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My first Burning Man Adventure.
I’d heard
of Burning Man for years. The photos looked like a lot of insane people out in
the middle of the desert getting naked and dirty and not much else. But over
the years the event seemed to have evolved, getting more art and more spectacular
displays and events. A mix of
A couple years ago several of my friends caught the Burning Man bug and made the trek to the playa. Their experiences sounded amazing and they were prodding me to go. So I made the commitment to going in 2006. I had several ideas on how to stand out, contribute, and make life easier for myself at the event. From that came the quadracycle and the solar charging system. However, despite all my efforts, a medical condition arose and kept me from going. I was devastated. But through the wonder of modern medicine I had my health issues ‘repaired’ and again started forming my plans to make it to the playa. The extra year gave me time to refine the quadracycle. I bought a travel trailer and got set to go in some comfort!
Below are my daily adventures. Dragged from my memory as quickly as I could before the events turn into a strange blur, as only they can when so much of what I experienced fell more into the fantastic than the ‘default’ world can contain.
Sunday – We
had all decided to leave on mid-day Sunday so we could get to the playa before
dark and secure the campsite as soon as they would let us in that night. We
caravanned from Joe Bruno’s house (just a mile up the road from me) and made
our way up into the Sierras. The truck was not happy pulling such a load over
such a rough road. During the steep parts I pulled an old Brit car trick and
turned on the heater up high to help get the engine temperature down. I did a
bit of fish-tailing here and there, some of it on purpose to see how it feels.
It helped me learn the limits of the rig. By keeping the overdrive off and
keeping it in high gear during the steeper areas I was able to control the
temps and keep my speeds close to the limits.
We made it
to
We arrived
just after 7PM and had our first whiteout right after driving onto the playa.
It looked like someone was tossing buckets of grey dirt onto the truck. There
was no way to see to move. It didn’t last, but it was a foreshadowing of things
to come.
We made our way over to an area set aside for early arrivals and Will Call tickets. Unfortunately, it didn’t help us get in early. The wind was blowing very hard when we got out of our vehicles for the first time. The dust was very fine and masks and goggles were a necessity. Since it was so bad out, I cleared some space in the trailer and we all had our dinner inside. Outside, more and more people kept showing up at the gate and were turned away. But they would just get back into the line, trying to get in early. The gates didn’t open early this year. We sat in line for a really long time and it wasn’t till 2AM before we were able to get to our campsite at 5th and G. I was stuck in a slow line and lost sight of everyone else, but Dave came back and stayed with me as I went through the greeter’s station. I was in a hurry to catch up but Dave made sure to tell the greeters I was a ‘virgin’ and I took the time to ring the bell, becoming an official citizen of Black Rock City.
We had been in radio contact with Ross and Steve, who were waiting for us to arrive at our campsite. The group had a lot of problems last year getting space reserved, so we spread out and held the space for the remainder of the evening. It was a short night’s sleep.
Monday – The
first part of Monday was used to set up camp, get the sunshades up and start
building the bar (which took 2 days). It wasn’t till late in the day before I
made it out of camp on my own. I visited Center Camp, the DMV, and watched art
cars being checked out for night driving licenses. I made one short round out
onto the open playa and saw a few sites around the esplanade. That night, Andy and I went to ‘Dance Dance Immolation’ on
the quadracycle, but I quickly grew tired from lack of sleep and retreated back
to camp and my trailer.
I had made a mental note to myself to wake up about 3AM and take a quick look at the lunar eclipse. Sure enough, I woke up (sort-of) at 3AM and went out to see the moon. It was a dark blood red color, but I looked over and saw The Man was on fire! Some idiot had scaled the pavilion and torched The Man. By the time they got it put out it was pretty ruined. So much for a reasonable night’s sleep.
Tuesday – Tuesday was the first full day to venture out and see the city. The wind was fairly calm and it was hot. Several of the large art installations were still under construction. Usually, they would have been done by now but the high winds the week before had caused severe delays. I bought tea and hung out in Center Camp, where the crowds were still low. In the distance they were removing the ‘crispy’ Man from his perch. I returned to camp and had lunch with the guys.
In the
afternoon I stopped at several camps to look over their contraptions and talk
about the building of the quadracycle. The one camp I made a special effort to
visit was ‘Math Camp’. Jim and Nancy McGreen were part of that camp. Jim worked
with my x-brother in-law many years ago in development of the Zappy. I was
hoping he’d have some ideas about resources for electric motors and controls.
I also
ventured out to the
Wednesday – We seem to get started very slowly each morning. I was still in camp at 10:30
when Mom and Judy rolled in. After getting them settled and fixing 2 flats, I set
off to explore the town from 5:00 back to 1:00. I visited the Death Guild and
they flipped me off as I took their picture. But it was all in good fun.
I then
headed out into the playa to see all the randomly placed art exhibits. I tried
talking to god, but as expected, there was no answer (I understand she was out
at the time). I climbed a tower at the corner of 2:00 and Coral Reef and got
some great overview shots of the city. About then BRC was over flown by a
couple military jets. They made 2 passes and headed off out of sight. Heading
back towards Center Camp, I stopped at several art installations along the way,
such as the Cubeatron.
