Bushwalk Australia

We hiked from the carpark at Freycinet to Cook's Campsite on Dec 21. At about 9pm this guy wandered into the campsite barefoot with a daypack and no shoes. His English wasn't fantastic but he said that he had walked from Wineglass Bay, including climbing Mt Freycinet, and he has descended Mt F and realised he was too late to get back to Wineglass Bay. So he continued on to Cook's Campsite. His intention was to spend the night at the hut then walk out via Hazard Beach to the carpark, then go back in at some point to retrieve his tent and gear.

HIghly improbably we thought. But we showed him the way to the hut (it was dark), and showed him the water tanks.

The next morning we saw him again. We opened our map and asked him again where he'd come from and he showed us the track from Wineglass Bay and explained that he had climbed Mt F (same story as the night before). I asked him why he was walking with no shoes. He says he always does that. We were a bit concerned about his situation so we gave him a tin of tuna and some spare flatbread and wished him well and we headed off in the direction he claimed to have come. As I proceeded along the steep and rough track to Wineglass Bay from Cook's Campsite I am AGHAST that anyone would do that barefoot. I climbed Mt F and it seems impossible that someone would do that with no shoes and nothing but a daypack. By the time I got to Wineglass Bay I was convinced that it had been a heap of BS, but if it was then where had he come from? You don't just wander into a remote campsite at 9pm unless you've walked from somewhere right? There was no boat and I don't believe in teleporting.

At Wineglass Bay we found a tent with no occupant. I didn't investigate it, but no one came near that tent that evening, or the next morning. So maybe that was the barefoot man's tent after all. Maybe at least some part of his story was true.

Weird, and idiotic.

We passed a barefoot walker as we were heading north from Narcissus on the OLT on the 1 Jan this year. We all looked at each other after he had gone by and shook our heads. Takes all sorts.

Roger

I know a canyoner who went through a barefoot canyoning phase. And not just for the canyons, or just short trips. His first barefoot trip was a big, hard day squeezing in what is normally done over a full weekend. Lots of scrub, sharp rocks, challenging scrambling etc. He started out quite by chance -- he turned up for the canyon after a big night out and the only shoes he had in his car were high heals and fluffy slippers (don't ask) -- so barefoot it was.
I couldn't do it, but it is amazing what some people are able to do without shoes!

I've come across barefoot people in some very 'odd' places in my time.

Natives have and still do this. Shoes were a later invention

Last week I did a four hour walk barefoot as well as a few shorter barefoot walks (mostly sand, but some granite). I've climbed Cradle Mtn barefoot (from the plateau) in the past. I don't find it strange at all. The lack of other provisions and equipment sounds like a bit of a concern, but really - Freycinet in the middle of summer - it's not as critical to have all the bells and whistles over there.

My two main concerns with barefoot walking are: Getting stung by jack jumpers & spending less time appreciating the view due to spending too much time looking out for jack jumpers.

I've been known to walk barefooted too.

OT and sections of other tracks too.

Quite liberating really.

dq.

we must stamp this out, as well as nude bushwalking the outdoor gear industry depends on us to keep them in business

Nude bushwalking!!!??? Nooooo. Surely you speak in jest.

ssloane wrote:Nude bushwalking!!!??? Nooooo. Surely you speak in jest.

I think it's a plot to undermine outdoor gear sales..

Unlike my boots and shoes, my feet have lasted several decades, and are self-repairing (for minor damage). Hard to beat.

ssloane wrote:Nude bushwalking!!!??? Nooooo. Surely you speak in jest.

Afraid not, a number of topics here have discussion on it - search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=topics&keywords=nude&sf=titleonly

Heavens. That's one forum search I have never considered.

ssloane wrote:Heavens. That's one forum search I have never considered.

Each to their own, eh!

tasadam wrote:

ssloane wrote:Heavens. That's one forum search I have never considered.

Each to their own, eh!

Yep. It's also a place where you can search for 'Dirty Girl' without the usual Internet search stigma

ssloane wrote:
Weird, and idiotic.

I think your perception of this bloke is the only thing which fits your own above description.

Travis.

