LINDSAY JOY HAMILTON

"The Enchanted Highway" One of the many highway public sculptures in Regent, North Dakota by Gary Greff

Well we made it from Fort Frances down to Black Rock Desert to witness the ridiculous gong show that is Burning Man. We traveled through 7 states to get there in my trusty 79′ Triple E R.V.

Home on the Range in North Dakota

"Tree of Utah" by Karl Momen in the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

Nevada Landscape

Oregon Wind

We stayed in Salt Lake City for two nights (too many if you ask me) and did our final preparations. I was in the biggest Walmart I had ever seen or ever wanted to see, but we managed to get every thing we needed there without having to drive all over SLC. (Not the coolest city in the world)

Our First Burning Man Camp

Everything you need to survive in the desert must be brought in to Burning Man.  Luckily the RV fit all our necessities. Being the princess that I am, I would not have gone to this shit show without the security of an R.V. Tents barely seem to protect you from the heat and oppressive dust storms; the dust has the consistency of talcum powered and likes to get into every crevice, especially the human lungs. Other brave souls who camped with us, stayed in their tents. One tent became the casualty of  the many powerful dust storms that occur during the Festivities.

I’m a nerd. I am allergic to many things such as the sun and sunscreen with certain types of ingredients. This made for touring around Black Rock City (Burning Man’s temporary city erected during the festival) difficult. I rigged up a beach umbrella to my bike which worked if there was no wind. If there was wind (always) the umbrella acted as a sail and would pull me over or would snap itself inside out. I stayed pretty close to the camp site during the day, visiting with my friends and cooking. Occasionally we would have a visitor or two. I did most of my exploring at night, when the wind/heat/sun had retired for the day. So this meant I didn’t get as many photos as I had liked. Most of the night shots I took were blurry or very dusty. The dust got into my lens and all the bits of my camera and since I can’t afford another one, I kept my camera in its case for more I would have liked.

Flags at Central Camp

Sculpture inside Central Camp

I am nervous about crowds. I avoid them as much as possible. The great thing about Burning Man is that there is so much space. It is a city, with addresses, streets and a downtown (the Playa) Which means you can be far or as close to the noise and excitement as you would like. We stayed in a quieter spot but with in a 5 minute bike ride to the Playa. It was a perfect spot for first timers.

sunset from the camp

Central Camp at night

There was so much to see and do, from the enlightened to the ridiculous. Truck themed camps who served Pabst Blue Ribbon Pancakes at dawn, a flame thrower shooting range, a thunderdome where people beat the hell out of each other, over 400 hundred Art cars which you could party on, free drinks at all the bars, orgy tents, a Where’s Waldo Parade, lectures from great thinkers about social reform and psychedelics, live music from famous DJ’s like Bassnector, Infected Mushroom to live bands who play jazz and avant garde music. The live music isn’t as developed as the DJ scene, which disappointed me because I’m not into the whole DJ thing as much as live music. This just means that next year, I’ll be sure to bring my band and supply the festival with some more live music.

Daytime shot of the Man

The Man at Night

The Temple had to be my favourite thing I experienced. It was this very beautifully crafted three storey structure which invited people to write on the walls, erect alters, and leave articles to loved ones. It was the closest spiritual experience I have ever had. So much pain and love contained within that plywood structure. .There were ashes of loved ones passed, trinkets and articles of which reeked of memory and loss. The thing that got to me the most was a individual running shoe with a message written on the toe which said “You are missed”. I couldn’t help but speculate that there was only one shoe, not a pair. Whoever placed that shoe there is still harbouring that shoe’s mate. Possibly not quite ready to completely release their memory? I made me cry. After a week of the temple being open to the public, the temple is burned, making all that pain and memory into ash. What a magnificent church.

One of the Many Art Cars you could catch a ride upon

I had an amazing time. I am addicted and I will be attending again next year.

This trip felt like more of a scout mission. I failed to bring a costume of any sort and we didn’t set up any particular camp which invited others in. Next year, to deepen our experience of the Burn we are setting up a themed camp, with a band and a bar. This way we will meet people and contribute more to the whole thing. Hopefully we will be able to bring more people down as well to help with the camp. Anyone care to join me?