Burning Man (during/after the rain)
My previous newsletter told the story of my time at Burning Man before the rain. This shall finish a four-part series on Buring Man 2023. As a reminder, I arrived at Burning Man on August 26 and had a return ticket back to Reno on September 4.
The first mention I heard of rain was on Friday morning, September 1. I was at one of my favorite camps, Word Play, around 11AM, when I overheard somebody say that a ¼” of rain was going to commence later in the day (it would turn out to be ¾” to 1”, depending on the source). Later, I texted my son in Reno who said a system was coming in that would bring rain off and on starting Friday evening through Sunday. So, I tried to make the best of my time on Friday before it started raining.
I played it conservatively and was back at my camp near Center Camp by about 5:00 PM. The rain started about 6:00. It was a steady rain for about two hours. I spent the time under a canopy for use of our camp and enjoyed the desert rain as I watched the ground getting muddier. Meanwhile, Burning Man had a deafening silence. At about 8:00 the rain stopped for a couple of hours and 70,000 people cheered on this double rainbow.
About 9:00 PM, it was getting dark, so I turned in for the night into my tent, hoping the worst of the rain was over and the mud would dry out somewhat overnight. That was not to be. I could hear from the comfort of my cot that the rain started up again and went on for hours. My White Duck tent kept me warm and dry. I slept like a baby to the sound of the rain falling on my tent. Pleasantly, noise from other camps was absent. Later, I would hear two people were electrocuted, presumably running electrical equipment in standing water.
I woke up early on Saturday morning. The rain had stopped. I peeked my head out of my tent to mud and standing water in every direction. Burning Man was eerily quiet. Not another soul was visible. I imagine most people drank well into the night and were still asleep. My pee bottle was full, so I made a long journey to the outhouses. This journey tour apart my sandals, which is a story I cover in depth in my September 7 newsletter. In retrospect, I should have created a second pee bottle.
The rest of that morning and early afternoon I stayed close to camp as the mud made it extremely difficult to travel. I made the best of it, relaxing in a folding chair and watching the rest of Burning Man slowly come to life and try to go anywhere. My camp was close to the Artica station, which sold ice, but also had spotty Internet reception, which was better than most places. I would see many people standing around it as they did whatever they were doing on their phones. At this time, we learned the roads in and out of Burning Man were closed. Rumors were flying that we could all be stranded until Tuesday or Wednesday and the National Guard might have to rescue us.
With nothing better to do, I put plastic bags on my feet and made the long trek on foot to the airport for what would be my final party and dinner there. The campers at the airport were living it up, as if nothing unusual happened. Without any vehicle traffic, the ground there was not as torn up as the rest of Burning Man. I also think they were at a slightly higher elevation, so the water drained out better. On my way to and from the airport, I could see many vehicles defying the order to remain in place as they fled anyway. One person said the road closure was not being enforced.
On Sunday morning, weather reports were predicting another wave of rain to start around noon. My camp consisted of ten people in four groups of 1, 2, 2, 2 and 3. Two of the groups, each of which had a vehicle, decided to defy the order to remain in place and escape while there was a calm before the next wave of rain. A woman in one of these groups brought a message to place in the Temple, which she never had a chance to visit. The Temple is a solemn place at Burning Man where people leave messages to/about those who passed in the previous year. I think the sentiment is that when they burn it down, usually on Sunday night, it brings closer to a period of mourning. The ground around the Playa, where the art is kept was barely hard enough to ride a bicycle, so I made the trek out there to deliver it.
When I got back to camp, five of my campmates were in the last stages of packing to leave in their respective two vehicles. I was thanked profusely for delivering the message to the Temple. We said our goodbyes and my camp was now down from 10 to 5.
At this point, it was still only about 10AM, so I made another trip out to the Playa to look at art and then attended a two-hour performance by the Burning Man Choir. The rain resumed right on schedule in the middle of the choir performance. It was in a mostly sheltered structure, so they sang right through it as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
After the choir, I went back to my camp where I had nothing else to do but relax and enjoy the rain, again. This was not as bad as the first wave that started on Friday, but the ground quickly got back to a state of mud. This wave lasted a few hours and then stopped around 4PM.
By this time, many had already fled, leaving what I would like to call the true Burners. Burning Man is deliberately held in a hostile place with very little support. One of the Ten Principles is Radical Self-Reliance. I believe the rain chased out most of the spectators, leaving the stronger and more devoted Burners. Please take this as a general statement and not a judgement on every single person who left early. I am sure some had urgent reasons to leave.
That evening it was possible to slowly walk about again. Somebody else fortunately abandoned some boots at my camp, which were perfect for getting around. Starting about 6PM, I visited some nearby camps and had a great time. It was a quieter and more intimate experience than I’m used to Burning Man. Interestingly, people didn’t talk about the rain and mud very much. It was pleasant conversation, many around campfires, about everything and anything else but the weather.
On Monday morning, they officially opened up the roads about 10AM. I had a bus ticket for 11AM, but was told at the Information Tent, which I was conveniently camped close to, that all busses were running, although to expect things to run about five hours behind schedule. I tell more about my experience with the Burner Express bus in my September 14 newsletter. Suffice it to say I made it out on the Burner Express bus about 4PM in the afternoon on Monday, the same day I was supposed to leave.
That concludes my four-part series on Burning Man 2023. Of my three burns, this was by far the best. I feel like it took me three burns to learn how to do it properly. My first two burns I roasted in vinyl tents without much support. I camped with nice people, but most of them I barely knew. I have a deep sense of closure with Burning Man 2023 and have no strong desire to return next year. There are so many other adventures on my list and at 58 I need to get them done soon, before I get too old. With that said, it is my plan to not return to Burning Man until at least 2026. It is possible I will never return. I shall leave you with some final pictures from after the rains, taken Sunday morning.
