Everglades camping
Just returned from a week of campinng in Everglades National Park. This time of year, NO ONE else camps there, thinking it's too hot. I literally have the whole backcountry to myself. The campsites still require reservations and a permit (the park has to make money somehow), but the reservation book is totally blank, and I can pick wherever I want to go.
This time, I filled out my campsites in the reservation book, and as normal, saw no other names in the book. I was campinng Sunday - Friday. On Wednesday, around noon, I had arrived at my campsite and set up and was reading when I got up to stretch. I saw something in the distance but couldn't tell what it was, so I got out my binoculars. It was a kayaker making his way toward my campsite. I thought maybe he was just using it as a referrence and would turn before he got there, but he came all the way there and landed. I remained sitting in my chair. He could probably tell I was naked, but neither of us said anything.
He apologized for also reserving the site even though he knew it was occupied (the park allows multiple parties at some sites, and this one allowed 2 parties). He said he had been planning the trip for the last 10 days, and it was his only window anytime soon. It turned out he was one of the tour boat captains employed by the park, and he had only been on the job about a month. This was literally his first time off.
I continued reading in my chair as he set up his camp and began fishing. Soon, he expressed dismay at his line being tangled. His fish wrapped the line around an old channel marker. He said he would have to cut the line. I said I would see if I could get it loose, then went into the water. At this point, he couldnt help but see that I was naked, but he said nothing about it. I left the next morning. As I was packing my canoe to leave, he got up and we talked about the night's thunderstorm. When I was done packing, I got into the canoe and paddled away naked.
When I arrived at my next campsite, there was a kayak already there. This was around 11 AM, and most campers down there move from campsite to campsite early in the morning to avoid afternoon winds and thunderstorms. So I figured someone must have reserved that site while I was out on the water, just as the previous camper had. I was half right. This guy had reserved the site for the previous night, and just hadn't left yet. As I paddled up, he walked out to meet me, so there was no way to land discreetly. He could see I was naked before I even landed the boat. He didn't say anything, so I just acted naturally and began unloading my canoe and setting up. He said he doesn't often camp with naked people, but he is often naked himself when he camps solo. It took him over two hours to take down his camp and pack the kayak. We had a good conversation during that time. Finally, about 2 in the afternoon, he paddled off to the same campsite that I had just left.
The next morning, as I was taking my tent down, two motorboats approached. I didn't try to hide or anything. I just kept working on the tent. They came right to the site and began unloading. There were two guys in each boat. No one said anything about me being naked, so I didn't try to wrap in a towel or anything. I just stayed natural. Two of them asked me questions about the area. It was their first time in the Everglades backcountry. The other two were silent. I don't know if they were normally just quiet, or if they were uncomfortable about me being naked. They didn't avoid looking my way, and they didn't stare either, so maybe they were just quiet types.
I have been camping in the Everglades every summer from 1993, and this is the first time I have had to share a campsite essentially three times. All 6 of the individuals seemed fine with a naked stranger in their midst.