"immoral habits" ??

[rocket21]

THAT is obscene. Merely being naked is not.

I guess you weren't watching NYPD Blue when Dennis Franz dropped the towel.

 

[J.Dub]

I'd much rather my kids saw nude hikers than the TV commercials FOX puts on during the weekend afternoon baseball games. I can't leave the Red Sox on when I leave the room if the game is on FOX because someone will be shot, and shown lying bleeding and dead on the ground. THAT is obscene. Merely being naked is not.

I had a rather eye-opening experience watching the Super Bowl this year, since my kids -- aged 11 and 9 -- watched it with us. (A little family SB party.) It really made me notice how much sexual content was in the commercials. The GoDaddy spots and Doritos ad come to mind, as well as some of the promos for other NBC shows. It's not like the game was on at 10:00P when most kids would be in bed -- we weren't even into prime time yet!

Don't even get me started on TV violence...

But I agree with the general consensus that nekkid hiking is far from "immoral" and there are a lot of worse things these folks could/should be wringing their hands about.

 

[Jason Berard]

"We must protect our children..."

Protect them from what? Naked is natural. As long as no..um...private acts are going on, I wouldn't care if my kids saw nude hikers on the trail. Who cares? What's wrong with the human body?

I've told this story before, but hey...it seems relevant.

While hiking Cardigan by moonlight in '07 with the whole family, we saw a bunch of college age kids running down the trail nekkid. They were mortified to see other people on the trail!

We were all rather amused.... My son (5 at the time) says to us after they go by, " That will really hurt if they fall down!"

 

[Little Rickie]

"We must protect our children..."

Protect them from what? Naked is natural. As long as no..um...private acts are going on, I wouldn't care if my kids saw nude hikers on the trail. Who cares? What's wrong with the human body?
).

Then you would have no objection to me posting a naked picture of me standing on a mountain top, front or back?

mods i'm not serious, this is for hypothetical discussion only

 

[TrishandAlex]

Then you would have no objection to me posting a naked picture of me standing on a mountain top, front or back?

mods i'm not serious, this is for hypothetical discussion only

None. Why would I? My kids see pictures and paintings of nude folks all the time, in art museums and in art books.

Ain't nothin' wrong with the human body.

They would probably think it funny, because it's unusual. And I wouldn't let THEM go around naked outside, because I worry about sex offenders out there. But adults, walking around naked -- doing nothing aggressive or "private" -- no objection whasoever.

 

[TrishandAlex]

I've told this story before, but hey...it seems relevant.

While hiking Cardigan by moonlight in '07 with the whole family, we saw a bunch of college age kids running down the trail nekkid. They we mortified to see other people on the trail!

We were all rather amused.... My son (5 at the time) says to us after they go by, " That will really hurt if the fall down!"

That is such a great story. My kids would have laughed and laughed, and thought it very silly indeed.

 

[nartreb]

Taken literally, "immoral" just means "not enough other people are doing it."

 

[Little Rickie]

None. Why would I? My kids see pictures and paintings of nude folks all the time, in art museums and in art books.

Ain't nothin' wrong with the human body.

They would probably think it funny, because it's unusual. And I wouldn't let THEM go around naked outside, because I worry about sex offenders out there. But adults, walking around naked -- doing nothing aggressive or "private" -- no objection whasoever.

If I walked past your house naked in all my glory you'd lock up your kids and call the police. Is that different than my being naked on a trail?

I didn't call naked immoral just not always appropriate. If that's what you want to do go for it. Just not in public, no matter how beautiful you are.

There are plenty of open and private places for you to enjoy your natural self. A whole bunch of resorts are dedicated to clothing optional folks that share that value. Just don't do it on a heavily traveled public trail.

 

[TrishandAlex]

If I walked past your house naked in all my glory you'd lock up your kids and call the police.

No, I truly wouldn't. You're making an erroneous assumption.

I might wonder if you needed help though, since that's a very unusual thing to do on a city street.

If you were making sexual gestures toward me or my children -- on a hiking trail or any other place, THEN I'd call the police.

But simply walking, naked, minding your own business...no, there's nothing "obscene" about that. I'd admire your sense of freedom to just walk in the skin you were born with.

 

[mookie]

I might wonder if you needed help though, since that's a very unusual thing to do on a city street.

not in brattleboro vermont. hehe

 

[bikehikeskifish]

If that's what you want to do go for it. Just not in public, no matter how beautiful you are.

There are plenty of open and private places for you to enjoy your natural self. A whole bunch of resorts are dedicated to clothing optional folks that share that value. Just don't do it on a heavily traveled public trail.

I've been to some of these clothing-optional places and there are all body types there. Making the comment 'no matter how beautiful you are' implies a value judgment based on someone's appearance. I can tell you that in my personal experience it hasn't mattered if you're young, old, tan, pale, saggy, wrinkly, body-builder, model, etc., if you're all naked, you are all on equal footing, and people are very friendly, outgoing, and not at all judgmental.

There was at one time a clothing-optional section on Moonstone Beach in RI. The town had 250' of beach in the middle of a federal wildlife preserve. That section was a (so-called) 'textile' beach, but on either side it was clothing-optional. People would wear a towel to cross that section, or swim or walk in the water. You could see right across the textile section. In a weird way, those people were the fish on display in the fishbowl.

