Capital Idea!

CAPITAL AREA FAMILY NATURISTS is a relatively new, non-landed, family-oriented club serving Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. The club was formed by a core of members from the disbanded Bare Buns Family Naturists. CAFN continues with many of the standards and traditions established by that locally recognized and respected organization, while developing a personality all its own.

Robyn Smith, CAFN’s innovative events director, suggested a clothing-optional hike as a new outdoor event for our club, and the perfect venue, she thought, was Shenandoah National Park. An avid hiker with lots of miles logged on Shenandoah’s trails, Robyn recognized that many of the beautiful but underused trails within the park were ideal for such an activity. She spent considerable effort to pick the perfect trail, contacting other naturist groups in the area for advice, reviewing trail guides, and relying on her own hiking experience.

Shenandoah National Park sits aside the beautiful Blue Ridge mountain range just an hour west of the urban sprawl of Washington, D.C. The centerpiece of the park is scenic Skyline Drive, which runs 105 miles along the crest of the mountains and features numerous overlooks of the Shenandoah Valley to the west and the rolling Piedmont region to the east. While many breathtaking views may be seen from the comfort of your car, to really enjoy the beauty and solitude the park has to offer you need to get out of the car and explore. Shenandoah’s trail system includes more than 500 miles of established trails, including more than 100 miles of the famous Appalachian Trail and many lesser-known, lesser-used side trails.

To avoid potential confrontation with the many textile-restricted park users, any portion of the heavily used Appalachian Trail was ruled out, which left 400 miles of side trails to choose from. Most trails run downhill from the crest of the mountains alongside ridges and into the many valleys and hollows on either side of the main ridge. Some of these trails can be challenging for even the most experienced hiker, and since our club outing was meant to be a leisure activity for hikers of any age or experience level, the more difficult trails were nixed.

Other trails follow the park’s many streams. Though most of these streams are not large enough for serious skinny-dipping, they do provide cool water to soothe hot, tired feet. So, finding a nice trail along a stream seemed to be the ticket.

After careful consideration, Jeremy’s Run Trail was finally selected for our first hike. The trail starts at the Elk Wallow Wayside, which offers ample parking, a small store, and a picnic area. The trail drops off the ridge quickly from the parking lot, but soon levels off as it joins and follows Jeremy’s Run, a small, picturesque stream.

On the day of our hike, the weather was unseasonably warm—perfect for clothing-optional hiking! When we were a discreet distance from the wayside, we all happily shed our clothes and placed them in our daypacks for the remainder of the trip.

The trail wound through a mix of hardwood and evergreen forest. Lush fern beds lined the trail in many places. The early summer forest was fully cloaked in many shades of green. Sounds of civilization were soon lost to the buzz of the forest and the splash of the stream as it ran its rocky course down the valley. The trail’s route had us fording the stream more than a dozen times, hopping across strategically placed stones in a vain effort to keep our shoes dry. Despite our best efforts, at least one foot would inevitably slip into the cold mountain stream, followed by a little good-natured ribbing from our fellow hikers.