A TravelBlog of resources and anecdotal observations for those who enjoy or are curious about nudity and naturism in the mountains, forests, rocky beaches and natural hot springs of the Pacific Northwest.
This blog contains images of simple nudity.
I was at Rooster Rock for awhile this afternoon and there is GOOD NEWS. Sand Island is now a PENINSULA -- no need to wade unless more water is released. Don't be deterred by a small mud puddle at the beginning of Dragonfly trail, after that it's all easy going.
Road closure at the Trout Creek-Bluff-View road washout
The closure west of Jack Pass and FS63
At the height of the storm the river surged 10-15 feet high
Just south of the last breech of the road by the river
Headed up the Index-Galena Road . . . All to myself
Bluff-View Campsite as it is now . . . a little bit of the beach eroded and a few of the smaller trees missing (which is good as it really opens up the area to the sun.)
Two images of Bluff-View Campsite taken in late September of last year
Bluff-View Campsites, looking south
Cable Campsites Unusable
Howard Creek Campgrounds, a semi-improved campsite,
The 'beach' at Howard Creek Campgrounds. The South Galena Bridge
Note: The Brattleboro, VT emergency ban on nudity ordinance was passed. Story here. Rick
There's more than one way to put one's rear on the line for a cause, such as putting it, au naturel, on a bike seat on a hot day.
But riders in the annual Seattle Naked Bike Ride do so in order to draw attention to how exposed we are to pollution, and to the healthy sport of bicycling. Nude bicycling isn't a high-concept form of activism, but at the very least, it's endearing in what it aims to accomplish. So we were surprised to hear that Seattle police arrested three of the riders as they rode into Seward Park over the weekend. A story in the P-I points out, "a person can be naked in public as long as no one is offended," but as it turns out, police received complaints and that was that.
We're accustomed to the sight of nude cyclists in these parts (a large group rides in the annual Fremont Solstice Parade), and we respectfully disagree with the indecent exposure citation those arrested received (they may be later charged with a misdemeanor). Let 'em ride free, already.
Submitted by: Shirley G.
Following hot on the heels of Seattle's World Naked Bike Ride on Saturday, was the running of the 16th Annual Bare Buns Fun Run at Fraternity Snoqualmie in Issaquah, WA.City's tolerance changing, cyclists say
It's not easy being nude or painted in tiger stripes if you're a Seattle cyclist-protester.
Three of the 57 participants in the Seattle Naked Bike Ride -- including one stripped, stripy Oak Harbor woman -- were arrested Saturday as they streaked into Seward Park.
The bare bicyclists were released from Seattle police custody hours later after being cited for indecent exposure, a misdemeanor. But festival organizers say the arrests may mark a change in the city's usual tolerance of bipedal nakedness.
"Seattle has never had a problem with this ride," said Daniel Johnson, who's been organizing the event since 2003. "This is what happens when there's a communication failure."
Johnson said he believes the arrests were made in part because the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department is trying to discourage events that include nudity, a charge the department denies.
Like similar events around the world, the Seattle naked ride is aimed at raising awareness of how "exposed" people are to pollution, Johnson said. He said the naked riders also draw attention to bicycling and the beauty of the human body.
Organizers of the bike ride -- a daylong event beginning in Fairview Park and circling through much of the city before returning to the starting point -- received a permit for use of Fairview Park. But Johnson said parks officials told him he didn't need permits to use the Seattle Center or the seven other public parks riders traveled through.
"That surprised me, because they knew we probably wouldn't be wearing clothes," Johnson said.
Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Dewey Potter said the department has not changed its stance on public nudity.
Under Washington law, Potter said, a person can be naked in public as long as no one is offended. The parks department doesn't issue permits for nakedness, but it doesn't necessarily bar it, either.
"In the state of Washington, it's not illegal to be nude, per se," Potter said. "What's illegal is to provoke someone or upset them in some way."
During Saturday's ride, police received complaints from several people, including a 12-year-old girl, who'd seen the stream of brightly painted bodies rolling through Seattle streets and trails, according to police statements.
An officer first contacted the naked riders just before the ride began at Fairview Park after receiving a report of a naked man walking on Fairview Avenue. In a report, the officer said the riders were told arrests would be made if more complaints were received.
Marte Kinder, an Australian who's participated in naked rides around the world, said riders are usually well received.
Riding through Seattle Saturday, riders were usually met with support, Kinder said.
"It cheers people up," Kinder said. "We're not one of the events that marches down the street and has something negative to talk about."
Johnson said he expects to host another naked ride next July.
P-I reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com.
An annotated satellite image of Collins Beach on Sauvies island. The full-size image is available on request. 
The first image shows the clothing optional area (less Sand Island) in vertical; showing the east parking lot at lower left. The clothing optional area signage is at the top of the ramp just beyond the restroom. At the bottom of the ramp is a screen bench were most people feel comfortable getting nude.
SPIEGEL ONLINE - July 11, 2007, 03:55 PM
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,493856,00.html
By Franziska Bossy and Elke Schmitter
The drawings are harmless really. But a US publisher has decided not to publish a series by children's book author Rotraut Susanne Berner. The problem? Cartoon breasts and a half-millimeter-long willy.
It is rare that a German book generates any interest in the United States. And children's books are usually completely off the radar. The delight was thus all the greater at the Hildesheimer Gerstenberg publishing house when a query came in from the American children's book purveyor Boyds Mills Press for a series by Rotraut Susanne Berner.
American kiddies, obviously, could never be expected to handle such a depiction of the human body. The US publisher, somewhat awkwardly, asked if they could be removed.
The author, not surprisingly, considers the request to be absurd. The statue's mini-willy, the author points out, is hardly even a half-millimeter long. And the naked woman hanging on the wall? Hardly a realistic depiction of the female anatomy. The US publisher, says Berner, was embarrassed to ask for the changes, but they were even more afraid of how American mommies and daddies might react if junior were exposed to such pornography.
Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (3 Photos)
But the US publisher would have none of it -- after all, one hardly wants to call attention to one's own deletions. Meaning, that the Hildesheimer publishing house will have to forego the honor of being published in the US -- and American children are safe from shocking German sensibilities.
Many children in the rest of the world, however, have already been exposed. Berner is one of the best-known contemporary children's book authors. And the series, which playfully follows the daily life of children and adults through the four seasons, is already a bestseller in 13 countries from Japan to the Faroe Islands. So far, no other country has been overly concerned about the cartoon boobies and mini-penis, Berner said.
I discovered this little gem of a beach out of curiousity for the number of cars I had seen pulled off the highway in a location that seemed to head nowhere by the BN tracks right next to the highway. The pullout is a large unpaved parking area for a dozen or so cars. It is on the north of the highway (off the westbound lanes just after the passing lanes start). Coming from Goldbar it is at the end of the straight section of double lanes after passing Zekes Drivein.
Fording the Rapid River near the headwaters.