The Rainbow Gathering

My first day there was quite tiring. It was six o'clock and even though I had hitchhiked the last 90 or so miles of the bike trip, I was still surprised how exhausted I felt! So when I landed at said time at "Welcome Camp", that is the first camp one finds after the main parking lot, my mind was so excited in seeing every part of the whole gathering but my body was not only ready to sit but also struggling with getting used to the high altitude's lack of oxygen.

So I drank some water and slept. In the morning I packed up and headed off through the 3 mile or so trail to Main Meadow:

It was full of people though not as full as it would be after a couple days. Honestly it was a bit overwhelming especially when nobody you know is there and your left wandering through the kitchens and trails (man the thin air really gets you tired!). After a few hours again, I went back to sleep and woke up for Main Circle for more food....back to sleep after that.

But it wasn't all that overwhelming after a while. The Food was great and the people were incredibly friendly. If theres one thing you can experience at the gathering is real community. First of all because it's so different from regular society that you actually get culture shock and also because there seems to be so much going on and so many different people that trying to immerse yourself in it all can be so educational:) You can literally spend hours hanging and doing that it makes the sun worthwhile.

I was also determined not to become a "drainbow" so I set to helping out some kitchens with firewood, chopping veggies, or setting up or tearing down camp.

during that time I also made myself a lean-to and that was fun cuz it felt good to build my own shelter. Sleeping in the dirt isn't so bad because for some reason, sleeping and living in a more natural setting feels quite clean to me even if doesn't look it. I bet I could get some people to agree with me on that :)

Anyway, that's all I could really say about the gathering. One would really have to go to experience it, and that's where I leave you all with.


End of Bike Trip:

It was an intense with its ups and downs for sure but still a really great experience! We got to pass through Boise and met some really cool people that let us sleep at their house after we spent a whole day at a park eating and recuperating. We also passed through Idaho's Craters of the Moon which is basically a bunch of lava rock as far as the eye can see. Quite a spectacular site.

We passed through flat land and got to see lots of pronghorns. A coyote or a fox crossed the road in front of me too at about a hundred feet or so. I think I was the only lucky one to see it.