By Erika Kar
What you are reading here is supposedly something of a gossip column. However, living in such a small community makes an actual gossip column, like Page Six of The New York Post, nearly impossible unless you want to get run out of town by some pitchfork- and torch-bearing angry neighbors. I certainly don’t. So, before you go any further reading this little Mazamarama, please keep this disclaimer in mind: I was not witness to any of this, nothing is condoned or condemned (at least by me), and if you recognize yourself in my cloak of anonymity … ssshhhhh and no one will know it was you. Buckle up, because we are going to be talking about nudity.
It is no secret that it was hotter than you-know-what here this past week. So, it isn’t completely surprising that there were reports swirling around about a naked fly fisherman. I heard this from a couple of different sources, one possibly being the naked fly fisherman himself. Standing in the river sans clothing on a 95-degree day doesn’t sound too crazy, but whipping around a line while naked? With a hook? Maybe not crazy, but definitely living on the edge.
Then came the news from two LeDuc sisters that while they were driving near Cutthroat Pass, a naked person was rolling and throwing large rocks out onto the highway. There were two other people with him, but they were not naked. These two people were doing some strange posing and yelling. A dog was also with the group, and he was naked, as dogs usually are. Police were called about this incident, not so much because of the nudity, but because of the hazard of rock throwing onto the highway. Being naked is one thing, but putting people in danger is not cool.
What is it about Mazama that makes people want to take off their clothes? Is it the feeling of being in nature? It can’t just be the heat in the summer. There has to be more to it than that. In the past, there have been naked bicyclists riding up Lost River Road, naked teepee campers along the river near Cedarosa, the infamous naked hiker that Ashley Lodato once wrote about, naked sunbathers pretty much everywhere, and skinnydippers galore at the swimming hole. I’ve even heard that there were a couple of guys that once got to the overly crowded swimming hole and decided to clear people out by getting naked and standing on a rock while beating their chests and yelling. It worked.
In any case, perhaps Mazama needs a little tagline. Remember when Twisp had “Twisp – I Mean It’s Crazy?” We could have “Mazama – Get Naked.” But then I’d have to move and who would write this weird stuff?
