EP. 19 - Thoughts From the Trail

In this solo episode of Hiking Without a Stitch, I leave the studio behind and head into a new place deep in Arizona’s National Forest. What unfolds is an honest, unfiltered walk through the wilderness — sharing the thoughts, struggles, and moments of clarity that naturally come with each step.

Nature has a way of reminding us of the simple act of slowing down long enough to listen. This isn’t a polished conversation or a carefully planned interview; it’s just me hiking, noticing the world around me, and speaking honestly about what’s on my mind.

Along the trail, I reflect on life, challenges, mental health, and the moments that remind us why getting outside matters. Whether you hike clothed or unclothed, this episode is an invitation to step away from the noise, be present, and reconnect with yourself.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, stressed, or disconnected, I hope these Thoughts From the Trail remind you that sometimes the most important conversations happen when we’re simply walking forward — one step at a time.

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 very nature isn't changeful at all? Healing and reconnects you to your body and to the natural world. Welcome back to hiking without a stitch. Can make it be free and be kind. I'll share my journey and features, toys for the trail, conversations with others who have found freedom in the open air. Alright, how's it going everyone? Welcome back to hiking without a stitch. I'm John, your host, and today's episode is gonna be a little bit different. I'm gonna take you out on a hike with me. It's been raining, the monsoons are here, there's water, it's muddy. I can't get to my normal spot, so we're gonna go check out a new spot on some National Forest Land. I got my dog Brandy with me here, and we're gonna get ready to go. So I hope you enjoy it. Um welcome, welcome along. Okay, sweet. We're recording. Just got to where I'm parking. And uh yeah, we're gonna make our way up this trail. It's a science over here. Entering bear country, do not feed bears. A fed bear is a dead bear, and that is really true. You see videos of people feeding bears at like campgrounds and stuff. Don't do that. Don't wildlife is meant to be wild and kept wild. Um by feeding and interacting with wildlife like that, especially like bears. Um the parks department or you know, fish and wildlife has to step in and call those animals, and that's just not fair uh to them. So don't feed bears. Uh hey. Dogs running off. I'm out here on some national forest land. Oh I should lock my car though. Okay, car's locked. We're good. Yeah, so don't feed bears. It's interesting too. Um there was a recent cougar sighting here, pretty close to here, where I'm at actually. Uh so Brandy and I are gonna have to keep our eyes open. Oh, what a nice morning. I've been on this uh two track once before with my like wife and kids, but I haven't gone past the point that I'm planning to go today, so I'm kind of excited. Just real, I don't know, been noticing some reoccurring patterns that tell me that I'm I need to like get outside, keep trying to like isolate myself and I don't know lacking zero motivation to just get out and get up and do it. So we are out here. And that's sometimes all you can do. Sometimes it's just good enough to get up and do the basics. Well I can already see that someone's driven up here this morning because it rained or sprinkled yesterday and the path is all muddy, but I can see like ripped up tire tracks. So I'll just have to be aware of that. Saw recording properly. Yes indeed. Perfect. Oh, it's beautiful out. So I'm just walking up a dirt two track that kind of weaves its way back into the hillside here. And uh the road's not too bad actually. It's lightly sprinkling. We're walking through what are these? Acorn trees. You can probably hear the doves singing. Not too hot, it's about 70 degrees. Um so that is nice. Not as hot as it's been. Last few weeks I've been feeling really cooped up and kind of noticing some patterns that say that like you know they're telling me I need to get outside and clear my head and kind of reconnect. Um Been like kind of reclusive and distancing myself. Uh been having like anxiety around responding to messages or feeling overwhelmed with the stuff like that. So just kind of interesting navigating that when I feel that and feel like kind of stressed out. I uh I tend to seclude, which is not healthy. Um talking to my buddy Robert, you guys know Robert, talking to Robert a little bit, kind of playing phone tag with him. But yeah, this last couple weeks, damn, I've been feeling down. So even though I didn't really feel like getting up and coming out this morning, Brandy and I are out here on some national forest land on a beautiful morning, and I can already tell that I'm feeling a little bit better. I'm not yet stripped off, but I'm already feeling feeling a little bit better, and we're just starting. Whoa, look at this guys. There are so many bees on this pollinating. That's so cool. So a lot of the bees here are Africanized. Basically 99% of the bees out in the wild, these types of bees are wild Africanized honey bees. And they are more aggressive than the just Germanic honeybee that um they