Episode 10 – Nude Hiking & Brotherhood with Josh

In this episode of Hiking Without a Stitch, I sit down with Josh, the founder of NTX Bare Brotherhood, a men’s nude hiking community in North Texas.

Josh shares his journey into naturism, what led him to start the group, and how he’s building a respectful, non-sexual community centered around connection, body acceptance, and time spent naked in nature.

We also talk about what a typical nude hike looks like, how he prepares for group outings, navigating public lands, and advice for anyone curious about trying their first naked hike.

To learn more about NTX Bare Brotherhood:

https://www.ntxbarebrotherhood.com/

Get NAKED + Be Free + Be Kind

Follow the journey on Instagram: @HikingWithoutAStitch

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Who first told you to cover up? What if the truth is too fair in nature isn't too at all? Stealing it reconnects you to your body and to the natural world. Welcome back to Hiking Without a Stitch. Get naked, be free, and be kind. I'll share my journey into naturism, stories from the trail, and conversations with others who have found freedom in the open air. How's it going guys? Welcome back to Hiking Without a Stitch. I'm John, your host, and today I'm joined by Josh from NTX Bear Brotherhood, a men's nude hiking group focused on building community and connection through social nudity and spending time in nature. In this episode, we talk about how the group got started and the kind of space they're creating for men who want to experience naturism in a supportive environment. Here's my conversation with Josh from NTX Bear Brotherhood. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Yeah, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Um for people hearing about you for the first time, would you mind telling us just a little bit about yourself and what the Bear Brotherhood is?

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Yeah, um I'm I'm based out of Dallas, Texas. Um there is a you know, I don't know, a inherent uh nakedness about me. I don't know, ever since I was growing up, small kid, I would always go commando, things like that, kind of progressed from there. Um after a while, you know, I ended up, you know, embracing my own solo nudity, um, and then started to seek out kind of a community in Dallas um and ran into some issues. Um were okay. It was it was hard to find anything, uh, just to be frank. Um, so I decided to start my own group. Um, really, and that's it's NTX Bear Brotherhood was born out of frustration. Uh, and I was a little bit drunk one night, and I just I literally I ended up buying a whole domain.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Oh my gosh, that's hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

So I bought the website before the group even existed and built that up, and then next thing you know, I've got like close to like 130 people on my email list now that's awesome. Yeah, so it grew pretty fast. Um very organic as well. Um and most of it was by word of mouth. I didn't really do much advertising. I think I made a couple of Reddit posts, and that's about it.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Well, that's the Reddit post is where I came across your first your first posting um of sweet. And like one of the first things that I noticed when um I came across your website was how you really pushed like non-sexual nudity and you were really about being outdoor in nature because a lot of the times it gets misconstrued that this is about sex or that you know we're out there doing whatever we're doing, and yeah, it's not that.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

And that's why that's that's really that's where that frustration came from because a lot of those groups that I had found it they kind of operated under this guise of naturism, nudism, and it's I do fall somewhere on the spectrum, so it it really gets under my skin if it's not what they say that they it is. Absolutely, and it's like I it felt like weird, predatory. I was like, this is not what it is. So I ended up creating something that was that, and honestly, it's the vibes are great, the guys are great, everyone's joined, we all love it. Um, I'm in the middle of planning our next trip. I think we're gonna go camping, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Now that the weather's getting a little bit warmer, yeah. Um, so I'm excited for it. See where it goes.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yeah, yeah. What uh what other activities do you guys do other than hiking?

SPEAKER_00 4:14

So hiking um is, you know, that's kind of one of the main components. What I wanted to do was be able to reconnect with nature and get everybody else out there too. Um, but you know, in the off times or in times of bad weather, we'll have indoor socials. Game nights, that's been a thing. Um, yeah, we had a uh dick print night, actually. Uh it was uh acrylic paint, some canvases, and we we painted our dicks.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Yeah, you end up with a nice piece of art. Mine's in my bathroom. It's you gotta get the you gotta get the technique just right, otherwise it doesn't come out right. But you know some of us got some really good, good uh prints to go and hang up.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Oh, that's funny.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Yeah, I love it. I really I try to get creative with it um because it's I don't know, it's anybody can host a uh a naked party, you know. It's but what are you doing with it? How are you bonding with your friends? Like I don't know. I like for there to be a main activity and how have space for people who like maybe don't want to participate or are just kind of like waiting for their turn to like socialize on the side.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

It's I like for everything to be totally chill, organic, like not forced, and so far it's worked out really well.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Have you had any problems with people showing up and expecting like the wrong thing?

