Western USA 2003
Armpit of America to Burning Man
--Abandoned Mine, desert east of Black Rock
The drive from Winnemucca to Black Rock desert on the map looks like a short cut but it took many hours of hard 3rd degree dusty roads. There are no people or structures and the only vehicle I passed is another Burning Man tourist that overheated being repaired by some kind of official looking rescue vehicle. The towns of Sulpher and Pronto do not exist except as empty desert. The elevation continues to drop I notice in the far distance over a mountain range a large dust cloud which is my first glimpse of Burning Man.
--Black Rock Desert salt flat
Travel along the salt flat is an amazing experience. It is so large and vast it is difficult to tell movement the landmarks in the distance do not change there is no sense of "speed" it feels like standing still at 60mph. It is much like being in a boat on the ocean with no landmarks to gauge distance or speed.
11MB AVI. Travel along the salt flat. Dust cloud to the left is Burning Man aka Black Rock City.
--Approaching Black Rock City from the north, overlooking 50,000 people camped out on the salt flat.
Driving down to the city I check in at the gate. Since this is my first time to BM the gatekeeper/greater gives me a choice of being spanked, ringing a bell or (something else) since she is a cute I go for the spanking. Now is time to find John and Amy and I head to the area where they are supposed to be (Vision and 3:15) and can't find them. I did not take any pictures at BM as there are many available on the net but my initial impression is a renaissance festival with Mad Max and Blade Runner as the theme. Every person is in costume there are no spectators and although I wear a funky hat I feel under dressed.
Spend many hours looking for my brothers camp and wandering around and by nightfall I decide to make my own camp and park next to a horse trailer. My neighbor is an older gentleman named McArthur from the town of the same name in California near Mt. Shasta. We drink whiskey and eat dinner and he tells stories of water wars and about travels in the desert and his family's history as first settlers in California. I then walk out onto "the plya" for many hours in the darkness and madness that is Burning Man and come back late and pass out overwhelmed by everything. It is truly an amazing experience but I am very tired and having a difficult time with all the walking. Sights that stick out are the Bellydancers, the Thunderdrome, the Temple, the kids in the tub, the art cars. Too much too much I am not prepared pass out late in the truck for some much needed rest.
Posted by stbalbach at August 28, 2003 02:40 AM