Conference moira::naturism

And yes, I've read 12.12.  Was wondering if there is more...

    I'm formerly from LA, but the only nude beach that I've been to there I
    don't know how to describe getting to (after 5 years, it's hard to
    remember how to identify just the right cliff...). However, the World
    Guide lists a place which should be relatively near Los Angeles. I
    could type in the entire description, but given the age of the world
    guide, it's probably better to call. Note that they list this phone
    number as 213 area code; it might be 818 by now. The club is:
    
    	Elysium Field: 213-455-9026   814 Robinson Rd. Topanga, CA
    
    I hope this helps; the only other places listed were a significant
    drive from LA.
    
    Kevin

    This note is being entered for a reader of this conference who prefers
    to remain anonymous.

    	-Neil Faiman (moderator)

    =======================================================================

                           Swallows Sun Island
                           1631 Harbison Canyon Road
                           El Cajon, CA 92021
                           (619) 445-3754

        Swallows is located about 25 miles northwest of San Diego in the
    hills of El Cajon.  Directions are fairly easy.  From either LA or San
    Diego, take freeway 8 east until you come to the first (of several) El
    Cajon exits, which I believe is the Main Street exit, go straight off
    the exit ramp until you come to Washington St., go right until you come
    to a "T", take a left and a very quick right onto Dehesa Rd.  Keep
    going until you come to a fork in the road at which you will pick up
    (go to the left) Harbison Canyon Rd., continue on until you go pass
    "Big Oak Ranch"....Swallows is just ahead on the right. From downtown
    San Diego, it will take 40 minutes.  From LA, plan on 2 hours. 

        On entering the park, all visitors must stop at the gate office for
    registration, show some ID (driver's license) and pay the grounds fee,
    which is $15.00 per person, $20.00 per couple.  Single males and females 
    are invited but they do watch people's behavior closely. 

        This park is a nudist resort, not a clothes optional facility, but
    if one wished to remain clothed due to weather or personal reasons, I
    don't think anyone would be concerned.  However, no one with clothes on
    is allowed in or around the swimming pool (which is very nice and about
    30 x 60' and heated) or in the sauna or jacuzzi.  I have been at this
    camp during some cooler days and remained clothed until later in the
    day and nothing was ever said. 

        In addition to the above items mentioned, they also offer a very
    nice clubhouse with books, T.V.'s, camp-sites, full restaurant, a few
    motel rooms (I don't know the rates), nice grounds with many lawn
    chairs which anyone can use, tennis, volleyball, table tennis,
    shuffleboard, community kitchen, kids' playground and clean restrooms. 

        I have visited this camp 6 times and each time have found my visit
    to be a nice and restful event.  The people are very friendly and for
    the most part will help you if you wish to be involved in events.  The
    weekends are very busy with several hundred visitors coming in.  The
    ages of people run from very young to whatever....one thing that is
    very noticeable is because of all the colleges in the area, the crowd
    seems to be on the younger side, but they are all very well behaved. 

        One thing I would like to mention, last year the Swallows had three
    owners and during this past year something happened that broke up this
    partnership so now the park has one owner, a person called "Big Sue".
    She is a very rough person, but doesn't really bother you.  The two
    other owners, Brenda and John, were just the opposite of Big Sue, they
    were very warm and friendly. The reason I brought this up is that with
    a new or sole owner, I am not sure what direction this place will go.
    But at this time, I would like to say that of all the nudist camps
    (throughout the US) that I have visited, this one IS one of the nicer
    ones.....I generally get to visit 2 or more each year and have seen
    just about everything.  I would recommend at least a day visit to the
    Swallows if you should happen to be in Southern California. 

                                Enjoy.

    LA places...
    
    well, let me tell ya...
    
    First of all...
    
    There's the Treehouse Fun Ranch in Devore, just north of San Bernadino.
    It's about 70 miles from the LAX area.   You'd have to go east on I-10,
    and the take the I-15 north to Devore.
    
