Hiking - Part 85

 Half Dome, Yosemite

Half Dome is one of the famous sights in Yosemite National Park.

There is actually a trail that goes to the top of Half Dome.  The round trip is 14 to 16 miles (depending on where you start).  It gains 4800 feet of elevation, and it takes 10 to 12 hours, but it can be done in a day.  The last part of the trail, climbing up the bare rock dome, has cables that the Park Service has provided to assist hikers, seen here from above.

And of course, after reaching the top, some hikers could not resist the opportunity to show off.  This photo was labeled "Made it to the top."

This one is called "Butt naked on Half Dome."

This is Matt on Half Dome on Naked Hiking Day, 2009.

Then there are mountain climbers who take up the challenge of climbing Half Dome the hard way.

Jesse Ray Nichols is one of them.  Here he is, partway up the cliff, on a ledge called Thank God Ledge, for which he stripped to become the first naked person on Thank God Ledge.

We end with a view of another climber on Thank God Ledge.  Uh, I think I would say "No thanks, God, I'll find another trail."

Weighing In - Part 86

 Aleksandr Medved

Aleksandr Medved (1937-2024) was said to be the greatest freestyle wrestler of the 20th century.  He competed for Belarus in the Soviet Union.

He won 3 Olympic gold medals in 3 different weight classes, the only person to do so: light-heavyweight freestyle wrestling in 1964, heavyweight freestyle wrestling in 1968, and super-heavyweight freestyle wrestling in 1972.  Above, he wins his Olympic match in 1972.

This photo was labeled with his name, but not the date or event.  He must be weighing in, since everyone in the photo is looking down at the scale that he is presumably standing on.  We might be looking at something else.

Poem of the Day - Part 86

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Artists - Part 88

Edouard Henri Avril

Edouard Henri Avril (1849-1928) was a French painter.  He is best known for his erotic paintings illustrating the book De Figuris Veneris.  It was an anthology of ancient Greek and Roman writings on erotic topics, first published in Latin and Greek by German classicist Friedrich Karl Forberg in 1824.

The book was later translated into modern European languages (English, French, German, Spanish).  The 1906 French edition, above, included a set of 20 illustrations by Edouard Henri Avril, who illustrated erotic literature under the pseudonym Paul Avril.  You could call it Victorian-era porn.

Most of the illustrations showed hetero sex, but a few showed male-to-male sex.  Above, Plate VII was called Hadrian and Antinous in Egypt.  Historically, Hadrian was a Roman Emperor who took the youth Antinous as a lover.  In the year 130, while they were visiting Egypt, Antinous drowned in the Nile, and Hadrian was devastated.

Plate VIII showed Socrates and Alcibiades.  Alcibiades was an Athenian statesman and general in the 5th century BC.  He was a student of Socrates, and Plato said that Alcibiades was Socrates' beloved.

Plate XI is untitled, but it shows a youth masturbating to a vision of hetero sex in the background.

Plate XVIII shows some MMF sex.  There were many other plates showing hetero sex, plus one showing a man fucking a goat, which I'm not going to show you.

Some consider Avril the father of erotic painting.

Beach Bums - Part 83

Praia do Pinho, Brazil

Previously, we've seen Praia do Pinho, a beach in Brazil near the city of Florianópolis, where they hold nude surfing contests.

I've had this video of a guy walking away from a beach for a while, but I just recently identified the beach.  It's Praia do Pinho, where the surfing contests are held.

Of course we see that the guy is aroused.  I don't speak Portuguese, so I don't know what he says at the end.

And here he is walking back down to the beach.  What do you think is helping him to keep it "up" – perhaps the photographer who took the videos?

Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 80

 Holy ...

Need I say more?

Same here.  But that gave me an idea.

In 2021, demonstrators in Prague, protesting the war in Ukraine, created this statue of Vladimir Putin on a golden toilet.

And of course, Donald Trump has posted images of himself as the Pope (above) and as Jesus.

So I combined them to make this image of Trump as Pope on a golden toilet.  Holy ...

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 89

 Byron Bay, Australia, March 2026

A World Naked Bike Ride was held in Byron Bay, Australia on March 8, 2026.  You might think March would be cold for a naked bike ride, but remember Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, so March is the end of summer.

Riders gathered at the Butler Street Reserve.  Here they're ready to start.

And they're off.

Riding down the city streets.

A rider with a conspicuous palm frond.

In WNBR, you don't have to be naked – it's "as bare as you dare" – and you don't have to ride a bike.  This guy rides a scooter.

Riding through the city ...

down toward the bayfront.

This rider has the message "Share the Road" painted on his back, one of the WNBR's main themes, trying to make drivers more aware of bike riders for safety.  The other main WNBR theme is to encourage people to ride a bike instead of driving a car, because cars generate pollution, but I didn't see any riders with that message.

This long-haired rider stands out in the crowd.

The photographer commented on the skewed sex ratio – many more males than females – and called it a "sausage fest".

At the end, the riders looped back to the Butler Street Reserve where they had started.

It was another good ride.