3. Nudity when camping

In the early 80's I was promoted to manager of technical support, and like many new people placed in management positions I made the mistake of trying to do all the work myself. Needless to say I got burnt out that first summer in that position. A good friend invited me to fly out to Boulder, CO and we would spend a week camping. We spent the first night sleeping at a lake outside Leadville, CO. There was no bathroom at all and we were lucky in that we only needed to urinate. We heard about a nearby motel that would let you take a shower for $1 but you had to use a room where the occupant had checked out, but the room wasn't cleaned. So we decided to do it as we were a bit grubby feeling. When we got there the person at the desk said that there was no cold water. We didn't think much about it other than she meant to say no hot water. Well she was correct! I was the first in the shower and the water was too hot. I got myself wet, turned off the water and soaped down. I then turned the water on again to rinse the soap off. The water got hotter the longer you ran it. I told my friend that the water was too hot to shower. I suggested that he take a bath. He drew the water and we waited for it to cool off. After waiting 20 minutes we tested the water temp and it was still too hot so I went and got two large bags of ice. It melted quickly and the water was still hot, but he could tolerate it and took his bath. We got in the car and started driving with no real destination planned. It was around 3 PM and were getting worried about finding a place to go camping. We ended up in Gunnison County and found this camp site way of the road. We drove slowly for maybe 10 minutes not seeing any sign of a camp ground and then we saw a group of trees in the distance. The dirt road led us to the wooded area and there was a campground solely equipped for trailer use. The campground was full, so we looked around and found a large open field with one large tree in it. So we pitched our tent there. We walked around to gather firewood. There were only pine and aspen trees which both burned quickly. We filled the back of his hatchback car with firewood thinking we had plenty wood for a few days, but found out it only lasted about 4 hours. We were up in the mountains and it got very cold at night, 38 degrees F. So when the fire went out the only logical thing to do was climb into our sleeping bags. We had a good night's sleep but faced the same problem of bathing in the morning. We walked around when we first arrived we found a reservoir. It was fed by the melting snow from the mountains and needless to say it was a bit on the cold side. So that morning we went and stripped down and washed ourselves. After bathing, we swam in the water a short time. We had to get out soon because we were getting cold. So we went to the reservoir twice a day enjoying the water and bathing. We were the cleanest two people in the state of Colorado. A nice benefit of the one tree in the open field was that we had that whole area to ourselves since no one else decided to camp there. After bathing we go back to the tent and lie naked in the sun on the other side of the tent, out of site of those who may have walked by. We enjoyed the time in that part of the state as we drove around the area taking in the sites. On one Saturday we went to Telluride for a hot air balloon festival. It was pleasant day there. The town was very beautiful and the colored balloons just added to its beauty. We then returned to his home in Boulder and we went to a clothing optional lake close by. This water was warm as a bath, but felt good after getting hot lying in the sun. This was our daily course of events till I went back home. It was a very needed vacation. Instead of worrying about all the demands back at the office our only concern was gathering firewood for the evening. Boulder is a nice town. Me and another friend went in the winter to ski. It was my first time! Maybe the details of that trip will make another blog, but not really fitting here since we wore a lot of clothes to keep warm.