Given that it is unexpected, I wouldn't go hiking naked. But, if I stumbled across someone slightly off trail changing out of sweaty clothes and into dry ones (I've done this), I wouldn't be surprised or offended, even if I had my kids along. I also think there is room for an occasional 'hike naked' day, or area, or something.

This is all my personal opinion. You are free to agree or disagree.

Tim

 

[Tobit]

I'd have to agree with Trish and Tim. Definitely not something I'd do but I'm not going to get offended if that is what someone wants to do. Too many other things in life to worry about.

 

[Little Rickie]

I might wonder if you needed help though, since that's a very unusual thing to do on a city street.

Then there is a time and place for being naked.

I'd admire your sense of freedom to just walk in the skin you were born with

Then do it at a clothing optional resort where other people feel the same way or someplace of the beaten path where you can enjoyself privatly.

Does the joy of being naked in front of people, that don't want to see you naked, enhance the experence? I hope not. Thus share yourself with like minded people and but not with the general public.

 

[Little Rickie]

We are drifting. This is what the first post started with-

A wave of naked hiking

not stumbling across someone changing their clothes or grabbing a rinse in a brook.

 

[MadRiver]

(2) Which is the greater "immoral habit" of that area: hiking naked, or waiting until 1990 to give their women the right to vote?

Nakedness is one thing, indecency is another.

Indecency is too kind of a word for this practice. Slavery comes to mind.

 

[TrishandAlex]

Does the joy of being naked in front of people, that don't want to see you naked, enhance the experence? I hope not.

I hope not either, but that's a different topic.

Generally speaking, as long as the action doesn't hurt anyone (and hiking naked certainly doesn't), then I hope that people do what they feel they have a right to do, regardless of the ever-changing, extremely cultural-specific, very gray opinions on what is "right" and what is "wrong."

I don't think we're going to agree on this issue, as I suspect we are coming at it from very different backgrounds and life experiences. No worries, we all have a right to our own opinions. Peace.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

We are drifting. This is what the first post started with- not stumbling across someone changing their clothes or grabbing a rinse in a brook.

They are degrees of gray. Problem is, most law-enforcement people don't see anything but black and white on this issue. I suspect people who would be offended to find me hiking naked would likewise be offended to find me grabbing a change of clothes, or skinny dipping in a brook. I have found, oddly enough, that people are less offending by finding skinny dippers for some reason. It's less of a stretch (say from taking a bath or swimming) than hiking, and more people are apt to have been skinny dipping in their lives.

Tim

 

[Paradox]

From the article: "A wave of naked hiking — particularly popular with German visitors — outraged people last year in the traditionally minded canton..."

To their credit, those Germans have come along way in the past 70 years!

 

[MonadnockVol]

Long ago

Many, many, many years ago (I think I was 18) my girlfriend and I were playing tennis on a hot June day. We were hot and sweaty when we finished and decided to hike up to a mountaintop pond we knew of and go skinny dipping. This pond is on the same ridge that has the South Taconic Trail but at the time the only access was an old woods road and the pond was completely undeveloped. I haven't been back in decades and it's probably condos now.

By the time we got to the pond we were REALLY hot and sweaty and were dismayed to find some sort of girl scout camp out going on on the far side of the pond. There were lots of tents and the obligatory camp fires. I was ready to turn around and head down but my girlfriend pointed out that the pond wasn't a perfect circle, and we could find an inlet, get in the water and no one would be the wiser that we weren't wearing suits. So that's what we did.

Unfortunately, we ran out of inlet before we got deep enough. I had waded out to about mid-thigh when I heard a young woman shout "They're naked!"

"Oh sh*t" I said and dove into the water. I was mortified (shy guy that I am) but my girlfriend thought this was hysterical and leisurely walked into the water. Quite a crowd of girl scouts had gathered on the far shore and were watching us. Then, without warning, one of the scouts stripped off her clothes and dove in and then suddenly there were about 40 naked scouts jumping off this rock and three extremely irate girl scout leaders shouting at them to get out and put their clothes back on. Within minutes it was all over but it certainly was an experience...

I don't think there will be any resolution on this board between the "naked is natural & naked does not equal sex" crowd versus the "it may be natural, but it is private and I don't want you inflicting it on me" crowd. I just hope we can find ways to have mutual respect for both groups. As for myself, I wouldn't think twice about skinny dipping in an isolated mountain pond, but I'm not likely to do it at Marcy dam.

 

[Whiteman]

More on the Nude Hiking Craze in Switzerland--from the NY Times

I was glad to see the NY Times with its timely recap on the outbreak of nude hiking in the Alps, flavored with some references to spicy Appenzeller sausage (also impacting the current Try New Foods thread). Read the amusing recap here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/world/europe/17swiss.html

Hiking nude: Sounds like it could help avoid some of those pesky chafing problems.

Subjecting others to me hiking nude: No worries. Not even my enemies.

Hiking nude in the winter: Imagine butt sliding on this weekend's snow/ice/glaze. YOUCH.