Mile 306: Butt-Up-Beetles and No-Pants-Man

We had a long day yesterday, something like 22 miles. I was happy to get a nice early start, but with water filtering, shoe/Chaco switches, drawing a real puzzle for Hasty, and snack breaks, I was late into our lunch break. Carmen found a jar of nutella, got excited, and


discovered it was old and gross. We kept seeing cool beetles that almost always had their heads down and thorax in the air. The Deep Creek seems to be popular with the redneck locals, it made my day when one jeep full with kids and a family rallied past us, blasting the Sexual Healing song.

We saw our shopping cart friends stopped on a sunny, exposed side of the mountain. After some hushed deliberation, we concluded that they were probably homeless, obviously clueless, and completely unprepared. They had a bike, a skateboard, a little cart used for gym balls, an old synthetic kid's square sleeping bag. They had simply brought all the trip's worth of water, but had gotten rid of it because it was heavy, and now had only a third of a gallon left. We asked if they needed help, and the woman exclamed, "Please! Do you have any extra food? I am pregnant and I'm so so so very hungry!" The man said, "Naw, I have a fat one rolled already." We gave the woman some of our granola bars.

We almost called it two miles before the hot springs because every one was tired, but I pulled out my pouty princess face and we hauled on. Blaze met us, and in his super friendly way, answered our question if there was enough room for us to join their campsite with "No, but we'll make some!"

After we cooked dank tortellini, filtered water for the cart couple (Hatchet gave them food), and set up camp, it was time for the hot springs! When we got there there was an interesting assortment of fat old naked men (hence the name Teeny Weeny Penii World), a couple 16 year old girls in mini skirts, one topless girl was clearly quite taken with her own breasts, they were nice but the presentation was so trashy, a few guys completely out of touch with reality on drugs, and a guy with a semi-erect pointy pecker that never would be seen wearing anything less or more than just a top.

The boys (Hasty, Hatchet, Avo, and Blaze) all got in the hot pool of the hot springs before Carmen, DayGlo, and I ever showed up. With the dark and the walls of the pool, it was impossible to see what the soakers were wearing, but we were in full view. I muttered to Carmen, "I wish I had a headcount of who's nekkid so I'd know how far I could strip without being inappropriate." We all ended up just going in our underwear but no bras, which was good, because it turned out that none of the boys had stripped. I was suddenly very disappointed with our age group's self-images, and the guys in particular. Here the three of us girls were, fully topless and fully exposed above water, uncomfortable maybe but handling it well, and the boys had no more vulnerability than at a public pool or a backyard BBQ.

Jess and Tradejya, probably mid thirties then joined us in the full Monty, and I was much happier abaout it. Is it weird that I'm upset at my generation's refusal to act on skinny dipping opportunities? It's not that I want to see my peers and friends naked, but I want to see us all self-accepting and comfortable.

This morning, when I got in for a quick soak, I was wearing only underwear and no bra under my long johns, but no big deal, I had worn just my underroos 12 hours prior in the light of the surprisingly bright new moon, so I didn't expect any problems. Avo was the only person in the pool, and as light chit chat progressed, it was very clear that
he was refusing to look at me. Whether he was diverting his eyes out of respect, desire, or disgust was never clear, but it made me feel like a very dirty girl for not having my breasts properly hidden. C'mon, we're at clothing optional, backcountry hot springs,do I have to feel guilty and apologetic about my body here too?

I didn't sleep wellat all, because one Acid Man kept yelling continuously- at least every 5 minutes if not more frequently. A really drunk guy in waders and a jumpsuit came up to Hasty and I and asked if Hasty was Sasquatch. When Hasty said no, the guy wandered off to Hatchet, we could see the guy flicking his lighter in Hatchet's face.

Later, Hasty said that if he had seen the guy go near Carmen, Hasty would have gotten up and put a stop to the nonsense. I hope I would have too, but I think a pissed Carmen would inflict far more damage than I would have. Turns out her problem was that semi-erect No Pants Man kept looking over at Carmen and giving her super-creepy smiles.