The festive atmosphere continued on into the night, even after the temple burned. I had planned for a morning departure, so I spent time packing up our camp before turning in. However, the never ending parade of drunken partiers and art cars, made us decide to leave when we couldn’t get any sleep. We left about 3 am on Monday, which turned out to be a really good idea.  In the dark, a slow dusty caravan of trucks, cars, and RV’s which formed a long line of red lights down the lonely two lane road out of the valley  There was a massive police presence as dozens of police perched on all the outbound freeways. Our timing was perfect, though, in that they were just coming on shift, finishing their donuts, and not yet on the prowl.





Burning Man 2009 – Evolution – by fotogamie



We headed into Reno and curved off north towards Sacramento when my shift to drive came up. While I was driving, the rear bike rack came off and our bikes we dropped on the freeway… I was lucky though, I saw them starting to go, and pulled off before they broke free. Our bikes survived damage, because the bike on the bottom, which was headed for the scrap heap anyway, took the brunt of the damage from the road. We salvaged our bikes and kept on trucking back to LA. The rest of the trip back was thankfully uneventful.



I was climbing out of my first shower in a week, and I stopped to smell my grimy T-shirt. The playa dust, that irritant and constant element, suddenly felt familiar, and I didn’t necessarily want the smell to go away. The playa had gotten under my skin too.



  As I was going through my clothes the following day, I smelled the playa dust on all my gear. It’s kind of funny how you don’t smell it out there, but you sure do when you come back. A constant companion on everything you own, that only takes on its own character when you get back to the real world.



Final Thoughts



Burning Man 2009-163 – by thebesinc



There have been several times where I had been approached by a friend who was telling me that they were getting ready to go to burning man for the first time. My automatic response has always been “I hear it changes your life.” It was a statement that I had never really taken to heart.  What I had forgotten in going for the first time myself is that it would also happen to me.



Like all kinds of travel, you find that you come back a slightly different person. For this type of experience, though, I think the difference is a bit more tangible.



In pausing for a moment of self-reflection… I find that I took away a lot from the experience. I find that you learn about yourself and what you capable of. In addition, I came back with a slightly different view of the world. It makes you think about what you don’t need, and I find myself questioning what I can eliminate from my life.



There is a philosophy to the burner culture, and its underlying themes weren’t as liberal-elitist as I thought they were. The ethos of those ideals of community, volunteerism, participation, creative artistic expression, and radical self-reliance were of a much more universal nature.



The greatest experience for me was that from time to time, I felt like I had been transported to a place and time that was totally and wholly separate from everyday life, and that alone, may be worth all the effort.



Playa - by Ben Mook

By now, the playa dust was everywhere. Everything I owned that was black had now turned a pale gray. After living off of jerky, cold cuts, fruit cups, and granola, I was starting to look forward to a hot meal and a shower like I had never done before. There was still so much to see and do, though, that I didn’t spend more than a passing thought on it.



Sifting through the ashes of the man - By James Pitman



The pace and feel of our personal camp was quite chill, though, as strong winds drove dust storms through most of the day.





Burning man 2009 – by Kathleen Quilllian [via chiliberto]



In a stroke of genius, one of our camp mates busted out a Hookah, and some fine tobacco was shared by all, as we recounted our tales from the night before. As the sun started to go down, the winds shifted and the weather cleared. We started to head out to the temple.



Now I had gone out to the temple earlier in the week to check it out. It was covered with writings and pictures, memorials to friends and family. I have to admit, I picked up a really weird vibe out there…but I couldn’t pick out what it was. It seemed like there was a lot of sadness out there. I now realize what that was all about.



The Temple - Early Photos – 12 – by thebesinc



As we headed out there, the population had dropped by about half…a mere 20,000 people…but the mood was much different. Solemn, respectful, reverent…a mass congregation attending what was truly a spiritual event. A small procession walked the perimeter, chanting and singing. And then the temple burned, and I understood.



Burning Man 2009 – The Temple is Burning – by lou piote

The sheer presence of such a large group of people…totally and utterly silent…wrapped in their own thoughts, was the most profound experience I had in the desert.



It was impossible to deny that the spiritual/psychic energy of a collective of people that size, having a personal experience together, is a life changing event.

Now I had heard that the real hardcore burner types, who take this experience to heart, usually come early and then kind of hole up in their camps on Friday and Saturday night. I was to discover that this,  in many respects -- is quite true. The mood and vibe of the city became, to put it bluntly, surly. I saw words exchanged, some pretty rude and obnoxious behavior, and droves of brand new people, mostly twenty-somethings, on bikes that were not so dusty, with skin still fresh, clean, and glowing from the outside world.  After 5 days of being out there already, I could see how observing a group of frat boys strolling down the lane and drinking beers could drive any good dreadlocked libertarian back to their camp.



Nevertheless, I briefly explored the city, only to find people stealing street signs, and an overall unpleasantness to the crowd that I had not expected. I surmise that this is probably the direct result of tired old-school, and fresh, ignorant newbies, thrown together. The general atmosphere, was tougher and meaner, and not in a “thunderdome” type of way.



