| This was my reply by mail in response to the question, but it isn't really a
very satisfactory one. I'm curious about other people's approaches.
-Neil
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As for your question about research, that is a very good question (and one that
will often come up when trying to use World Guide listings). Part of the answer
may just be to visit a site a number of times clothed, and get a sense for it.
That has two problems: you may just be passing by; and, in a small site, you'll
never know whether everyone else there may be a nudist, whose staying dressed
only because of your own clothed presence. I tend to do as you described: try
to be noticeably, but not egregiously, nude, and hope that if there is a local
tradition (or the potential for it) my example will be enough to elicit a like
response from others. I have had the experience at other sites where people who
were carefully clothed when we arrived undressed after my family did.
Of course, there's always the risk that some uptight family will arrive,
start screaming, and get you arrested for indecent exposure. A real local
tradition of nude use is, I think, a fairly strong defense; the unfounded
hope that there might have been such a tradition would probably be considerably
less effective. I don't have a good answer for you.
|
| When we first visited that place in Concord (Punkatasset?) last year,
a bunch of us went and we asked the people there if they minded us
going clothing-optional. The surrounding people said they didn't mind
so we did. These people had kids around too. Later on, some woman,
a mother, went nuding too.
Checking to see if anyone is going to run to the nearest authorities
to turn you in is a good idea...
B.
|
| > Visiting a site from the _World Guide_ can be really iffy on occasion.
The guide really ought to include a bit more information
about the status of a site. It could get pretty tough if a
a first-timer picks an entry at random.
I think that the world Guide would benefit from a standardized
header format. It wouild be sort of like the ones in the AMC canoeing
guidebooks that have a little blurb describing the difficulty rating
and the length of that stretch. In the World Guide it could have
a standard format for rating the situation at the beach.
It could go sort of like this:
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NAME: The Ledges, Wilmington VT ACCESS: 1 mile trail
FEATURES: Sunning, Freshwater Swimming LOCALE: wooded, lake
STATUS: well established CROWD: medium
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<more details go here>
Here are some other example headers: (I'm guessing at some of the info)
NAME: Pepperel Sandbar, Pepperel, MA ACCESS: 2 mile trail
FEATURES: Sunning, Freshwater Swimming LOCALE: suburban,stream
STATUS: intermittent CROWD: small
NAME: NENA Beach, Moonstone RI ACCESS: parking nearby
FEATURES: Sunning, Ocean Swimming LOCALE: Ocean Beach
STATUS: landed organization, established CROWD: large
NAME: Moonstone Beach, Moonstone RI ACCESS: parking nearby
FEATURES: Sunning, Ocean Swimming LOCALE: Ocean Beach
STATUS: Closed April through Sept CROWD: Feathered
|