Chapter Two • The Year We Couldn't Gather (2025)

Months of planning were already complete.

Campers had made vacation plans. Some had already begun their journeys. Supplies were packed, meals were planned, and everyone was looking forward to returning to the Alvord Desert.

Then Mother Nature reminded us who was really in charge.

Heavy rains flooded the playa, making travel unsafe and forcing us to make one of the hardest decisions we've ever faced—canceling an event that so many people had been excited about.

It was disappointing, but it was also the right decision.

One of the values of Nude in the Northwest has always been putting people before plans. No gathering is worth risking someone's safety.

Although we never met on the playa that year, the friendships didn't disappear. Messages of encouragement poured in, people shared photos of the flooded desert, and almost immediately the conversation changed from "What a disappointment" to "We'll be back."

That determination became part of the story of NiTN.

The canceled year wasn't the end.

It was simply the chapter between the beginning and the comeback.

We didn't know exactly what the future would hold, but we knew one thing for certain: this wouldn't be the end of Nude in the Northwest.

In 2026, we returned to the playa stronger than ever.