Burning Man 2005

I believe people try hard to label experiences so that they may be filed away in a little mental box alongside all similar experiences; it helps to keep the mind in order. Sometimes though, a particular experience is simply too unusual for any conventional label to stick. Burning Man is just such an experience. It has been called a lot of things over the years. Among the things I've heard it compared to include a giant rave, an outdoor art exhibit, an orgy, a nudist colony, a drug fest, a spiritual journey, an interactive performance art camp, and a pyro party. Now that I have attended, I must say that it is none of these things, yet it is all of these things; and best way to sum it up is to simply say it's the best party in the world. period.
I first was interested in attending about 5 years ago. I began to hear stories about some big party in the middle of the Nevada desert where anything goes. This of course piqued my curiosity. I began to ask questions from people that had gone (Burners as they are known) and I quickly realized that I had to attend at some point in my life. But like anything, excuses for not going were plentiful--a wedding this year, trip to somewhere next year--it always seemed like something was already planned, and I began to think that I had already "missed out" on the experience because it had gotten so much bigger than it had been in years past.
Last year when my wife and I were on our honeymoon I noticed the Burning Man effigy painted on the camera case of one of our guides. "Ah, a burner!" I thought, and began to ask him questions. He convinced me that it most certainly was not too late to attend and that I had not missed out on anything, so when January rolled around I bought two tickets. I figured at least I could sell them when something came up as had always happened in the past. Three of the people in my skihaus are veteran Burners as well, so as the winter progressed I'd toss out Burning Man every now and then to try to gauge the interest level. The one thing I knew I did not want to do was go with a bunch of Playa Virgins (first timers) because if you are not prepared for extreme desert camping it can be a very harsh experience. I thought I might like to join up with an existing theme camp if I couldn't generate interest among the skihaus people. Fortunately it worked out that my skihaus friends were up for it. We talked about it at the High Sierra Music fest over the 4th of July and decided we'd give it a go.
Planning for Burning Man takes up the entire year for many camps, but we only had 2 months and not nearly that amount of motivation. We decided on a theme loosely associated with Ali Baba. One of the guys bought an old golf cart we planned on turning into a flying carpet for jetting around the playa. When it came time to actually decorate it at one of our planning parties, we decided it was going to be too much work, but we brought it anyway. Two of the members of our camp were flying their Cessna up and we told the aviation department that they could use it as a shuttle between camp and the airport if they let us bring it in. Not only did it get in, but it got a "staff" sticker on it to boot—that’s like being deputized by the sheriff. We ended up decorating it like a big harem bed--nothing fancy but it looked pretty cool. Unfortunately it did not run too well at 4,000 ft, but we got some usage out of it. Some of us got a Cessna tour of Black Rock City too--it was a neat way to gain another perspective of the mayhem below. On a side note our friends with the Cessna became engaged on their flight up! They had known each other for a number of years but really solidified their relationship at Burning Man a few years back. We talked about having a wedding ceremony for them at Black Rock City, but we were lacking in the motivation department. Besides, the playa was calling!
Black Rock City is not immune to some of the growing pains common in many cities. It does have an infrastructure of sorts: rangers who patrol but are mostly mediators, although I am sure they have a gun locker somewhere not too far away. Afterall, with 35,000 freaks in the desert the possibilities for mayhem are endless. There’s even a bit of social stratification between the vetran burners and the newer denizens of BRC. Some of the bigger camps can be cult-like, but I mean that in a good sense.
A bicycle is by far the best way to get around the playa, and there is every mutation of pedal power represented at Black Rock City. The first night I was there I was "dream weaving" on my beach cruiser way off in the distance and I almost crashed into the trash barrier fence. I saw it at the last minute in the early dawn glow. The night of the burn I fell asleep--OK-- passed out while I was pedaling along. I was in the grooove, it was late, then BLAM! The next thing I knew I was staring at the stars. My wife got a good laugh out of that as she was right behind me.
Barter is the currency. We had over 100 lighters we painted the Burning Man effigy onto as well as other assorted goodies for trading. Those lighters came in handy when I found myself in the middle of the playa on a hot day and somebody happened by with a cooler full of cold beer; and at the end of the week it was interesting when I emptied out my pockets and compared all the different mementos I had accumulated along the way. Each told a story.
Our camp turned out pretty good. We had a 24ft parachute shade structure at the center, surrounded by our tents and other smaller shade structures. Under the parachute were a couple of tables we built on site and rugs and of course the disco ball and assorted other funky lighting. I rented an RV in case the wind, dust or heat became unbearable. Lucky for us the weather was as close to perfect as it gets up there, and the integrity of our shade structure was never put to the big 90 mph gust test fortunately. Everybody was commenting on how nice it was compared to years past.
The whole week seems almost surreal at this point. I'm not so sure I was even there! I'd be riding along and pass some place where I was the night before and all the memories would come back. That happened all the time, like I was a victim of some bizarre happy trauma.
There really is no way to describe the whole experience without seeing it for yourself. Pictures do not do the event justice, you need to be there to feel the pulse of the city. Forming a good group and planning meticulously are imperative to having a good time. After having been it’s evident that Burning Man is one of those events that will never become stagnant. It will continue to morph into something new but familiar each year, therefore I do not think it is ever too late to participate. I'll be back for sure, but maybe not for 4 years--like the Olympic Games. That said, I’m sure we’ll start planning for next year just as soon as this decompression is over.
It's odd, I just realized I don't have a lot of stories, just a lot of memories--real good memories. And really, when we're old and grey, sitting on the front porch rocking away the twilight years--what else is there?