I made my stop at Center Camp for tea. The place was much busier. Lots of pretty people, dancers, yoga folk doing impossible bends, massage tables, and a fellow who could tell you all about where you lived just by providing him with your ZIP code, even in other countries. I made a stop at the Post Office and took and gave some abuse – and then got a nifty button, postcards, and some stamps. There was just so much to see!
That night,
Richard and I decided to go art-car hopping.. But we needed to do a bit more of
the ‘hopping’ part. We got stuck on the Caz-Bus for over 3 hours, as it headed
into the deep playa with its music blaring. We did see a few sights, but we
didn’t meet many people and decided to get off and walk back when the bus got
closer to the city. Walking back to Center Camp, where our bikes were locked
up, we stopped to watch the new Man being built. There, I ran into Jim and
Nancy again. We didn’t get back to camp till 2:30AM.
Thursday – Thursday
was pancake breakfast morning and another day for adventuring. The Man was
being installed and there was even more artwork and installations on the playa
to see. I made my way out to the Oil Rig (Crude Awakening) to see if I could
climb it for a view, but after standing in line for an hour I gave up. At the
Rig, I met Dave and Carol Peterman on their Rhodes Car quadracycle. It was
their early adventures posted on their website that first inspired me to build
my quad.
A dust
storm was coming in and I started making my way back towards Center Camp. There
was a lot to see along the way and it was another 2 hours before I made it
there. While at Center Camp, the dust storm hit hard as I had more tea and
watched the people mingle and dance in the storm. When the storm blew really hard
people exclaimed like it was something wondrous. It was a couple hours before the
storm died down and I was able to make the push back to camp.
The dust was
now thick everywhere, inside and out. I had left the vents open when I went out
that morning, not thinking that we'd get a big storm so quickly. Mother shut
the vents to keep them from ripping off in the wind. Others were no so lucky.
The camp over from us had their 10X20 carport blow 150 feet away
and smash someone's car up. You can never be too well tied down when the
wind gets to 50! I wasn’t happy to lose the whole afternoon to the storm, but
that’s common out on the playa.
With The Man glowing green again over BRC, Mom and I went out in the evening on regular bikes to take in some of the sights. She was amazed, and did a great job of not getting run over in the dark, which is quite a challenge. There's way more going on at night than during the day, but I couldn't manage to stay up late enough to enjoy it. Everything was in even higher gear that night to make up for the dusting we took during the day.
Friday - The day started out calm but there were some large clouds in the sky. I made my way to see the completed camp for the Neverwas Haul, and now that The Man was back up I headed out to get some shots of it and my quad. The day before, the quad started dropping the chain a lot on me. I made some adjustments and it seemed to help. What I really need are some guides for the rear chain.
This was
also my first chance to tour the ‘echo-friendly’ exhibits in the pavilion under
The Man. The wind was picking up again and I tried using it to get a push out
to the 
Big-Rig Jig. It worked pretty well. At times I couldn’t see where I was
going at all and I was going at a pretty good clip. At the Big-Rig Jig, I wedged
the quad against some construction material and went on a tour of the inside of
The Rig. It was cramped and sparsely decorated. At the top there were some
people who were staying there and it didn’t look like they wanted to leave.
They were nice folk and I got them to take my picture. While inside, another
whiteout hit and the whole rig started to sway slightly. I was picturing how
badly I would be hurt if the thing fell over with me inside it, so I started
making my way out. When I got to the opening between the 2 rigs I saw my quad
was parked 30-odd feet closer then where I left it. The wind had moved it. Yep,
time to go.
I
let the
wind take me farther out towards the Monkeys (the Homouroboros). An art installation that uses strobes (at
night) to make it appear animated (a monkey takes an apple from a snake with a
human hand for a mouth). I saw it running the night Rich and I were stuck out
on the art car. I understand you could get on the stationary bicycles around
the installation, and if enough people did it, it would turn and you could see
the effect in the daytime through viewers on the bikes.
Heading
back, I stopped at The Temple. Now there were thousands of remembrances spread
and written all over the structure. I left a couple of my own there too. The
mood there was quiet and somber. Some people were openly weeping. The space
evoked an emotional reaction that was strong. There was no way you could help
but be moved by it.
I stopped at a couple small art installations while trying
to make my way back to Center Camp. The wind was very strong and I tried using
a large art car as a shield, but the dang thing kept stopping for no reason I
could see. About that time I was approached by a young couple and that gave me
a second stoker to help against the wind. The little gal sat on the cooler. As we approached The Man, one of the big organized rides was beginning. A huge amount of women were just starting off on the ride
and there was no way to get through or around it, so we sat and watch
for a while.
