Well as my free range naturist opportunities have been lacking recently I grasped the chance today when a break in the recent run of bad weather brought sunshine to this fair part of England.

Heading out it seemed I was not alone in taking advantage of the late season sunshine as the car park was full on arrival at just after 2pm.

After the walk along the road to the gravel path though it seemed most people were sticking to the usual busy areas and after leaving the main paths I took a gravel road that leads to my secret area. As expected not  a soul to be seen.

Quickly losing my clothes I was immediately struck by the fact that recent cooler weather meant that unlike my last visit there were significantly less insect to interrupt the beautiful experience of being naked in the environment.

I had decided today to explore more of the area had I had done on previous occasions and after studying a map recently I had decided to follow the rivers course all the way along the length of the valley.

However I also wanted to make a bit of a round walk of it rather than just retracing my steps back to the start. So having diverted off the path I headed uphill to the edge of the treeline and open moorland above it, where I followed the edge of the trees for about half the length of the valley.
After about 20 minutes I reached an area where there is a stream that cuts through the valley side. With temperatures according to the weather report around 16 degrees I had got a bit warm on the climb up the hillside and rested for while to let my body cool down.

With all the recent rain the going underfoot was extremely wet in places and unlike my summer visit my feet were feeling chilled, but not uncomfortably so.

Carrying on I stayed high at the treeline before venturing down towards the water side as I neared the end of this particular piece of wonderland.

I had never been this far up the valley until today and in places near the top it was quite difficult navigating the numerous water flows and streams that tumbled down the hillside. It also got very steep near the end and at times with the wet ground I was in danger of slipping down the hillside towards a rocky end. However I manged in the end to reach the area where the tress gave way to open countryside.

Feeling that I had achieved something (as usual I'm never sure quite what, but whatever it is I had manged it!) I sat and soaked up the autumnal sunshine and reveled in the fact that I was so far away from where I had left my clothes.

Crossing the stream I followed the other side of the valley for some of the way back. In stark contrast to the outward journey this side of the valley has conifers planted as opposed to the silver birch that populates the other side. Meaning the ground is drier with less vegetation. Never the less still a thoroughly enjoyable experience, which allowed my feet to warm up a bit as the ground had soaked up some of the days sunshine. 

Eventually heading back to the water I followed the path of the stream for a while as it was easier that trying to get through the vegetation.

The water is definitely cold now, but as with all things I mark it down to part of the whole experience and simply enjoy the sensation.

For the return to where I had stashed my clothes I followed a path alongside the stream, that is little more than a sheep track.

It took me a while to locate my clothes but eventually my inbuilt homing beacon made sense and I found my starting place.

Judging the time to be near 5pm I found that I was reluctant to dress and head back along the gravel road that leads to this area. So after putting my hiking boots on I carried my clothes and decided to head back "as the crow flies". Not as easy as it first appeared as the terrain meant there were a few diversions along the way, but eventually I reached a high grassland that overlooks the whole valley. With the sun low in the sky, the light was amazing and after taking a couple of pictures I rested for a while simply enjoying the atmosphere. 

Finally moving on I found the woodland ahead of me to be impenetrable and was forced to skirt around it. Cutting through another woodland I finally came across a dirt track and decided that it was probably best to dress. No sooner had I got my trousers on when a mountain bike whizzed around the corner and rattled past me with a cheery hello while I stood barefoot, topless and speechless as he passed. A moment that made me smile for the rest of the way back. As I reached the car dusk was well on its way and only mine and one other car still occupied the car park.

The car clock said 6:30pm meaning I had been out for 4 and a half hours with the initial walk and the final descent to the car taking a total of an hour and 15 minutes I had spent over three hours totally naked in my environment. 

A fantastic afternoons adventure!