    The place is a pretty decent place to be.  I was there this past Friday
    and I wish I had the opportunity to stay there for a few days.  The 
    people are REALLY nice and made me feel very comfortable.  There are
    alot of motorhomes there and the facilities are clean.  They have a
    pool, tennis courts, a restaurant and a bar.  The weekends usually 
    include a band that plays to the evening crowd.  Unlike most naturist
    clubs, this place had a bar (very good prices...pitcher of beer for
    $3.00).  They are very serious about making Treehouse a
    clothing-optional resorts where people do the same things as at other
    resorts, except that clothes are not a requirement.  This place
    was the first naturist place that I visited that was within viewing
    distance of a major highway; you could see the cars and trucks very
    well a few miles away.
    
    The thing that made the visit interesting is that I met Bill and Fran
    Flesher, the owners who had appeared on the Geraldo special on nudism.
    They also own a place called "Treehouse Too", in Palm Springs (?) which
    is more of a hotel.  This is where the Geraldo show was taped.
    
    This is a pretty nice place to go.  The bugs come out in the late
    afternoon so bring bug repellent.

    Another one...
    
    Yesterday, I was at Elysium Fields in the Topanga Canyon, just to the
    northwest of LA.  
    
    From the LAX area, take I-405 north to I-10 west.  I-10 ends quickly
    and empties into route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway).  The road to
    Topanga is the third light (second major intersection) after Sunset
    Boulevard.  This is suppose to be route 27, Topanda Canyon Road.  There
    is NO sign that identifies this as Topanga Canyon Road or route 27.
    It's the light after the J Paul Getty Museum.  If you get to Malibu,
    you went too far.  Go up route 27.  You'll get to some fork; stay to
    the right.  Watch for the Robinson Road sign on the right with the
    orange Elysium sign.  The road is on the right and turns almost 180
    degrees up the hill.
    
    Elysium is truly a clothing-optional resort.  All first-time visitors
    must go through their "One-Day Vacation" which is really a 15-minute
    introduction to Elysium (on Wdnesdays, Saturdays, or Sundays).  I was
    a bit disappointed with the size of the place...it's only 5 acres.
    There are two tennis courts, a volleyball court, a pool, and a
    12-person jacuzzi (!).  There is a large sunning lawn where theraputic
    massages can be arranged through the main office.  There is a book
    store for getting various naturist items, including books, magazines,
    t-shirts, sun-tan lotion, etc.
    
    Elysium is very quiet, compared to the other places that I've visited.
    It is meant to promote the holistic way of life.  Various faculty 
    members give seminars on improving one's behavior and outlook on life.
    
    The highlight of this visit was the fact that I met and talked to 
    Ed Lange, the founder of Elysium and a prominent figure in the naturist
    movement.
    
    I was very disappointed to not be able to meet Emily Coleman, who is
    also a faculty member there.  She wrote the book, "Body Liberation",
    which documents her introduction to nudism many years ago.  Her book
    gave me the proper "attitude" to try naturism.  I recommend this book
    to all "closet naturists"; I think that it'll help alot.
    
    First time visits are $14; yearly membership is $170.

    FINALLY....
    
    I was at Black's Beach on Sunday...!!!! :-)
    
    This is a neat place...
    This is probably the most famous nude beach in California.  I was told
    that there about 20,000 people there that day.
    
    It's about a two-hour drive from LA (they normally drive around
    70-75 MPH there, unlike 60-65 in Mass).  The beaches are north of
    San Diego, just a bit north of La Jolla.  When coming down I-5, take
    the Genesee Ave exit and bear left.  Take a right onto Torres
    (something) Scenic Road to the gliderport.  
    
    The (safe) path down the cliffs are to the left of the gliderport. 
    It's well marked.  Bring good footwear; it's dangerous and slippery.  
    Don't go down the areas marked "False Trail".  It goes STRAIGHT down.  
    You can see a car hanging off the side of the cliff from the bottom.
    Way over to the right is another path but it's marked as "dangerous".
    
    The beach between the two paths are generally considered "straight".
    The gay sections are allegedly to the north of the section trail.
    
    The beach was very nice...very fine sand.  Some guys spent a few hours
    building a huge sand castle.  There were alot of guys in swimsuits
    there and not a few cameras.  I only heard a few complaints about the
    voyeurs, though one guy threatened another for pointing a video camera
    near his girlfriend.
    
