Elise just finished setting up camp near Monarch Lake. She has fond memories of this treasured place within Sequoia National Park (see Camp inspection Ch 1). She left the Park Service twelve years ago to pursue a career in investment banking, and she now visits the mountains of the Sierra Nevada for her own enjoyment. She loves camping in remote areas and backpacks two or three times a year to break away from the high-pressure world of finance. On hot summer days, there is nothing she likes more than skinny-dipping in the crystal clear waters of high-altitude lakes. After ensuring that her campsite is tidy, she removes her clothes, walks down to the lake, and slowly wades into the frigid water.
After she has been swimming for half an hour, occasionally standing up on shallow rocks to keep warm, she hears someone calling from the shore.
“Hello! Hi! I’m Robin Kimball, from the National Park Service. I’m here to check your Wilderness Permit. Would you mind coming out?”
In all the years she’s been backpacking, no ranger had ever come all the way past the end of a trail to verify her paperwork. Since it’s early in the season, on a weekday, she didn’t think she would bump into anyone, let alone a ranger. She yells back:
“I’m coming, but I should warn you, I don’t have any clothes on.”
She does not hear him respond, and given how far he is, she’s not sure he heard her. She swims back to shore, and as she approaches, she notices that he has turned away from her. She reaches shallow waters, stands up, and walks towards him.
“Mr Kimball? It’s me, I’m right behind you.”
“Oh hello. I’m sorry to disturb you.” He does not turn around to face her. “May I know your name?”
“I’m Elise Preston.”
“Thank you. You are indeed on the list of registered backpackers. You obtained a Wilderness Permit from the ranger’s station two days ago.”
“Indeed. You can turn around. I’m on this side.”
“Oh yes, I’m sorry. I’m turning this way because you said you weren’t wearing a swimsuit.”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
“No, no, it’s just that visitors tend to wear one when they swim, so I thought you’d be wearing one.”
“Well, it’s unnecessary weight. I never bring one when I backpack. It’s one extra item to carry and leave out to dry when it’s wet.”
“That’s a good point. I just don’t know how to deal with the situation.”
“Well, if the sight of my body makes you terribly uncomfortable, I could go back to my camp and pick up some clothes.”
“You don’t have any here?”
“I do not. I didn’t want to run the risk of them being stolen by a marmot or falling into the water. It’s happened to me before. So I keep them in the tent.”
“I see. So you had no clothes on when you walked down from your camp to the lake?”
“That is correct. How about we go to my campsite so that I can retrieve clothes from my tent.”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that.”
“And why is that?”
“I must ask you not to touch anything when we get to your camp, so that I can run through the issues I identified during my inspection.”
“You mean you’ve been there already?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“That’s fair. But I’m going to ask you to turn around and face me. It’s quite unnerving to have to talk to you while you’re looking the other way.”
“It won’t be a problem?”
“As long as you don’t act weird, it will be fine. It seems to me that you are having a problem with me being naked.”
“Oh, no, I don’t mean to imply that there is a problem, ma’am. I am just trying to be respectful.”
“I understand your intent, but looking away as if I were some terrifying monster is having the opposite effect. I would like you to look at me. Please turn around.”
Robin turns around and faces Elise. She’s a good eight inches shorter, and has the sort of tan one achieves only by spending time naked in the sun. He figures she must be in her early forties, but her breasts are still holding up well, and would be the envy of many a younger woman.
“Okay, so we’re going to go to my camp because you’ve conducted an inspection, is that right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And while we go through the inspection, you want me to remain naked?”
“No, no, that’s not... It’s just that you can’t touch or move anything until we’re done. It shouldn’t last more than a few minutes. It’s the rules. Unless you have clothes around here, I’m afraid you are going to have to remain in this state of undress. If that’s a problem, I could loan you, er... “ he looks at his outfit and realizes he had nothing to loan her. “My hat, maybe?”
Elise refrains from rolling her eyes at the offer.
“And what would I do with your hat, Mr Kimball?”
“You could, well, er... cover your... I mean...”
“Yes? What could I cover?”
“You know... Your private area?”
“My private area? And what would that be?”
“I mean... If you want to... You could cover... You know... Right there.” He makes a slight gesture with his hand in the direction of her crotch.
“What? So I would cover my pussy?”
“I’m just offering my hat, so that...”
“You think I should be ashamed of my pussy? Is that what you are saying? You think I’m horrified by the idea that it is exposed and that you can see it?”
“No, no, I don’t mean that at all.”
“You know, generations of people have tried convincing women that their body is shameful and that it should be covered and hidden at all times. That is a harmful and unhealthy perspective.”
A look of panic starts forming on Robin’s face.
“I assure you that it is not my intention to make you feel uncomfortable. I am aware of the negative attitudes that some people harbour about nudity and the display of genitalia in a nonsexual setting. You are free to... er... remain unclothed for as long as you wish. I withdraw my offer of a garment.”
“Thank you. But now I’m a bit suspicious. This isn’t an attempt at making me parade around naked, so you can ogle me, is it?”
“Oh no ma’am. Here, let me show you.” He pulls out a manual from his backpack, and opens it after finding a particular bookmark. After sifting through a few paragraphs, he points to a certain sentence.
“See, it says: “During the investigation of camping and backpacking violations, you must ensure that the visitor does not interfere with the investigation. You must instruct them to remain within sight at all times, until such point that you have gone through each violation with them, and if necessary, delivered every written warning or citation commensurate with the severity of the violations, as defined in sections II.a.3 through II.b.5.”
Elise smiles. This ranger is not only a strict follower of the rulebook, he’s actually carrying the rulebook with him everywhere he goes. He seems incredibly young; she thinks he’s probably nineteen or twenty years old. He looks like a nice person, but still socially awkward, and without much experience dealing with strangers.
“How long have you been a ranger?”
Robin is taken aback by the question. “I have been a park ranger for nine weeks ma’am. But I was also a volunteer ranger for 4 years before that, and a junior camp counsellor for the National Park Service for 6 years.”
“But you’ve only been on solo wilderness duty for a few weeks, then. You couldn’t have been sent on this mission without going through Backpacking Inspection Trainings I and II. Each one of them takes two weeks to complete.”
Robin is surprised that she knows so much about the inner workings of the Park Service.