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Or uh no. That's good to hear. I'm very clear about it everywhere. Like, hey, we're gonna be naked, like you're gonna be naked. That's not a thing. Um and this one guy he he couldn't necessarily he wasn't the main person that decided to sign up for the group, it was his friend. Um, and he had issues with being naked, and you know, after one time of coming to an event, I it's a pass. You're fine, you're learning your way in. But like, like I said, we're all it's very casual, very comfortable. Even like other people that have come and it's their very first time, they've had no issue. But if you consistently come to the group, you consistently don't participate in that aspect, it's hard for the other guys to feel comfortable with.

SPEAKER_03 7:01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Because it's it's like a uh we're not all on the same level at that point. Yeah, and it's with everybody else being so vulnerable, you gotta kind of protect that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:19

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

I don't necessarily feel great about it, but it had to be done. Um, so that's really the only issue that I've run into, actually. Um and yeah. I don't know. It's it's been really great. Like all the guys interact with each other, like totally natural. We come from all different kinds of like walks of life. Like some of us are engineers, some of us are lawyers, some of us work as a bartender, some of us, you know, hairdressers, but it doesn't matter. Like, it's we all have these pretty deep conversations whenever we get together, and it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Absolutely, yeah. No, when I came across your website, that was one of the things I was like, oh, I want to go there and hike with you guys. It looks badass.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

It's it's fun, it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Uh just to jump back a little bit, before your group existed, what was like your path into non-sexual nudity or or naked hiking?

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Yeah. So I mean it's gonna start probably when I was younger. Like I said, I would always go commando, even as a young kid. So like I'd be like in the dressing room or something, like out shopping with my mom, and she'll like peek in, like, you know, it's like her little voice like getting dressed. She wants to try. She's like, Why are you naked? Well, uh, because I didn't wear underwear. Um, yeah. The football locker room, same thing. If other guys would be a little bit shy and then just be like, naked as the fuck. Yes, um. And then it wasn't until uh I was playing baseball when I was younger, and uh we were very fortunate to have one of the guys on our team, his dad owned a ranch. So, I mean, Texas ranch boys, it's that's awesome. We all stripped down one night and we went out to the road and started mooning cars. Oh, like running around the field like naked with your friends, like it was fun, it was great. I was like, holy shit, this is awesome. Um, so that was kind of like you know, whenever I first discovered it. But um, I don't know, from there I kind of progressed. I had some other naked outings, but it was all solo. Um, and then COVID time, you know, COVID time hit, and I had a pretty demeaning job. Um so sometimes I would feel pretty pressured to like work, work, work, work, work. So I'd be like in the shower, pit out, dry off a little bit. I'm still dripping wet. I'm answering emails, and then it just kind of turned into me being naked the entire day. And then my partner, my partner at the time would like come home because he had to go to the office, he was an essential worker, and then he'd be like, What are you doing? I'm like standing at the kitchen island, just like I'm just here. I'm I'm working, dude. What do you want?

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Yeah, so that's how that developed. Um, and then from there, I really I just got comfortable. Um, I don't know, and then it progressed into me searching for a community and then not necessarily finding it, so I built it up.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Oh, that's awesome. I love it. Um walk me through like you you hike on public land, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Yeah, so you're on the Yeah, it's a mix, so public private.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

