FLESH your FLAUNT
Forty miles north of Spokane – the last seven miles along a winding, dry dirt road – I finally meet him in his straw cowboy hat and tie.
And only a straw cowboy hat and tie.
“Being nude is natural,” Dave Smith says, the sun slowly turning his bare skin pink.
Welcome to Kaniksu Ranch, a family-friendly clothing-optional resort near Loon Lake, Wash. And come Sunday, the serene ranch will be crammed with campers when it hosts the 20th annual clothing-optional Bare Buns Fun Run.
The run and Kaniksu, however, are just two of the area’s various clubs, resorts and activities for people interested in clothing-optional and clothing-free fun.
Beyond the reputed Latah Creek and People’s Park of Spokane, social nudists can participate in everything from nudist Bible study sessions to Goofy Nude Olympics.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it’s a sweltering 100 degrees, and the outdoor pool in the center of the 248 acre campground beckons longingly. Most people lounge around the pool, oblivious to the deserted sauna nearby.
“Not to pressure you, but you’d be cooler with your clothes off,” says Smith, the vice president of the Kaniksu board.
An 18-wheel truck, its load in Spokane, pulls through the yellow-frame entryway to the ranch, a cloud of dirt trailing behind.
“He’s been calling all morning trying to get up here,” says Sandie, the blonde who works in the office.
Relaxation ranch
So what’s the attraction of a clothing-optional ranch?
“They need a place where they can truly relax,” Smith explained earlier. “As you shed your clothes, you shed your stress.”
About 40 to 50 people go to the ranch on a nice weekend, he said, as he pointed to the main hall where meals are served. The ranch sits within a canyon and provides campground sites and RV hookups. Some families rent cabins overlooking the ponds, volleyball courts and green lawns.
Kaniksu’s also home to the world’s first Bare Buns Fun Run. The run is the second of three in the “Buns Across the Border” summer series, which includes a run near Seattle and one in British Columbia. Participants who run all three races receive a special medal or ribbon, Smith said. He expects 400 to 500 runners at this year’s race and about 1,000 visitors total.
The 80 members of the Kaniksu cooperative often gather outside the ranch’s Memorial Day to Labor Day season to celebrate holidays, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving Day and Nude Year’s Eve.
“Trying to come up with nude Halloween costumes can be a little challenging sometimes,” said Smith, who’s gone as a cowboy with his straw hat in the past.
He described social nudity as a lifestyle and said it’s not about being perverted or sexualizing the human body.
“We wear clothes when it’s required for weather and social requirements, like when we’re going to be someplace where people aren’t comfortable with nudity,” Smith said. “When we’re not at the ranch or in our private homes, we wear clothes. We’re not trying to surprise anyone.”
Nudity allows people to accept their bodies by shedding the facade of clothes, Smith said.
“We just learn to meet people for who they are,” he said. “It’s a very freeing environment. It gives people a great deal of peace and relaxation.”
But it’s an environment that can be hard to explain to outsiders. The media has skewered and misconstrued nudists in the past and Kaniksu members, including lawyers, psychiatrists and even a minister, have grown protective of their identities, Smith said.
Family friendly, close to home
Area nudists looking for group activities also can turn to the Naturals Club of Spokane, whose members’ activities include doing yoga and bicycling the scenic Coeur d’Alene trail. Because the club does not own any property, it often travels to nudist resorts or members’ houses for meetings and activities.
The club also organizes volunteer events, such as an annual clothing drive – “just kind of something unique for a nudist club,” said Rich, a Naturals Club member who declined to give his last name.
Rich said the family-friendly club has 36 participants, including one family with three children. He said most people he encounters accept nudity without prejudice and a few think it’s funny, though some don’t understand social nudity. “I feel sorry for people who are stuck in the textile lifestyle and who can’t go out and enjoy a swim in a pool like I can,” Rich said.
Grant, who declined to give his last name, started a Christian nudist branch of the club two years ago. The branch has about eight members who meet every other weekend for Bible study sessions, he said.
Members of the Naturals Club often visit Sun Meadow Resort, a 75-acre nudist recreation resort in Worley, Idaho, that opened last year. Visitors can camp, swim, hike trails, play croquet and enjoy other activities at the resort.
Retired couple and nudists Tom and Linda Janson didn’t want to travel among nudist resorts, so they built their own.
“One of the things the Northwest was lacking was a destination resort,” Tom Janson said. “We’re seeing that there’s a lot of people wanting to come here.”
West Side hosts nudist bike rides, festivals
Nudists willing to travel to western Washington often can find unique activities, such as a naked bike ride through Seattle and the Naked Freedom Film Festival. Both occurred earlier this year; dates for 2005 have yet to be announced.
Mark Storey, a Shoreline, Wash., resident and a member of Seattle-based Body Freedom Collaborative, participated in the June 12 naked bike ride with about 40 to 50 other riders. He said he enjoyed the ride and experienced no problems from bystanders.
But nudity is a lifestyle thatcomes with controversy, and Storey said it can be a problem for some families.
“Marriage is more important than skinny-dipping,” Storey said. “If my wife decides she didn’t like skinny-dipping, I’d stop, though I think she’d be wrong.”
Storey said the Northwest is a great place for nudists because of the open spaces, such as around Potholes Reservoir, where people can hike or swim without seeing others.
Smith, Kaniksu’s vice president, said many people often lack information about nudist activities, so he encourages those interested to contact local clubs.
“There isn’t anything people do that couldn’t be done – in the right location – nude,” Smith said. “We just use more sunscreen and bug lotion.”