I had been warned that once the man had burned down, you lost a significant landmark, and it would become much easier to get lost, so at the request of one of my friends, I went out to the center and took some bearings with a compass so that we might have a reference in case we got lost. I headed out to the temple, and just as I got there, a dust storm hit:



Burning Man 2009 – by Ted Chapman



By now, the dust was just another part of my body, and I was now completely used to it. I was able to successfully navigate across the desert, in zero visibility on my bike, using only the compass as my guide. It was surreal, almost like swimming underwater, with no landmarks. I found it to be an interesting and intriguing personal moment for me.



Saturday night lived up to the hype as the desert was crowded, literally with people, art cars, and general mayhem. It’s nearly impossible to describe: 30,000 to 40,000 people all in a giant ring around the man, a party and gathering of epic and astounding proportions…

Burn Night from MrNightshade on Vimeo.

In a giant cavalcade of fireworks and explosions, the massive structure exploded in flames, a massive monument to chaos, rebirth, and revolution:

The Man Burns at Burning Man 2009 from MrNightshade on Vimeo.

The final explosion was awesome. The pictures don’t really do it justice.



Man Burn – by Qathi



Despite the insanity that prevailed that night, I was conflicted as I saw a rather large law enforcement presence. It definitely tried to put a damper on the evening, but the gathering was just too huge to be contained.  The surly and aggressive vibe that I felt the day before only became worse. I now understand why it may be more fun to socialize within your own camp or group on that night. Still a bit reeling from Thursday and Friday, I called it a bit of an early night, only 5 am…





Burning Man 2009 – Art Car /Dance club – by Ted Chapman

By friday, I was still not used to the dust storms which came across the desert with some regularity. I was actually pretty annoyed that the weather couldn’t really make up its mind. Previous visitors had told me the weather was much better this year, so I don’t think I should complain about it. Nevertheless, I was annoyed with the condition of the weather…still getting used to it I think.



Dust storm sweeps over the city – by anjuli ayer



Friday’s blistering heat kept me pretty close to my camp for most of the day; sleeping a little longer and taking time to relax and eat and recover from the previous night’s fun.  Tonight I was only really going to be at one place, the opulent temple. Their DJ lineup looked fantastic.  Up to this point, I had sort of seen burning man as an opportunity to see some great DJs in an atmosphere that was pretty hedonistic. A few of my campmates live in rather remote areas and spent little time around base camp, because they had come to really enjoy the music and dance. Still others, who had a penchant for live music, felt disappointed.



I was totally drooling over this rocket/missle bike:



Rocket Bike - by Christopher Robin-Blum



When the sun had set, the winds (which usually died down) did not seem to stop. As large clouds of dust assaulted the playa, I was determined not to be stopped as we headed across the city to the opulent temple.

By now the population of the city had really begun to swell, and the playa was full of various people and cars all milling about, blinking and glowing in the Nevada night. Both near and far, as far as the eye could see, large gouts of flame billowed and belched from all manner of vehicles and art installations across the desert.



Burning Man 2009 - by Ted Chapman



Over at the temple, I worked my way into the center of about 1000 people that had assembled to dance, and discovered that while in the middle of the crowd, you are protected from the wind, which was an unexpected benefit.

Carl Cox had just taken the decks, and was wearing a strap on mohawk, which seemed very apropos. The best thing about the DJ booth was that the DJ could shoot flames out over the crowd.



Burning Man 2009 - Opulent Temple - by Lou Piote



Despite the energy and excitement of the crowd, I found that dancing in a crowded group, on uneven ground, with a backpack filled with water, was really less than favorable, no matter who the DJ is. That didn’t stop me from having a good time. Unfortunately, the burning man equivalent of the “bridge and tunnel crowd” had started to arrive in force, and I found the meathead quotient of the crowd to have increased significantly.

After three days of dancing, drinking, and generally staying up late, my body had begun to show signs of wear, and my brain, while still very much in the fight, knew when to quit, so I called it a night. Still no sunrise for me on the playa, more to follow…

Thursday brought a sharp increase in temperature across the playa, and most of the day was spent in camp. It did, however, give me an opportunity to get to know some of my camp mates better. One person stands out to me more than the others. His name was Larry and he was an underground comic artist from the 60’s. I had the chance to sit and talk with him about his life, his comics, his artistic and creative drive, and his view of the world. I would hope that burning man is a place where everyone gets the chance to meet and converse with interesting people.



My friend Steve had a late arrival, and I had the distinct pleasure to take him out to the center of the playa and watch, as his head got blown as much as mine did a few days before.  In the process of tripping around the city, I ran into some other friends, which was kind of a relief, since I knew that they were out here somewhere.



Despite the heat, I was able to get my groove on early at Pink Mammoth.

That night, our camp took up the party torch with full enthusiasm, as we headed out to see what sort of trouble we could get into.



Highlights included the Infected Mushroom show:



Infected Mushroom at the Opulent Temple - by mikea



Rabbit in the Moon over at the Root Society were also rocking it pretty hard:



burning man 2009 root society - by sikubean



and a really astounding set out at the hookahdome:



Beats Antique bumpin the ‘dome - by Ted Mills



I did not last until the sunrise…but a great time was had by all.

more to follow...