High Island side today

[XC-RIPX]

I have a car and I was able to drive past the piping on the Highland side. It is a beautiful day. I am naked, happy and enjoying myself. Just wish I wasn’t alone

[crystalbeacher]

How far in did you drive? The barricade is down?

[XC-RIPX]

3 miles I believe. Way past the drainage pipe

[Michael R]

The signs, and the barricade, are still there. If the tide is low enough, it is possible to drive around them, but that gives LE the probable cause they need to investigate, whether I am clothed, or not. I stop, and park, at the barricade, then walk. Yesterday, August 14th, it was possible to remain as unclothed as I cared to be, for the better part of an hour, near the barricade. All of the clothed folk remained very near the intersection of Highways 124 and 87. (124 is the Highway from Winnie to High Island.) When one vehicle traveled far enough eastward, to prompt me to wrap myself, they actually stopped far

I wish that I had brought a camera, as the birds were abundant, thought the best shot was two Crested Caracaras some distance inland, from the beach, but the purpose of the trip had originally started as an afternoon of fixing multiple things at my mother’s home, near Baytown, so, I had not anticipated a beach visit. There is, however, a rush hour, westbound along I-10, from Baytown toward Houston, so, rather than deal with that, I opted to drive the other direction, for some bird and wildlife viewing. I checked the tide times, using my iPhone, which indicated the beach might be nice, and so I continued all the way to High Island. I stripped off my sweaty work clothes, went for a quick dip, and had a beach bath, with fresh water from jugs. (I keep Dawn dish soap, in my truck.)

Notably, traditional nude use of the beach started a short distance from High Island, as soon as one was a comfortable distance past clothed families. Usually, this was well before one reached the McFaddin boundary. This was in the Eighties and Nineties, though it probably started long before them. With the citations being issued in McFaddin NWR, it makes sense, to me, to return to the tradition of being watchful, and discreet, in any place where distance, haze, and mirage are our friends. There is safety in numbers of course, as one or two can be on watch, while other(s) relax.