Barefoot & Naked.... "truly Naked" Hiking

I really wanted to give "truly naked hiking" a try.

So, out the back door I went. (sounds kinda like an old song doesn't it?) I wandered toward my back line, trying to decide which direction to go. It's thick woods or brush as soon as I leave the yard going any direction. So, there's not much chance of being seen until I go a ways. I went straight out back & crossed an atv trail proceeding down thru the woods. Staying off the main trails, but hitting some old trails once in a while, I made my way to the edge an old farm pasture. I know the family that owns the old farm & have wandered & hunted there for a lot of years. Rarely, have I ever run into anyone in that area. I hesitated for a couple minutes, looking up & down the hill of the partially overgrown/partially open pasture. All seemed clear, so I crossed the opening to the first brush row & walked around the lower end of the row which kept me out of sight of the farm buildings. Pausing again to look up & down the hill before crossing to the next windrow, I saw that it was again clear to cross. I got to a stone wall in the windrow & stood there for a few minutes. Feeling the urge to urinate, I was about to go when I caught a movement to my right. Where'd he come from? I started to bolt, but realized that it was too late.... I was caught! A guy in a red t-shirt & shorts, wearing headphones & escorted by a dog was walking down the edge of the old pasture right toward me. He raised both hands in the air as if asking "what are you doing?" I waved & said "how are you doing?" I didn't know who he was. After greetings, he asked if I was from around here. I just said that I live up here on the hill & he started to put his headphones back on & leave. I asked him if he was from around here & he said that hew owned the land. At that point, I asked, "Isn't this B****'s land. He said, "yea, that's me." I knew he wasn't a B****. Then he said his name. When he said that, I asked didn't your dad used to be a firefighter? He said yes & I told him that I knew his dad. As it turns out (I didn't tell him) this guy's ex-wife's little sister was the flower girl in my wedding. Anyway, after I told him that I knew his dad, he said "enjoy" & headed on down the edge of the pasture. I'm still surprised that I ran into someone back there! WHEW! It could sure have gone worse.

After that encounter, I went a short way past the windrow & found some blackberries. I spent a little time picking & eating berries & just hung around there for a while. I figured I'd give him time to get out of the area before I moved on. After enough time had passed, I worked on down the hill & back into the woods. From there, I worked my way further away from home & to a point where I came out to the power line that runs within 100 feet of my property. It was a rocky walk, but I walked the power line back up the hill toward home.

I really wanted to make it a longer hike, so I went past the spot where I would go back up to my yard. I was hoping to get up near the road & cross without being seen so that I could wander the woods over there. That's a much bigger piece of woods & would make a nice hike. The problem is that I couldn't quite get to the road without risking being seen by one of the neighbors, so I turned around & headed back to where I could cut up thru the strip of woods between the power line & my yard.

A good rough estimate by using google maps to track my walk, I did about 1.52 miles. I guess that's not too bad for my first "Truly Naked" hike.

I think I'll celebrate by having "One Shot, One Bourbon & One Beer" :guitarist: