I am the female half of a married couple in our late 50's with typical late 50's bodies. We finallly bit the bullet and went to Hippie Hollow awhile back to enjoy the sun and water. It was our first time lounging around naked in public. This post is for others who are not in great shape/older/self conscious/worried about the hike down to the water, or newbies just wanting to know more of what to expect. If you have any questions I don't answer here, feel free to ask.

We got there around 4:00 because we don't like to mess with sunscreen. We brought a cooler, towels, sturdy shoes we could wear in the water, our kindles, lip balm, a hairbrush, and a couple folding chairs. We wanted an area that was somewhat secluded, so we veered off to the left after we got down the stairs. The first thing I noticed was that the path down to the water was more challenging than I'd expected. In fact, the whole area was more rocky than I'd expected. A few times I had to sit down on my rear end to get to the next level. I never slipped, though. My husband was the pack horse, and struggled to carry the heavy cooler, lawn chairs and other gear down the trail.

The second thing I noticed was that there were about a dozen men, single or in groups of two or three, that were obviously there to gawk. Many of them were fully clothed and openly staring at the women. As we made our way down to the water, two such men were sitting pretty much directly in my path, and I thought that was really rude. I was wearing only a short coverup with nothing underneath and had to clamber down right past them. I expected them to move out of my way, but they didn't budge, which annoyed me further. I felt more kindly towards them, though, when one saw me staring at a big step down and got up and very politely offered his hand to assist me.

When we finally found a level spot for our chairs, much to my husband's delight, I threw off my coverup immediately. I liken it to jumping off the high dive, you can psych yourself out by staring down at the water, or you can not overthink it and jump right in. I'm glad I did, because it took about two seconds to realize there was nothing to be nervous or embarrassed about. We weren't there long when a man about our age started making his way up the path pretty close to us. We exchanged pleasantries and ended up having a nice talk. There were three men in the water below us, all with shorts on, that kept staring over at me. Again, soooo rude, and if I wasn't there with my husband I would have felt very uncomfortable.

The man we were talking to said he has been to Hippie Hollow over 100 times and he said the regular men like him feel quite protective of single women out there and if they notice that anyone is making them uncomfortable by trying to talk to them or sitting too close to them or being too aggressive, one of them will probably wander over to the women and offer to ask the man to move on, and let the woman/woman know that there are people nearby they can always reach out to if they feel uncomfortable, need a walk to their car or whatever. So that's nice.

I wasn't too sure how I would feel, being about 50 lbs overweight, natural bush and out of shape, but my husband and I had a great time. I wasn't self-conscious at all, there were some women out there with beautiful bodies and some with not so beautiful bodies, but I wasn't there for a hook up and, much as I hated the open leering, I realized that plenty of men appreciate even female figures like mine, and don't care that I'm rocking a 70's bush, and it actually made me feel better about my body. Almost immediately I felt no more self-conscious than I do in a swimsuit--probably less, in fact. My husband of course noticed the beautiful bodies, but we are very much into each other and I didn't feel intimidated by them at all. It may be hard for young people to understand, but you can appreciate the aesthetics of a beautiful young body while still finding your chubby old wife of 30 years way more sexually desirable.

We went into the water once. Over where we were, it was murky and there was quite a bit of seaweed and the rocks were pretty bad, making it hard to keep our balance. The wakes of the boats going by didn't make it easier. The water was nice and warm, and about 20 feet from shore it was a lot more pleasant. I suggest to anyone who is not confident in the water to keep a floatie within arm's reach.

We found the whole experience of being naked at the lake among other people freeing, relaxing, and also a turn-on. As the evening progressed and the crowds thinned out and the cooler got lighter, I found it harder and harder to restrain myself, but we did a pretty good job of following the rules. He took lots of pictures and videos of me, and we enjoy looking at them and remembering our great evening together. We plan to go back again soon.

Things we will do different: We will take others' advice and take the gentler path near staircase 1. We will bring some kind of floaties. I will be more prepared for the pervy men who remain clothed while staring at the naked women the whole time. And we will probably bring a small tent, both for shade, and for a little privacy from time to time, when we are feeling especially affectionate and want to sneak in a quick kiss or close hug without offending.