Another Below Freezing Nude Hike

It has been calculated that a naked man exposed to still air at or about 0 degrees C can maintain a heat balance if he shivers as hard as he can. However, he can’t shiver forever.  Cold Weather Survival, Ch 15, Pg 7

It always amazes me that my nude body can take the cold so easily yet, bundled up in full winter clothing, those same cold temperatures manage to send shivers of cold up and down my body.  Clothing, it seems, sends mixed and confusing messages to the regulatory system that controls how hot or cold I feel.  No matter the bulk of winter clothing I may be wearing, a cold breeze to the face will send my metabolism into high gear and suddenly I'm too hot.  Nude (or appreciably so) evens out the responses and I do find that I can withstand (and even enjoy) being nude in temperatures many of us would define as just being too damn cold.

The operant word in the above quote is 'shivers'.  As long as my body has not entered that first warning sign of impending hypothermia . . . the shivering . . . hiking nude in extremely cold weather is actually invigorating and not in the least bit uncomfortable.  The trick is getting out of the clothes in the first place!

Normally, a sunny winter day can actually do a lot to warm the exposed flesh of a nude person.  However, today the skies were deeply overcast and near twilight by the time I finished.

The afternoon started with temperatures right around 35F and soon dropped to 27F by the time I got back to my car and put some clothes on.

The way the frozen snow crunches underfoot, I'd be heard . . .
or I'd hear anybody else out there long before we met.

The hike wasn't a super-long one.  Only about an hour.  But it sure feels nice to absorb in the cold air and repel it with increased body heat.