Burning Man: Are You Experienced?

The power of language is a curious thing. Through our words we are able to convey to others our hopes, dreams, fears and beliefs about the world around us. They are our most intimate and efficient means of communicating with one another. Yet some words defy categorization, taking on lives of their own. Uttered in a room full of people, each person conjures images of similar, but diverse meanings peculiar to his or her experience. Take for example:
Burning Man-two words describing an event that defies description. Burning Man has to be experienced, preferably several times, to really grasp the promise it holds. If you haven't been to Burning Man, rest assured, you probably don't understand it.
The gathering that has become Burning Man first found life in 1986 when its spiritual father, Larry Harvey, with the help of a friend, erected an 8-foot statue of a man on San Francisco's Baker Beach. Then before a crowd of 20, they set the statue on fire. Part radical experiment in interactive-community building, part freaky, one-of-a-kind art show, part Mardi Gras, Carnival and Halloween rolled into one week-long celebration, Burning Man is, if nothing else, the quintessential free thinker's experiment of a lifetime. Having outgrown the confines of Baker Beach, in 1991 Harvey and a dedicated following moved the festival to Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Each year during the week leading up to Labor Day, pilgrims from around the world descend to the desert floor (called the Playa) to create the temporary community of Black Rock City. How do you get there? Here are directions from Reno, Nev., as posted on the website, burningman.com. Maps and directions for other locations are also available.
From Reno, take Interstate 80 east for about 30 miles. Take the Wadsworth/ Pyramid Lake exit #43 to Highway 447.
Go 1 mile to Wadsworth and turn left, staying on Hwy. 447 north. It's 75 miles to Empire, Nev. Continue 3 miles to Gerlach.
From Gerlach, go northwest on Highway 447 for 1 mile to the fork. Take the right-hand fork, Hwy. 34, and continue 11 miles to the Burning Man entrance.
You don't have to be there on opening day, and, in fact, organizers say attendance increases as the week goes on.
Last year, when the Man reached a height of 32 feet atop a 47-foot pyramid, it was visible from just about every corner of the approximately 3-mile wide, semi-circular city of tents, recreational vehicles, 504 theme camps and art projects; more than 30,000 bore witness when it was set aflame.
Probably the most important, and often disregarded precaution about going is to decide early. You'll save money on admission, which escalates as opening day draws closer. This year a limited number of $225 tickets will be on sale until July 31. You can buy them online (the easiest way) or at a number of walk-in outlets including a site in Reno, Sacramento, Berkeley and San Francisco. After July, tickets are $250. You can, by the way, get tickets at the gate.
More important than how much you'll pay, deciding early will give you extra time to assemble the gear and mental attitude to enjoy a safe and satisfying burn. So, where to begin? Fortunately, there is help and guidance at burningman.com whether this is your first visit or your 15th. Information changes from year to year and is required reading every year for all participants, or at least for those who possess a modicum of common sense and wish to survive the event in style.
If you're a newbie, go to the Event heading, and click on the First Timers Guide for a thorough tutorial of the dos and don'ts that will increase your chances for a safe trip. Later, peruse the Preparation and On the Playa headings as well. These pages and links are essential. While all of the information is important, some links cut to the heart of the issue better than others. Follow the cues under Preparation to Event Survival and click on The Desert. Here's the opening paragraph: "The desert is a place worlds away from that to which most of us are accustomed, and is governed by physical laws that cannot be ignored. You are responsible for your own survival, safety and comfort."
That warning should be enough, but in case you need further instruction, a useful checklist of what to bring (for example, water, sun protection, bedding, garbage bags) and what not to bring (glass, pets, feather boas because they shed, loose glitter) follows. Still, it's hard to predict the volatility of Mother Nature and the surprises she can throw at you. Andie Grace, who goes by the name ActionGrl, is a full-time Burning Man media representative who lives and works at the home base in San Francisco. She recalls her first visit and has suggestions for first-timers." In terms of my own experience, I was impressed by the extreme physical stress on my body," Grace says. "I knew it was going to be hot but wasn't prepared. People should remember to relax, rest and eat snacks with salt on them." As a general rule, consider the first two days on the Playa as a time to acclimate and ease into the experience. Considering you'll be at a nearly 4,000-foot elevation, this is not an idle warning. The environment can be taxing, and exerting yourself at the beginning is a bad idea.
"The first two days it's important to find shade and drink a lot of water," Grace says. "One of the biggest problems we encounter is people trying to do too much too fast. We're talking about survival. We suggest people start drinking water in Reno (long before they arrive on the Playa)." It's also important to recognize symptoms of dehydration.
"One of the first signs you should look for in your camp mates is crabbiness, snapping back at people or confusion," Grace says. "Overall, pay attention and read the survival guide. It will make the difference in your ability to be comfortable and enjoy yourself. Burning Man is an experience unlike any other. It is hyper-exciting. Even experienced desert campers can have problems."
For most of us, the best course to take is to throw out everything you imagine about what living in the desert is going be like during your stay. Nowhere is Mother Nature more fickle and full of surprises. Whiteouts that last for hours are common, and unless at some point in your life you have spent the better part of a day wandering blindly through a fog of sand the consistency of talcum powder, you can't really understand. Then there are the unexpected little meteorological curveballs that can and do occur.