    The only bad part of the day occurred around 5 pm, when a large group
    of guys staked out an area of the beach not too far from me.  One of
    the guys started playing with himself and then he started walking up
    and down the beach, continuing even when there were kids around.  The
    other guys had cameras out (with zoom lenses) and started taking
    pictures of all the other men on the beach.    I never had a problem
    when there were people with cameras at Moonstone Beach, but I felt
    extremely uncomfortable here.  I was going to stay on
    the beach until 7 or 8, but I got pretty disgusted and left.  It'd be
    a shame if a small group of people like that got the county to shut
    down that beach.
    
    There is a San Diego county law that prohibits vendors from selling
    things on the beach.  They have spotters on the tops of the cliffs on
    the lookout for the exchanging of money and they radio down to the
    lifeguards who hand out tickets.  There was one guy selling beer; a
    customer would leave some money under a towel somewhere, and then walk
    to another section of the beach to pick up the can (away from the
    vendor).  The seller would eventually walk over and pick up the money.
    This was extremely hilarious to watch this all in action.  There was a
    guy who was selling Black's Beach t-shirts, which I got one.  he gave
    me a folder in which to put money in and then he gave me a shirt.  He
    also had to give me the change through the envelope.  I just couldn't
    give him the money directly.
    
    At Black's Beach, I met "Joi" who is a body painter there and is very
    prominent in several of the available naturist videos.  She is
    gathering stories from regular beach-goers and putting together a book
    about Black's Beach.  Alot of the people there are regulars and know
    each other well.
    
    Except for the bad experience at the end of the day, Black's Beach was
    a very nice place to visit.  I just wished I had gone there with a
    group instead of by myself.
    

    One final thing...
    
    At Treehouse, you have to buy three visits for $75 when you go there
    for the first time.  I told them that I was from the East Coast and
    just visiting for the day, so that brought the entrance fee down to
    $35.  When I showed my card from the Naturist Society, the fee went
    down to $20.
    
    If you belong to any naturist clubs or organizations, bring your
    membership cards along!
    
    B.
    

    I'm heading off to Irvine for a five-week All Hands on DEC assignment
    on Monday, Aug. 28.  I hope I am able to meet some of the California
    Brown Bare noters while there!  Please send me mail if you would
    be interested in getting together.  (I may even spring for lunch!
    ;^)
    
    One place I was planning to go is the camp on Lake Elsinore.  I
    had heard that there was a fire near there a couple months ago,
    and was wondering if anyone knows if they are still open.  There
    are certainly other places in the area, but that camp sounded pretty
    nice in my 1984 ASA Camps Guide.  I also plan on doing Black's Beach,
    Treehouse, Elysium, Glen Eden, and Pirates' Cove.  (Hope I have
    a little time left for work!  8'}
    
    Look forward to seeing you there!
    
    Jack

    re .8, If the camp you are referring to is McConville, then yes, it
    is still open.  From _Bare in Mind_, Volume 17 # 8 (August 1989):
    
        McConville survived the recent fire on the Ortega Highway!  The
        firefighters held the line on the south side of our paved access
        road, except for one area where it jumped the road and came
        within 100 feet of our southwest corner.
        
    And,
    
        [Labor Day weekend] we'll be having our annual Luau Sunday
        evening with entertainment to follow.  Saturday night's dinner
        will be a bring your own meat to BBQ and potluck dish to enjoy
        with your many friends at McConville.
        
    -Neil

    Thanks, Neil.  I'll plan on going to the luau!
    
    BTW, So far, this has been my only reply!  I'm actually relatively
    harmless, and some people even enjoy my company!  (There's no
    accounting for tastes!  ;^)
    
    Still looking forward to meeting some Californian noters.  The weather
    is DEFINITELY cooperating!  I could fall in love with this place
    very easily.
    
    Hope you Nor'easters enjoy Solair day.  I'm sure the weather will
    be better than when Peter and I visited.
    
    Jack

    I wish I had time to visit all those places when I was out in
    the LA area...:-(...I was lucky to get to 3 of those places in
    the four days that I was out there...
    
    B.
    

    
>    Hope you Nor'easters enjoy Solair day.  I'm sure the weather will
>    be better than when Peter and I visited.
    
    It could'nt be worse! (Does it snow in September in MASS??)
    
Peter.