got introduced. A uh scientist brought them over from Africa because their honey production is like triple the times just the normal honeybee is, um, but they are more aggressive naturally because they're in an area where they're chasing off bears and lions and and other big animals that they need to be able to swarm and take them out. So he brought them over to South America or Brazil to study them, and his lab assistant left the door open to this facility, and the hives ended up getting out, and since then they have traveled up from Brazil, up through South America, up through Mexico, and into the United States, and you know, they they maintain to be a problem. Lots of hikers here in Arizona get swarmed and hospitalized or killed every year from these things. So it actually is a real risk when you're out here to pay attention to bee swarms or any like noise or bees going in and out of rocks or trees that you see. Need to remember to breathe. Rock Curry. Is that I'm gonna run into a wildlife, uh into like wildlife and have a negative wildlife encounter, whether that's with a bear or a cougar or a beastworm. Um especially if you're naked, you're just way more vulnerable that way. So those are like the the things that I think about more than say getting caught or getting like arrested, because in the places I'm out, there's no one out here. Um and I don't really foresee seeing anyone. Yeah, I've been in a wildlife encounter like that. One time my younger brother Nick and I were hiking in the Cascades up in Washington State, and we were hiking along, just talking. And then just off to the trail to the left of us, we heard some like scrabbling, and we look over and there's a couple bear cubs kind of shimming up this tree. We're like, oh shit, that's kind of that's cool but scary. And not two seconds later, you know the chuffing that bears make when they're they're upset, like, and like the slapping of the ground. Female uh mother bear was off to the right of us, so we were in between cubs and a mother bear, which you never want to be in that situation. So we just backed out, and luckily nothing happened, but it had the potential to get to get you know wild pretty quick. And thankfully we didn't get uh charged or bluff charged or anything like that. We just made our way back out and let them go about their business. It was cool to see though. It's so interesting how we spend most of our time around screens and distracted. And then just coming out here, I've only been walking what like 10 minutes. I already feel more calm. Yeah, it's so weird. This is what I tell people just getting out will change something inside of you. It's a beautiful thing. Well, let's see. There's a side canyon. I want to go off up here and then I think I'll strip because on this main road dirt bikers and uh off-road vehicles could like fly up on you pretty quickly. So uh we're just walking. We're in this big canyon, it's kind of cool. I'll be posting pictures on my uh Instagram and sharing it on my stories, but mesquite trees and acorn trees and agave, wild agave. It's pretty cool and not that far from the desert, so it's so wild how the diversity in plant life can change in just you know a few thousand feet, a few hundred feet shit. Those crickets are so loud. There are some mosquitoes though. I will say that with it being wet and being up where there's like a a lot of greenery, there are definitely more mosquitoes flying around my head, I can hear them. I've swatted a couple off my arm. Here, I smell a skunk. Brandy, come here. You leave it, do not get sprayed. Come here. I do not want to spend the rest of my afternoon cleaning you off, Brandy. I don't know where that skunk is, but it definitely smells like skunk. This is so cool up here. We're walking along like a wash kind of stream bed. And it's just got these cool rock walls, like canyon walls that go up to these big hills. It's awesome. Wow, it's starting to rain. Um and now I'm in some like sycamores. This is dope. And I think that's the canyon right there that I wanted to go up. Oh yeah. Hmm. This should be a cool spot to camp out here. Wow. I mean, they're just so cool looking. I'm gonna get on my on axe and see kind of where I'm at. So there's a wash that kind of goes off to the left. And I'm wondering if that would be a better bet trick this morning. What do you think, dog? You have any input? I don't know if you guys can hear that. That's a Cooper's hawk. Alright, here's where we're breaking off the path, Brady. We can finally finally strip soon. Oh, that's gonna look at that rock. Lots of like shady quart or cloudy quartz in here. I don't know if that's what it's actually called. I'm not like super into rocks. I like to know all the names, but I can like kinda see. I mean see them. The only thing that I don't like about this is there's a shit ton of leaves on the ground. So if there's a snake, I'm not gonna really hopefully I'm not walking on a snake. Be interesting. All right. Wow. This trail just keeps weaving and weaving. Looks like people have made little campsites off to you know, off on these little pull-out spots. This is very cool. Well, we'll come to another Y. Let's see where we go, Grandy Well, I think we go up.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

