Maine Outdoor Journal

The first official day of summer - the solstice - is this Sunday, June 21st.

Now the the start of summer is certainly something to celebrate for sure. How you celebrate the day is, well, a different story.

If you're a hiker and so inclined, you can take a hike this Sunday. Naked. Yes, naked.

It is, after all, Naked Hiking Day. A time to hit the trail sans clothing. Just you and your hat, boots and pack. The other uncomfortable stuff like shirt and shorts be damned. They stay in the pack.

Yep, just you and your now-not-so-privates tromping down the trail, all happy and free like. Cool. Literally and figuratively.

I don't know exactly when or where this tradition started - some say it was with AT thru-hikers (and that makes perfect sense when you think about it) - but it sure catches your eye when it hits the news every June.

Of course, so does the occasional hiker who gets arrested for naked hiking on this fine summer celebratory day, the act being illegal of course. Now wouldn't that just ruin your day hike, eh? So what if naked hiking is illegal. Jeez.

I've never hiked naked up here in the north woods. The concept is appealing, yes, but in the height of bug season? Nada. And I sure ain't swabbing the boys with DEET I tells you. No way, no how.

I have, however, hiked naked in the desert mountains of West Texas while a summer student at the University of Texas at El Paso. Afternoons after classes I would strike off into the desert beyond my parents house and stride for miles, clad only in sneakers and a hat, my remaing clothes stuffed inside my fanny pack, insulating several cans of Coors.

I would hike for many hours among the arroyos and canyons and cactus and rocks, often wandering far into the Franklin Mountains, a string of desert peaks reaching 7,000 feet in elevation. What fun, what pure joy!

Anyway... Sunday is the big day to strip down and take to the trail, to free your otherwise captive body parts in celebration of summertime. If you dare...

Have you ever hiked naked? Will you and yours be out there this Sunday?