Well thanks all. It's probably time to put this thread to rest. I've certainly had my eyes opened - I had no idea there were nude bushwalkers and I thought the barefoot walker was strange enough. I'm feeling quite enlightened, but if we keep going with the thread we run the risk of upsetting someone who partakes of such activities, so let's leave this entertaining conversation thread alone now.

Many thanks all.

sesl

Sorry if my comment was a little harsh. No hard feelings, i enjoyed your original post until your final words.

To further enlighten yourself tho, please checkout this bloke... honestly the first person ive seen take the whole barefoot thing to a WHOLE new level.

Dual Survival - discovery show...

http://www.codylundin.com/

Doest interest me one bit, but to each his own.

No offence taken. But I think the forums are for everyone, barefoot OR nude and we were getting a bit close to making fun of those who do either activity, so I thought it was time to stop. I found the concept of barefoot hiking quite strange but it seems that it's perhaps not as unusual as I thought. I've never even considered hiking to be something that one shouldn't prepare for fully with functional gear, first-aid kit and so on. Seems others see it differently and I guess that's ok so long as they don't expect taxpayer-funded services to assist them with amputation and rehabilitation of severely infected or frostbitten extremeties! Enough said.

Thanks for the link.

sesl.

ssloane wrote:
Weird, and idiotic.

You know, some people would tell me that hiking with very little on my back (in comparison to what I live with everyday), being exposed to the elements, and standing on summits that are above 2km in elevation would be "wierd and idiotic".

My other half being one of them.

You know... you should do some research on a guy named Wim Hof. The guy can withstand insanely cold temps, and has a few pretty impressive records under his belt.

Among his most "wierd and idiotic" records is an attempt to climb Mt Everest in nothing but a pair of shorts.

Yes, to you and I, this would mean a certain death, and I'm pretty sure that the idea of death has come across his mind once or twice, so with that kind of risk, why would he do something so "wierd and idiotic"?

For the same reason that you and I go to remote areas, climb mountains, scale canyons, and so on. Because we can.

Bare foot? Good on him. If my feet were as tough as his, I'd happily ditch the shoes.

That said... I know I'd keep a spare pair of Holeproofs and KT26's in my pack just in case things went pear shaped.

DonQx wrote:Quite liberating really.
dq.

You and Fatcanyoner should get together
And who is the Tantric educator? Undertenkilos or something? He's one I'd like to walk and talk with.....
As I've said before, if I were 20 years younger......(yes a prim Mosmanite girl I may have been - ONCE!)

The more I walk the more tolerant I become of people's choices providing that they have built up to things. Struck coming one night a bunch of sparsely clad young ladies heading back the way we had slogged into Cooks Beach. From what I understood they are a fitness group that go for twenty-four hour challenge walks. By all accounts they arrived back safely so good on them.

Only concern I have is what happens if things go wrong like an extreme weather event or injury. If people can deal with those events then who am I to argue with their style if walking is now my default setting thanks to reading this forum.

Cheers

Ent wrote:The more I walk the more tolerant I become of people's choices providing that they have built up to things.

Not sure I get the use of the word "tollerant" here.

More than anything, I appreciate that everyone takes on the bush in different ways, but I wouldn't say that I have to "tollerate" it.

Maybe better understanding?

YOU THINK THATS STRANGE, theres a nudist wandering around the waitakeres near auckland, thats not a big park, fourty k's by fifteen ks across and a lot of people frequent the park so he's in a pretty obtrusive place, in the open where he can be easily seen.
can we swap your barefoot walker for our nudist?

Ent wrote:Maybe better understanding?

I'd probably say that "appreciation" would be the word you are looking for.

ryantmalone wrote:

Ent wrote:The more I walk the more tolerant I become of people's choices providing that they have built up to things.

Not sure I get the use of the word "tollerant" here.

More than anything, I appreciate that everyone takes on the bush in different ways, but I wouldn't say that I have to "tollerate" it.

Ent is the bushwalking overlord.

ryantmalone wrote:

Ent wrote:Maybe better understanding?

I'd probably say that "appreciation" would be the word you are looking for.

Probably reserve use of that word for a good looking nudist walker.