Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Naturist articles: PCT 2000
Walking with nature - The Pacific Crest Trail, California, summer 2000
Unable to get round a golf course; Unable to stand up for an hour at a time; Early
retirement from teaching on medical grounds (Serious foot injury, not the usual teachers
problem of not coping with stress); Surgeons giving me up as a dead loss.
That was four years ago; now I was about to set out on a 600-mile walk over the highest
mountains in the USA (outside Alaska). Was I as foolhardy as my family and friends
thought I was?
My only real exercise in the past 7 years had been canoeing and my first mountain
climb (actually a small 1000 ft hill) had been in April. Succeeding in this was all I needed to
plan a major expedition. I had survived (only just) 2 short trips to the Scottish highlands in
May.
I was walking on my own for 2 reasons 1) With my foot condition I didn’t want to let my
companions down or feel obliged to continue when I needed rest and 2) If any of my friends
were crazy enough to come with me I’m not sure they would still be friends by the end of
the trip. (Have you ever shared a small tent for 7 weeks?)
The Pacific Crest Trail is a footpath going from the Mexican to the Canadian border
keeping to the high mountains and uninhabited forests. I had walked the best part 8 years
ago, the section over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, and decided to repeat this
trip and also include a week in the Yosemite National Park. These are granite mountains
scattered with sparkling blue lakes and tumbling streams and despite altitudes up to over
14000 ft I was expecting hot sunny weather only interrupted by the occasional severe
afternoon thunderstorm giving ideal conditions for a naturist wilderness experience.
I spent my first week in California dropping supplies at the few road crossings on the
route and walking supplies into the mountains. (Hanging supplies high in the trees to
prevent bears getting at them. Even so I still had to look forward to up to 9 days between
supply points which meant a pack weighing up to 50 pounds.
I started in the evening from Walker Pass in the desert with the thermometer showing
about 100°F in the shade. Unfortunately there wasn’t much shade and despite carrying
about 12 pints of water I was pretty dehydrated by the time I reached the first almost dried
up spring
24 hours later. The first week of the walk was totally deserted and clothes were only needed
as protection against the sun. Camping and resting in the shade was fully naturist. The only
problem being that many streams and springs that were running 8 years ago were now dried
up and a heavy pack was made even heavier with the weight of water carried.
After 10 days I reached the higher mountains and frequent lakes tarns and streams
were a relief. Even lakes up to 11500 ft were warm enough for a chilly swim and lakes and
streams lower down were positively warm. One advantage for the naturist of the permit
system in U.S national parks is that even the most popular areas don’t get overcrowded and
swimming and sunbathing naked was no problem. Not that anyone seemed to mind and
most backpackers are too sensible to carry swimsuits because of the unnecessary weight!
Looking back I saw some smoke in the area I had passed through 2 days earlier, the start
of a fire destroying 100 square miles of woodland and still burning 6 weeks later.
The route now went for 250 miles without meeting a road, crossing a series of high
rocky passes and dropping down to wooded valleys full of streams and Lakes. The expected
afternoon storms didn’t materialise and the cooler weather (70-85°F) in the High Sierra was
ideal. A couple of rest days were taken naturally occurring hot springs which fed pools at
about 100°F. Spots where there is a tradition of skinny-dipping even in conservative
America.
Eventually I reached Yosemite where I had my first encounter with a bear. It was 3am
and I was woken by a bear close to my tent. It climbed the tree my rubbish bag was hanging
from and scattered the rubbish, but fortunately didn’t find my food bag.
I detoured off the Pacific Crest Trail to spend a week in Yosemite, a fantastic region of
granite domes and cliffs 1000`s of metres high. One night was spent bivouacking on the
summit of Half Dome, a peak only reachable by climbing cables put up its easiest face.
Another couple of weeks saw me approaching Carson Pass near Lake Tahoe. After 7
weeks of almost uninterrupted sun the weather changed and I finished my walk with 4 days
of rain followed by snow and a blizzard leaving me wet and cold. I certainly wasn’t equipped
for this unseasonable weather.
A highly successful trip through possibly the best mountain walking area in the world.
Despite a scare or two my foot had survived the trip. When I got back home I found I had
lost 1.5 stone and weighed the same as I did as a fit young man 30 years ago. Ageing
muscles don’t want to carry a heavier pack than necessary and by the end I was regretting
not carrying more food.