I gotta show you guys this. Let me show you guys this. This is cool.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Oh man, this is why I come out here guys. You get out to spots like this where no one comes out really. Then you turn around. Look at that valley. How pretty is that? And what a blessing it is to be out here. Oh, I'm stripped off. We're going up this steep hill. This is great. What a cool path.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

This is so cool.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

I found a badass trail. It's like a deer trail. This is exactly what I look for. Wow. This is so awesome. I love being out here. Yeah, I'm liking this trail we found. And I found this by using Onex and just Googling like hiking areas and figuring out what worked for me. Because what I do doesn't, you know, not everyone has access to this. Umbe your adventure, your hiking, looks a little bit different, you know what I'm saying? But it doesn't have to always look like someone else's adventure. These moments and these experiences are specific to you, so you can make them whatever you want them to be. Yeah, in the age of social media, too, it is easy to get caught up in that trap of well, I didn't hike 25 miles and get the waterfall shot or whatever. What's put your uh spin on it? That's okay. Because those people that you're watching, they're just showing you snippets of their life, you're not seeing the full thing. So just remind yourself that people's lives aren't perfect, and just because they show the highlight reel doesn't mean that they're not struggling and going through stuff too. You just don't see it. So be grateful for what you have and cherish all the cool shit you get to do.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Whoa, the view is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Okay, we are almost to the top of where I wanted to hike to. So let's do that. These hikes just let me get out and clear my head so much. This trail just weaves all the way up. It's so cool. Dude, I love it. Love it. We have now just worked our way up to the top of the finger ridge. This is what it's all about, guys. Look at that view. Just wow. That's so crazy. Come over here, show you this view too. Wow, look at that view. Public land. If you can find a secluded spot where you're not gonna upset people and you're being respectful, you should have no problems. You should have no problems. This is freaking amazing. And to think that I didn't want to get out today. Fuck yeah. Feeling really blessed right now. I am on top of this finger ridge looking over the valley, and it's just so pretty. There's sunbeams kind of trickling down out of the overcast sky, there's birds singing, the crickets are chirping. I guess too, what's really interesting to me just being out here and looking around is like how much time it took for these canyons and these valleys to form. Like it didn't just happen overnight that they boom! We have these magnificent hillsides. It was built over time, and I guess that's really just connecting that back to myself and my journey. It's like we are not gonna be perfect ever. We're always gonna be learning, we're always gonna be working on ourselves, and it's like the progress takes time, it doesn't happen all in one big moment, it's little moments that chip away your thinking and how you treat your body and how you speak to yourself, and unlearning and growing and becoming the person that you're supposed to be today, because without the past versions of yourself, you wouldn't be who you are today. So just remember that no matter where you're at on your journey, growth takes time. Learning to love and accept yourself takes time. So hey Brandy. Yeah, just give yourself some grace. Um, and remember that. I don't know why that just that just popped in, so thought I would just relieve that from my brain. Something's been rooting around. Oh yeah, there's anthills in here. Whoa. Okay, let's go. Back down. The outdoor spaces have been kind of a sanctuary my entire life. Spent my childhood running around outside. Any chance I got, I was out in the woods or out trying to catch birds, and yeah, it's real interesting because then once I became an adult, started drinking heavily, and became an alcoholic, and uh went down that route and got sober, it was like nature again became a place for me to go and decompress and revive myself and kind of it provided me the space that I needed to process my emotions and process the internal stuff. I I realize now that I've spent a lot of my life internally, um like an internal dialogue and having a very internal experience uh as well, and it's just nature provides the space to let go, let down your guard, and you know, just be present in the moment. So I'm like really appreciative today that I have a spot in nature that can come and do this and experience nudity in nature because the nudity is just another added aspect. The nudity is a a tool, if you will, to you know unlock that just I don't know, it's hard to explain. It's hard to explain without someone experiencing it because I tell people they're like, Oh, I could never do that, I could never go naked hiking or strip off around other people at the nude beach. And once you let go of that feeling of like, oh, I could never do that, you get so much freedom. It's freaking insane, and I think I'm going the wrong way now. I'm pr I'm pretty sure I'm lost. I think I go left here. Come on, dog. I got all excited and just walked straight up the hill and wasn't paying attention. So now we're just breaking trail. Okay, as long as we don't break any bones. Yeah. Oh, you guys feel me? You guys use nature for medicine and mental health? I would go hiking out in nature and just strip off and it would help kind of like it wouldn't fix the my like depression and panic attacks, but it definitely helped. Um it helped ease it quite a bit. Come on up. We're going down this way. Look, yep, yep. Think I'm going the right way now. If not, we know that the correct direction is straight down. I think for me the thing that happens and why nature and nudity are so important to me now. Just especially like I realize how much time I wasted caring what other people think and giving power of other people's opinions over me. And quite frankly, I don't mean to be crass, but I don't give a shit. Like, I am who I am. You can either love me or hate me, and like honestly, just having radical self-acceptance of like, yeah, my body, this is my body, and the thing that changes for me out in nature is that I feel so much more present and alive and connected to like everything else around me, and I have to slow down a little bit because I'm naked, so I don't want to hurt myself or step on a snake or whatever, but mentally it allows me that space, and so if I could just say anything, that's why I use oh gee mini cricket, I almost fell down the hill. That's why I use nature and nudity in the way that I do, and why I'm such a proponent of advocating for more nude or clothing optional spaces on like public lands. We're coming back down into the trees. I don't know if you can hear my footsteps, but the leaves, the wet leaves are crunching and so awesome. Oh man. I feel way lighter than I did coming up here. Mine feels a little less less racy, less worried. Yeah. It's good to be back out here. Yeah, I guess that's that's about it, guys. Just wanted to bring you on a short walk. Short hike. Wanted to bring you on a short hike and you know share my thoughts, share my hike with y'all. And then in the upcoming episodes, I'm really excited. I got some cool people as always uh scheduled to come on, talk about non-sexual nudity and naked hiking and nude recreation and what it means to them and their experiences within this space. So I'm super jacked for that. Hope everyone's having a great time. And if you get out on any naked adventures, tag me on Instagram at hiking without a stitch. That'd be badass. Um see your adventures and see where you guys are all hiking and hanging out. So love y'all. Have a great Thursday. Bye.