Napa resident Ann Trinca's first trip was in 2000, a memorable event for everyone who attended that year. She describes her misconceptions about desert life and the effect they had on her enjoyment. "The biggest mistake we made was assuming it was going to be like regular camping," Trinca says with a laugh. "We took a pup tent that was destroyed by the first windstorm that blew through our camp." Then the weather, always an unknown element in any stay on the desert, turned nasty, Trinca says, dumping rain on the Playa for four straight days. "The rain wasn't constant, but it would rain for hours at a time," she said. "My boyfriend and I spent a lot of the week in the back of a camper shell on our pickup."
On her first trip in 2003, Marleen Maltby of Vacaville experienced similar hostile conditions and learned valuable lessons about how to prepare both physically and mentally. "Our biggest mistake was underestimating the power of Mother Nature," Maltby says. "(On the desert) you can't escape from the elements. The cold rain and wind were awful. The rain turned the desert floor into mush, but the wind was the worst experience of the trip. I knew how bad it was when the parachute tent behind us started going up, taking our neighbors with it." Granted, the weather can be extreme, but the event is by far worth the inconvenience of searing temperatures, blowing sandstorms and harsh conditions. After all, you will be among 30,000 co-Burners who made the same choice you did to leave the comforts of home and test your stamina on the Playa.
Challenges aside, an unbridled and unexplainable optimism reigns throughout the event and is shared by just about everyone you encounter.
Christine Kristen, aka LadyBee, a photographer who first attended in 1995 and now a BM staff person, remembers the event as much more open and loosely organized. She looks back at her experience with humor and awe. "My first time I came with a girlfriend in her truck with not much of anything," Kristen says. "We had the truck, a tarp, sleeping bags and plastic chairs-we were woefully unprepared." She came away "delighted with the whole thing," but still regrets not bringing a costume to wear that first year, which is part of the fun and reason for attending. "Bring something fun to interact with other people with while you're there," she says. "Be as mentally open as you can be and prepare to be deeply challenged."
Being challenged is a given, but Burning Man holds much, much more. You will find throughout the Burning Man website the near mantric exhortation that there are no bystanders. There are no walls.
From day one, solidarity engulfs Black Rock City as Burners become grounded in the harshness of the environment and wedded to the knowledge that nature plays no favorites. Everyone shares the same burdens, joys and triumphs. Your experience will be enhanced directly by how prepared you are to become involved with it.
Don't forget to bring something to barter or give away for the sheer pleasure of giving because you can. Simple items, anything that can make your fellow Burners' lives easier or take their minds off the midday heat or swirling sand, will score you credit in Burning-Man heaven.
Once you have read all the material, bought your foot-long tent stakes, ear plugs, baby wipes, finger food and sundry supplies, remember, you are only halfway there. Ultimately, Burning Man isn't about preparation. It's more about losing yourself to the mystery. Come prepared with a no-boundaries mentality-be ready to participate as an active member of one of the strangest, most exhilarating and confounding experiences of your life.

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