Any naturist willing to rough it in the wilderness would find it hard to find a better
place for a holiday.
Unable to get round a golf course; Unable to stand up for an hour at a time; Early
retirement from teaching on medical grounds (Serious foot injury, not the usual teachers
problem of not coping with stress); Surgeons giving me up as a dead loss.
That was four years ago; now I was about to set out on a 600-mile walk over the highest
mountains in the USA (outside Alaska). Was I as foolhardy as my family and friends
thought I was?
My only real exercise in the past 7 years had been canoeing and my first mountain
climb (actually a small 1000 ft hill) had been in April. Succeeding in this was all I needed to
plan a major expedition. I had survived (only just) 2 short trips to the Scottish highlands in
May.
I was walking on my own for 2 reasons 1) With my foot condition I didn’t want to let my
companions down or feel obliged to continue when I needed rest and 2) If any of my friends
were crazy enough to come with me I’m not sure they would still be friends by the end of
the trip. (Have you ever shared a small tent for 7 weeks?)
The Pacific Crest Trail is a footpath going from the Mexican to the Canadian border
keeping to the high mountains and uninhabited forests. I had walked the best part 8 years
ago, the section over the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, and decided to repeat this
trip and also include a week in the Yosemite National Park. These are granite mountains
scattered with sparkling blue lakes and tumbling streams and despite altitudes up to over
14000 ft I was expecting hot sunny weather only interrupted by the occasional severe
afternoon thunderstorm giving ideal conditions for a naturist wilderness experience.
I spent my first week in California dropping supplies at the few road crossings on the
route and walking supplies into the mountains. (Hanging supplies high in the trees to
prevent bears getting at them. Even so I still had to look forward to up to 9 days between
supply points which meant a pack weighing up to 50 pounds.
I started in the evening from Walker Pass in the desert with the thermometer showing
about 100°F in the shade. Unfortunately there wasn’t much shade and despite carrying
about 12 pints of water I was pretty dehydrated by the time I reached the first almost dried
up spring
24 hours later. The first week of the walk was totally deserted and clothes were only needed
as protection against the sun. Camping and resting in the shade was fully naturist. The only
problem being that many streams and springs that were running 8 years ago were now dried
up and a heavy pack was made even heavier with the weight of water carried.
After 10 days I reached the higher mountains and frequent lakes tarns and streams
were a relief. Even lakes up to 11500 ft were warm enough for a chilly swim and lakes and
streams lower down were positively warm. One advantage for the naturist of the permit
system in U.S national parks is that even the most popular areas don’t get overcrowded and
swimming and sunbathing naked was no problem. Not that anyone seemed to mind and
most backpackers are too sensible to carry swimsuits because of the unnecessary weight!
Looking back I saw some smoke in the area I had passed through 2 days earlier, the start
of a fire destroying 100 square miles of woodland and still burning 6 weeks later.
The route now went for 250 miles without meeting a road, crossing a series of high
rocky passes and dropping down to wooded valleys full of streams and Lakes. The expected
afternoon storms didn’t materialise and the cooler weather (70-85°F) in the High Sierra was
ideal. A couple of rest days were taken naturally occurring hot springs which fed pools at
about 100°F. Spots where there is a tradition of skinny-dipping even in conservative
America.
Eventually I reached Yosemite where I had my first encounter with a bear. It was 3am
and I was woken by a bear close to my tent. It climbed the tree my rubbish bag was hanging
from and scattered the rubbish, but fortunately didn’t find my food bag.
I detoured off the Pacific Crest Trail to spend a week in Yosemite, a fantastic region of
granite domes and cliffs 1000`s of metres high. One night was spent bivouacking on the
summit of Half Dome, a peak only reachable by climbing cables put up its easiest face.
Another couple of weeks saw me approaching Carson Pass near Lake Tahoe. After 7
weeks of almost uninterrupted sun the weather changed and I finished my walk with 4 days
of rain followed by snow and a blizzard leaving me wet and cold. I certainly wasn’t equipped
for this unseasonable weather.
A highly successful trip through possibly the best mountain walking area in the world.
Despite a scare or two my foot had survived the trip. When I got back home I found I had
lost 1.5 stone and weighed the same as I did as a fit young man 30 years ago. Ageing
muscles don’t want to carry a heavier pack than necessary and by the end I was regretting
not carrying more food.
Any naturist willing to rough it in the wilderness would find it hard to find a better
place for a holiday.
photos to be added