From inside the beautiful, muddy disaster of Burning Man 2023

People are helping one another and celebrating life in the mud at Burning Man.

It’s a testament to the people at Burning Man that spirits amongst attendees are generally high this weekend, despite what is essentially a natural disaster that has befallen Black Rock City.

Walking around the Playa, an incredible sense of community amongst these 70,000 strangers has surfaced. “It feels like a small town where everyone knows everyone else,” one person told me.

People are stopping one another, checking in, asking if they need anything, if they’re OK.

One lesbian has parked herself at the self-appointed Playa Art Park offering shots of Jameson to lift spirits. Art cars are playing upbeat music as dozens of people dance to a remix of U2’s “It’s a Beautiful Day.” People with RVs are inviting total strangers staying in tents to escape the cold and the rain.

It’s a good thing, because we’re all stuck in utterly miserable conditions for what could be three to four days.

The warm, intense dust storms of Thursday night gave way Friday afternoon to 12 hours of cold rain that has turned the dust into wet clay, making it impossible to drive.

Police are stopping anyone trying to drive, and others attempting to leave are getting stuck in the mud. The gates to leave Burning Man are closed and no one will be allowed in — other than emergency services — for the rest of the event. No one is currently allowed out.

Official reports tell us to expect to be here until Tuesday or even Wednesday with resources dwindling.

More rain and temperatures in the 40s are ahead, we’re told. BMIR — the radio station for Burning Man — reported one case of hypothermia Friday night, with temperatures expected to drop even further in the rain Saturday night.

Some people may be running out of water and food.

Walking is difficult. The fastest way to get around is barefoot, as the clay sticks to everything it touches, including the soles of shoes. “Playa platforms,” with two to three inches of clay caked to the soles, are everywhere.

Bicycles — essential and iconic to the Burner experience — have been rendered completely useless.

The bathrooms are already starting to overflow as the porta-potty service is unable to drive its massive trucks to tend to them. By Sunday, the bathrooms will be unusable, prompting people to plan for defecating in buckets for the duration. We’re already told to not urinate in the bathrooms — use empty water bottles for that. Doing either outside on the ground is absolutely forbidden, given the “leave no trace” mantra of Burning Man.

Gasoline will become an issue. With generators running through the week’s temperatures in the 90s, and attendees planning for enough gas through Sunday, a delayed departure of two to three days will mean no access to energy — heat, light — for some.

One volunteer at Rampart — the makeshift hospital at Burning Man — told me they’ve had many patients check in with anxiety issues as a two-to-three-day departure delay means missing some important work meetings, flights, family obligations and a host of other concerns like food and water.

As news of “Muddy Man” has hit the national airwaves, one of my campmates said he was concerned about his parents — in their 80s — worrying about him.

Yet still, the vast majority of the Burners on the streets are smiling, hugging, dancing, telling jokes and making the most of the situation.

Because here’s the thing. No matter how little water or food any one person or camp has, there is tons at Burning Man, and people are being overly generous. No one who simply asks a neighbor for help is going to starve, get thirsty or be unable to sleep.

One woman told me as I made my way to the Playa: “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.” She said she’s learning more about herself through this tough situation, and she is seeing the best side of humanity as strangers help strangers.

Camps that have satellite wifi — like Spanky’s Wine Bar, where I’m filing this story — have opened up their service to the public so people can contact loved ones and work associates. Others with solar power have run extension cords to power banks, so people can charge their phones for the few moments a day that text messages can get out (connectivity is extremely limited here).

Other camps have set up cocktail bars and other services on the streets, where people can get food or some much-needed vodka.

My camp will be hosting a dance party — maybe more — to take people’s minds off of the harsh conditions.

We are blessed. It could be so much worse.

The best part of all of this? On Saturday afternoon we were treated to an absolutely spectacular double rainbow, the largest and brightest I’ve ever seen. Through the rain and the cold, we were given a beautiful, memorable silver lining.

Life is what you make of it, they say. Most of the people at Burning Man are doing just that.

We’ll be back next year for another incredible life experience.