Trip Report 4/9/09

I took my 15 year old son and one of his friends to the Springs yesterday. There is a lot to report! We went in via the Bradford Ridge Trail, arriving at the trailhead at about 12:30pm. It took us just slightly less than an hour to get there. This is my second time going via this route and it is definitely my favorite. An interesting hike that is not too long, gives a good work out on the way out, and a great approach through Arrowhead.

Over the course of the afternoon there were about 25 people at the Springs. Apart from myself, only two other naturists who left about an hour after we arrived. It is a slightly uncomfortable feeling standing out as the only naturist (not "standing out" too much though), but it actually became an interesting topic of conversation. One young guy asked me how I felt being the only one naked and I responded that I felt slightly uncomfortable but that I wasn't going to change. I didn't tell him that the reason I wasn't going to change was that I thought all the textiles, including my son, were stupid for missing such a great opportunity!

So, with the topic broached, I then proceeded to ask the few people also in the Arizona pool why they were textile. The person who asked me about being the only naked person told me that he had his bathing suit on because he was with his friend and he didn't want to embarrass him by showing him how big his dick was. There is a kernel of truth to this joke - younger people in particular seem to be so frightened of being naked around their friends. Another young woman said she would normally be naked but she was with her mother and she wouldn't approve. (Her mother was actually the only one who was disapproving of me). She went on to say that she thinks being textile is mostly about body image, and that we are trained to have completely unrealistic images of what we should look like, so are uncomfortable showing what we have. I pointed out that this attitude and the one expressed in the joke about not wanting to embarrass a friend were focused on the person's own impressions of what they might look like naked but that most observers, even friends, don't care anywhere near as much.

In any case, the crowd was amusing and talkative, and I couldn't detect any sense that they thought I was a weirdo for being the only one naked (which is better than what my son thinks of me).

Two rangers showed up about 5pm. They had come down via the Bradford Ridge trail, as we discovered on the way out. Their car was parked near our's. They went to talk to a guy who was setting up camp and obviously planning to stay the night. He moved on pretty quickly! The rangers stayed around until well after the sun went down. We could see them as we were hiking out.

We picked up three grocery bags of trash. I think this was close to the dirtiest I have seen the Springs in the past year. Someone had left a bag of trash on the beach that had been ripped open and strewn around. And, some of the trash had been left that day, by some of the people we were talking to. The Rangers actually thanked us for picking up the trash, saying that they knew we didn't have to, so they appreciated it. I thanked them for being there to enforce the rules that are too often abused. I asked them if they had any trash bags but they didn't. Note to rangers - keep a couple of trash bags in your pack.

I left DCHS with a nagging thought . The Rangers obviously felt a need to thank us, otherwise they wouldn't have come down from the hill specifically to do so. But DCHS belongs to me just as much as it belongs to them, so there was really no need for thanks. Which got me wondering why no one else thanked us (I know the answer to that) or better still, picked up some of the trash and carried it out. (I actually asked one group on their way out whether or not they had any empty bags for trash. They kindly left them, but they could also have taken some trash, couldn't they?) What are people thinking when they see trash strewn around and just walk away and leave it? Actually, they are probably not thinking at all.

We left the Springs as the sun went down over Bradford Ridge, at about 7pm. The hike out was quick - we did it in 55 minutes. But, really nice in the lengthening shadows.

I love this place. It is so beautiful and such an incredible lab of human behavior, mostly amusing, some stupid and a little that is just dismaying.

Will be back again soon.