Christmas in July weekend caching
Well spent Christmas in July in my skin while backpacking in Central
Florida. One of the wildlife management areas has a network of trails
and 3 backcountry campsites. Hardly anyone backpacks in Florida in the
Summer, so that's when I go.
Had to cover a little at the trailhead,
so had an "apron" made from a weighted dish towel tucked under the
hipstrap in the front of the pack. The sleeping bag on the bottom of the
pack extends past my butt, so I don't need cover there. As soon as I
was out of sight of the road, I tucked the apron away on the side of the
pack frame.
The first time I stopped for water, I found that the
apron had fallen off somewhere. No big deal, I figured I would find it
hiking out (which I did on Sunday). Losing the apron just meant I would
be hiking "without a safety net" so to speak. But with high predicted
heat indexes, and past experience of summertime hiking in Florida, I
knew the chance of meeting anyone was slim, and if I did meet someone,
they would understand me hiking nude.
It was a peaceful 3
clothing-free days. I did a little geocaching while venturing out from
camp. Only took GPS and water bottle for that. I did actually meet
another hiker near the third geocache. I said hello, then simply
about-faced and headed back toward camp at the same pace i had
approached. I didn't want to seem to be running and hiding, but the
other hiker seemed startled at my appearance, and I didn't want him to
feel too awkward.
Saw no one else hiking back out, and did recover my apron from the middle of the trail (undisturbed).