Bidding my new friends goodbye at
Center Camp, I waited in a very long line for tea. Then another big windstorm
hit. It was shorter, but very hard and dusty. The clouds were looking nasty and
I didn’t stay long. I tried making my way back to camp along the esplanade but
along the way the rain and wind hit hard at the same time. I parked the quad
behind some plywood around an art installation and tried to wait it out. When the
wind died down I finished my trek to camp in the rain. I was a mess. The
combination of playa dirt and rain made me look like I had some strange skin
disease. It was so nice to take a shower and clean up after that! We even had a
double rainbow after the storm. You could see them all the way to the ground on
both sides. Seems mother nature wanted to display her
own artwork on the playa too!
The night was calm and quite clear
since the rain washed the dust down and I took a night-time tour of the esplanade
on the quad. BRC really comes alive at night. There are rock (and whatever)
concerts going on all over the place all at once. And these were big venues. I
saw Rocky Horror Picture Show being played-out live (I've seen better). And there were party cars and art-cars everywhere.
It looked like the Electric Light Parade - on acid! This is the most amazing,
truly indescribable place I've ever seen. It’s like climbing into a Salvador
Dali painting.
Saturday – Saturday was another
group breakfast morning. On the other mornings I’d make myself coffee and a
bowl of cereal and a banana. After breakfast I took mother over to the Barbie
Death Camp. Overhead, some of the private airplanes were flying in formation in the shape of 'The Man'.
I made another ice run with the quad. Every day during the week I would go over to Artica with Dave and we’d bring back a big load of ice. I could haul 7 or 8 bags of ice and the two of us with relative ease.
At Artica and other locations there were posters of the idiot who burned The Man saying
he’d be back on-site speaking about the deed, but the folk at the gate had
orders to keep him out if he showed up.
I made another trip to Center Camp
and took Mom along. We had tea, hung out a bit and went out to see some more
sights. Near the Neverwas Haul we ran into Richard. 
There was a gal there dressed in Victorian undergarments and tall boots that was
zapping guys with a real cattleprod. It really shows
what guys will do to get attention from a hot girl. She seemed to really enjoy
zapping the guys in the ass.
Saturday evening was our camp
potluck. Our camp consisted of about 80 people, broken into smaller inner
camps. This was a chance for everyone in all the small camps to get together.
Afterwards, everyone gathered to make the trek out to watch The Man burn (this
time on purpose). I went out on the quadracycle hoping to use it as a stand for
the camera. I parked it in front of a scissor lift so I wouldn’t be blocking
anyone behind me. While waiting for things to get going I chatted up the
operator of the lift and 2 gals. One a photographer from
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I kept a helpless eye on Richard and the quad as I saw people climb on and around it. The quad wasn’t damaged but the sunshade got trashed a bit.
After the burn of The Man, Mother
and I went over to the Oil Derrick (she followed me on her bike). We found a
spot with a clear view, bundled up on the quad, and waited. It got pretty cold
by 12:30 when a siren started to wail, signaling the start of the spectacle. I
have never seen fireworks like those before. And then the explosion was earth
shattering. I’ve never been witness to that large of an explosion, let alone
that close to one. After that it was back to camp and to bed.
Sunday - After getting back from the burns
the night before, I discovered I had an extra pair of clear goggles in my
possession. They had to have come from the guy running the lift. After asking
around I decided to take the glasses out to the DWP headquarters out near the
entrance. From there, I could see the huge line of vehicles trying to leave.
Think of trying to drain a swimming pool through a straw. It really is that
bad.
Back to the glasses: I spoke to the radio dispatcher and described the guy and the rig. He was pretty sure he knew who that was and took the glasses. I hope the fellow eventually got them.
From there I made my way to Center Camp for the last time. Along the way the streets were clearing out pretty fast. There’s not a lot to see in the city on Sunday. At Center Camp I bought another tea and watched a fellow teaching people how to make their own space art using primitive tools. Then I made a quick jaunt to TV Free Burning Man Camp and met up with ‘Jason’. I was interested in a copy of the footage they had taken during the week. Jason wrote down his email address and said he’d send me a DVD. I’ve written to him. Now we’ll see if he writes back.
Back at camp, Mother and Judy were out of water in the motorhome. They ran out of water in their tank 2 days ago. It looks like they only had about a quarter to half of a tank to start with and didn’t check before leaving. I gave them 10 gallons of water from my tank that I didn't use. That let them clean up for the return trip the next day and it was that much less I had to haul back home.
Dinner was early that night so
people could get packed up and then head for the
We then gathered up and headed out
to the
Monday - Exodus: The plan was to break
Some of the
guys wanted to stop in Gerlach. Andy wanted to see Burning Man HQ and a couple
wanted to stop at the store. Since we were off the road good enough I went back
and took a quick shower to wash the last of the playa grime off (how handy!).
After finally getting out on the open road I swapped the vent on the truck over
for some fresh air. But the cabin was immediately filled with playa dust. The
vent system was so full it was like opening a vacuum cleaner bag in my face. So
much for being clean and having the truck remain clean inside!
The group
made another stop just as we reached the freeway but there was no place for me
to park and I was getting low on gas, so I made the push to
The truck did just fine coming off the mountain. I parked the trailer at my mother’s, dropped into the pool for a quick dip and headed for home and back into my life in the ‘default’ world.