Hiking - Part 66

 Haystack Mountain, Vermont

This is another naked hike by Jim Bornholdt, whom we have seen before.  A few years ago, after a cancer diagnosis, Jim decided to embrace the idea of naked hiking, which he had done a few times before.  For him, shedding his clothes was symbolic of shedding fears and negative baggage.  He calls it "forest bathing", and he relishes the freedom of going into and out of the sunshine and feeling the forest energy across his skin.

He lives in Connecticut, but he found that public nudity is legal in Vermont (as long as you don't engage in "lewd and lascivious conduct"), and Vermont has many wonderful hiking trails, so he began hiking the Vermont trails naked and publishing photos of his hikes on his blog called Baring It All in the Woods.

Today we see Jim's hike to the summit of Haystack Mountain in August, 2022.  As always, Jim posts a "naked hiker" sign at the beginning of the trail to warn people.  And as always, people he met on the trail had no problem with his nudity.

Here's Jim hiking up the trail.  On the way up, he met a couple with a dog, a single male, a friendly couple who chatted with him, three younger males and three friendly older gents who chatted with him.

There was no one else on the rocky summit when Jim arrived.

The view from the summit.  Then another couple arrived at the summit.  They were friendly and said they had seen the "naked hiker" sign and were curious if it was a male or female hiker.

On the way back down, Jim met a large group of women who turned out to be from a bridal shower.  Jim joked that he was the bridal shower entertainment, and they all laughed.

He continued meeting hikers, including this couple, Rob and Lisa, who chatted with him and agreed to take a selfie with him.  Jim wrote that it was a fantastic day.