Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Just Another Nude Snow Hike


The Surprise Creek trailhead is easily accessible in the winter so it becomes a natural for a winter snowshoe hike. I got to the trailhead and found no cars parked there (well, it was a weekday) so, as soon as I was out of sight of the highway and the railyard, I stripped down and continued my hike on up the Surprise Creek Trail toward Surprise Lake. It was a nice day for a hike . . . a rare break in the snowdumps, no wind, and just enough sunlight to feed vitamin D to my sun-starved skin. What a glorious feeling . . . damn the cold!

Once out of the lower canopy the trail travels through, you get the open slopes like above and can only find a route by knowing the landmarks of your destination. The slope above is the final rise to the saddle in which my destination, Surprise Lake, sits in. Unfortunately I did not make my target as I was beginning to worry above unstable snow and thought better of continuing up.

As soon as I made that decision to turn around and stopped the cold began to hit me and I put on some clothes, hit up the thermos of hot chocolate and rewarmed myself. It took a good half hour before I felt the chillbains leave my muscles and bones enough so that I was confident I could enjoy hiking nude once more.

I never attempt to overextend myself on my hikes. Even though I think I know my limits I carry full survival essentials in my pack. Never attempt hiking nude in cold weather without those cold weather essentials at hand . . . even if they never come out of the backpack!

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