstate this summer. My friend Miguel, an avid naturist himself, connected me with his buddy Teddy, who seemed to know the southern portion of the Adirondack Park well. So, after a couple of weeks planning, I was on the train from [former] New Amsterdam to Amsterdam, NY.

Tenant Creek Falls 0000 Adirondack, NY, USA

Teddy brought me to his favorite hiking trail along the Tenant Creek.

naturist 0001 Adirondack, NY, USA

There are three waterfalls, but most people don’t go beyond the first one. We had the third waterfall all to ourselves!

Tenant Creek Falls 0001 Adirondack, NY, USA

The hike took us about an hour, but as we started pretty late, we had just an hour of sunlight left to set up a camp and go skinny-dipping.

naturist 0005 Adirondack, NY, USA

It was easy to find a spot for out tent, but the place is certainly not mean for a lot of campers, so we were lucky to not have any neighbors. The sound of the waterfall was a perfect accompaniment for otherwise quiet night!

Next day, we went to explore the forest around, and it was so worth it. Butterflies and flowers greeted us, and we had some hand-picked blackberries for breakfast :p

butterflies 0000 Adirondack, NY, USAbutterflies 0001 Adirondack, NY, USA

… and then I saw a coyote! He definitely saw me too, and even let me to take a picture of him,

coyote 0000 Adirondack, NY, USA

though by the time I focused well, he was scared by Teddy getting out of blackberry bushes and ran away.

coyote 0001 Adirondack, NY, USA

But even so, it was a big luck to have seen a coyote in New York state!

After walking in the sun, it was nice to come back to our camp and enjoy skinny-dipping.

naturist 0007 Adirondack, NY, USA

In the waterfall, there was even a deepening that looked like a perfect bathtub, but the water was too cold to really sit there for a while.

naturist 0002 Adirondack, NY, USA

We could swim in the pond below, however.

naturist 0006 Adirondack, NY, USA

On the way back, we saw these amazing colorful mushrooms.

mushrooms 0000 Adirondack, NY, USAmushrooms 0001 Adirondack, NY, USA

Near the first waterfall, Teddy knew a tree that grew right on top of the rock with its roots twisting down. It was almost the point to put our clothes on, because there might be more people coming, but we couldn’t resist snapping a couple of photos.

naturist 0010 Adirondack, NY, USA

What a great place to enjoy the beauty of the forest and meditate.

naturist 0011 Adirondack, NY, USA

This toad seemed to do the same, and lucky him, nobody would make a fuss for him being naked!

toad 0000 Adirondack, NY, USA