So um, like what criteria do you use to determine if like a location you're looking at is hike worthy or or okay for new hiking, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Yeah, okay. Um, well, so hike worthy. I really uh I like being in nature, unfortunately. Dallas proper does not have a ton of nature, it's all been mowed down, it's all been covered in concrete or manicured in some way, shape, or form. Um not only that, but it's like what, like one of the largest metroplexes in the US. So you have to get away from Dallas. So it's not gonna be within the Dallas city limits, it's not gonna be necessarily anywhere close to Dallas, it's gonna be a bit of a drive. Um so I look in the outskirts. Um usually, you know, suburbs. If you want to go into the Dallas suburbs, you should do that at night. Um, otherwise, it's still a very populous area. One of my favorite places to go where it is totally safe is the um national forests. National forests, you go there, pick out one of the wilderness areas. Of course, don't be please don't go in ignorant. Remember that there's bears and big cats and all of these things. So you need bear spray, you need protection, you need to have a first aid kit, you need to have food. Like I I go very prepared um whenever I go out there. Uh, it's not you don't have GPS, you don't have uh access to your cell phone. Um, so I do take an iridium network GPS, one of my gardens that has a subscription, so that way I can call for help if one of us needs help. But um it's remember it's fun, but be safe.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And you can get in trouble pretty quick.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's the good thing about that's the good thing about not necessarily having um self-service out there is if somebody does want to report you, well, they're gonna have to drive an hour out to even do that. So that's true. Um, but also, you know, you say trouble, trouble can be anything. It's yep, uh, where we where me and my buddy went the very first time, it's you had to cross a creek about like 36 times. It was a it was a pretty cool area, but the trail crossed that creek 36 times, so we had to make sure that we had waterproof hiking boots. Oh I know I'm clumsy. Yeah, it's if you slip and you fall on one of those rocks in that creek, it's it's gonna be a while before somebody finds you if you don't have to call somebody. Yeah, so just be safe about it. But other than that, like if I'm looking at a trail that's kind of in an area where other people could potentially go, it's the main thing is to find something away from a community, usually an out and back trail. And what that means is you've got one trailhead entrance. There's not multiple. So A to B, B would not have an entrance. You only go in one way, you loop around and come back. So that way you can check the trailhead and you can see if there's anybody there, if there's no cars, because you're away from civilization, people tend to have to drive, so you're usually safe. With that, there is a caveat because I have run into a guy that lived in the area off chance. Um, he was a trail runner, and I was just as shocked as he was. Yeah, that was a fun, that was a fun experience. Um and then uh what is it? Oh, me and my buddy JD. You might you might actually uh uh discover this out with the BLM lands um out by Arizona. Uh but trail cams, trail cams exist.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Yep, yeah, I'm I'm always looking.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Just wave and say hi. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

No, no, it's like uh my buddy and I, we were hiking up in Washington State, and we came around the corner and there was a state like uh fish and game trail cam. Yeah, and it was like, oh yeah, and then we just kept going. It's just funny.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Yeah, me and my buddy, that's exactly what we did. I was like, oh, hey, there's a trail cam. Or like, what do we do? Just wave and keep going.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Yeah, nothing you can do.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

We're not doing anything inherently bad. We're not defacing, we're not littering, we're not doing anything lewd and licivious, but you know, it's yeah. Well, and whoever's reviewing that footage, I can tell you they got a show. Yeah, very unexpected show. They were looking for some kind of wildlife, they found something.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Yeah, yeah. They were they were shocked. Um speaking of like trail cams and I just had a thought. It might be gone. Um oh, you you were saying speaking about the legalities, um and talking about doing things you know, sexual or or wrong. That's one of the frustrations that I found getting into this is the verbiage on well, if you offend someone, and I think uh Texas, the nudity laws are similar.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

We follow the same thing, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

Yeah, where it's like it's up to someone's offense. If I if you're offended, then it's wrong or illegal, you know. Which I think just is so silly because I feel like we could just separate sexualized nudity and non-sexual nudity.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

You would think, you would think, but you gotta remember how the United States was even born, and it was very puritanical. It's it's difficult, but um I don't know. It's it's I always talk to people about legality because at the end of the day, we are all individuals, and you have to make a choice if you want to hike with us or not. And I want you to make an informed decision, and I want you to know that there is an inherent amount of risk. Um it's slight because I do a ton of work, I do a ton of fucking work to try and make sure that we don't run into anybody. My goal is not one out of exhibitionism, like it's I don't want to see anybody, I want to hang out with my friends, and I want it to be just us. If we had a place to go that was like, you know, hundred acres, like scattered about, like that's where we would go. But like we we don't have that. It's we've got a couple of nudest resorts, and to be quite honest, it it's the hiking trails there. I've only found one place that that is clothing optional that has great hiking um out of like what the like five or six plus seven, eight maybe nude friendly places here.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

It's the best hiking is gonna be out in the national forest, to be honest. And you got a pretty good shot of being alone. It was me and my buddy, we were the only two people in 14,000 acres.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Was that a single-day hike, or did you go and like backpack and camp out?

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Yeah, we backpacked it. We walked in, we did some base camping, so we found a spot that we could set up camp and found some trails nearby.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Yeah, we did uh we were out in Caney Creek, uh it's uh southwest Arkansas.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Oh, awesome!

SPEAKER_00 19:08

Yeah, and so we did the creek one, and then we ended up going up the mountain, and unfortunately we got blocked about halfway up that mountain because the vegetation was so thick and dense.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Oh, it just got jungly.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Yeah, it's just it's uh out there, they can only maintain it for every so often, you know, because the Forest Service is only so big. And you gotta remember this 14,000 acres is only a piece of the Washita National Forest, which is like easily millions of acres spread over multiple states. It's crazy, it's crazy big. But we got some great pictures, had some great times, had fun trying to figure out how to get a fire going. Yeah was it was like the wood wet? It was it was wet because we were next to the creek. So it was yeah, we learned a lot. We learned a lot. Josh ended up getting some fire starters, so we'll be good next time.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

What uh when you guys planned that that outing to go on that backpacking trap trip in uh Arkansas, what went into that? Was that kind of a nude trip planned out, or was the nudity just kind of we're out here, why not?

SPEAKER_00 20:24

No, I was planning it around being naked. It's like if I'm going out there, I'm gonna be naked, and I want to be naked for as long as I can. I want to see absolutely nobody. And the wilderness areas, honestly, you can't have any motorized vehicles in them, they're prohibited. So you're not gonna be ran up on by somebody on an ATV. Um, it's usually gonna be pretty intense hikers because those trails aren't necessarily easy.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Um, like I I kid you not, the entrance to the trail, so the trailhead, you had to cross the creek, which was about eight feet wide. So you gotta be committed if you want to go on a trail.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Quite a bit. Yeah, quite a bit.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

So, you know, it's and usually if you're a pretty avid hiker, you're an intense hiker, you you're not really concerned about it. It's honestly, if it's not one of the southern states up in, like, I don't know, where the PCH runs or the Appalachian Trail, like it's yeah, you will run into a naked person at some point. Um Colorado, same thing there. It's gonna happen. Um, you know, it's it's just a thing. But I don't know. Uh it's been an interesting time figuring that part out. But I do want to go to a couple of different national forests, um or national parks like uh uh Big Bend is one of the ones in Texas that I really want to go to.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Oh, that'd be bad.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

Yeah. I didn't want to play on that trip this year.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

So I don't know that'd be sick.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

When you go on these trips, what gear do you like pack in your pack?

SPEAKER_00 22:09

Oh, I got all kinds of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Um what's what's your like top couple that you would not go go out without?

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Well, of course a tent, and um tent, and then I'm getting up there in age. Well, I say that. I'm a I'm 31. But I my sleeping pad, I can't sleep on the ground anymore. I need something. I need a decent sleeping pad. Um what else? Of course, like, you know, you want your knives, you want your trowel, because if you're out in nature, you know, nature calls, you gotta bury your chip.

SPEAKER_03 22:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Literally. Um, and then my water purification system, um, making sure that you have clean water is very important out there because like you don't realize how much you need water until you start sweating, and then it's like, oh fucked. Like even that, yeah. And then whenever you're backpacking, it's very advantageous to bring like legit backpacking food, the freeze-dreed like MREs almost. Yeah. So you need water for that, you know. So make sure that you got a way to get water. Um, plan your route around water, um, so we can refill along the route. But um it's it's odd because you can try to plan as much as you can, but based on like the GPS maps, stuff like that, that creek might be dry. So be careful, you know. It's it's always a gamble, but usually you can bet on the lakes.

SPEAKER_01 23:44

Yeah, yeah. Do you when you're going out hiking, what's the uh you're talking about weather before we hopped on together. Yeah. Is there a season for bad weather? Like here in Arizona, we have monsoon season where we have flash floods and stuff. Do you guys get monsoons there?

SPEAKER_00 24:04

Monsoons? Not really. I mean we'll get some flash flood warnings here in Dallas, but um it's the weather, it seems pretty unpredictable, to be honest lately. But I haven't ran into any bad weather whenever you're looking at like spring summer, and if you are ready and willing to face the outdoors with some bug spray and some sunscreen, yeah. Not a lot of other people in the region are, so that's probably the best time for you to go naked hiking or camping around here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Do you do you uh so when you're going out, what's the biggest thing like you're concerned about?

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Is it like a bigger predator, like a bear cougar, or um I did it was in Texas, and I was at a uh it was a nude friendly place, actually. It was on a ranch somewhere, and I was naked, nothing on me, uh except for my hiking boots, and I came across like what looked like almost like a cougar, and I forgot. Well, Texas doesn't have bears, but we do have big cats, yeah. So that's a thing. Um, and I saw it. I just saw this big thing with four legs, and I was like, that's not a dog. And it was a light brown color, and all I could do was just step back, walk around. I was going to go check out the speaver dam that I guess one of the owners had recommended, and this thing was like walking like in the in the brush behind it.

SPEAKER_01 25:39

Oh man.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Oh, oof, oof, it was bad. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_03 25:43

Oh, that's wild.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

Yeah, right. But usually wildlife is more scared of you than you are of them, you know. Everybody's heard that, but like just one thing you don't want to do whenever you come across an animal that doesn't necessarily notice you is startle it. Um you don't want to make it scared because then it will attack.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Yeah, yeah. Yep. No, I've I've been hiking with my brother and we've come across bears with their cubs, and I'm like, oh shit, like I don't want anything to do with you.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

Yeah, right. Yeah, so whenever you go hiking, I usually carry bear spray with me and some sort of defense weapon.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

So that's awesome. Um has being naked around other men in nature in like a non-sexual way impacted you personally, like how you view yourself or your connection with other men?

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Um I will say I've gained a lot more confidence, I guess, around being naked with other guys. And I hear the same thing from them. Um have I experienced anything profound? I mean, honestly, it's just like hanging out with your buds. It's a little it's a more pure form, I think. Um it's being able to go into a situation and have no preconceived notions or expectations is amazing. Um being able to do it while we're all like that vulnerable, even better. I think it opens up the door for like other conversations like that most people would be closed off to if they were closed, because it's like at the end of the day, you're sitting around, you're sitting across from somebody, you're talking about something, and it's like, is this topic off limits? Fuck it, we're already naked, you see my dick, why not?

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Absolutely. Absolutely. That's exactly how it is, too. Yeah, um, it's just so much authenticity, just right up front. Um like openness, I guess. Yeah. Uh for someone that like curious or hesitant about starting nude hiking or trying their first nude hike, what would you say to them or have any advice for them?

SPEAKER_00 28:02

Well, find somebody, find somebody that's into it. Because I guarantee if you ask them, you approach them and be like, hey, I'm really interested in this, but I'm kind of nervous to go alone. Like, do you have any tips? Can you take me? Like, I'd love to like go along with you sometime. I guarantee you they'll say yes. They'll be like, Yes, absolutely. Like, I've been in that situation, people have approached me, and it's they're not necessarily ready to be in that full big group setting because it's a bit overwhelming for some people. So I will, you know, I'll volunteer and take them out and you know, show them how it's done and see if they like it, and then you want to come out and hang in with the group, like explain, you know, how low pressure the situation is, and it works out.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

So that's awesome. Yeah, that's cool that you do that for people.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

I mean, I like I like going out. Yeah, it's it's nice having a buddy. Um, and it's it's a lot less intimidating. Like, should you run across anybody to see multiple multiple naked people rather than just one? If you see just one, it's creepy. You see, like, what's this card? Like, oh, what are these boys doing?

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Like exactly. Yeah, exactly. Cool. Well, I think we're gonna wrap it up then. Um, if you have, you know, if anyone wants to check your page out, I'll throw it in the links. Yeah. Um, if they want to connect with you. So thank you, Josh, for coming on. I really appreciate your time.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Yeah, I appreciate it. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

I plan to uh come out there at some point this year and hike with you guys.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

Yeah, I was planning on doing the same actually. Um, I have been looking at so with this new job, it's fully remote, so I can move wherever. So if I plan on going to Colorado or Arizona or I don't know. Is Nevada still a thing? Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Yeah, yeah. Dude, cool. Yeah, keep me keep me posted. I would love to link it.

SPEAKER_00 29:59

Sure, man. All right, cool. Well, it was good to see you again.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for your time, man.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

All right, take care.

unknown 30:07

Bye.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

All right, that's the end of episode 10. Josh, I really appreciated you coming on and sharing about NTX Bear Brotherhood and the community that you're building. I think spaces where people can show up as they are and get connection with others and experience social nudity in a healthy and respectful way are very important for the future of nude hiking and the future of naturism, really. So hearing how your group approaches that and the intention behind it was really great to learn about. Anyone that is interested in joining Josh or looking more into his group, I will have all the links posted in the show notes. Thanks again for taking the time to have this conversation with me, and to everyone listening, thank you for spending time with us today. Until next time, get naked, be free, and be kind. See ya.