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Soak, the first regional Burn in the Portland area,
was held on the Central coast of Oregon near Waldport
over the first weekend of June. It took place on 80
acres of beautiful landscape containing a lake, sweat
lodge, playground, orchard, and many other
attractions.
I was the main organizer of 1derland, a loose
collective of Burners and other friends from the
Portland area inspired by the tales of Lewis Carroll.
The weekend pulled over 240 burners from all over
Oregon and included a few family members from
California, Washington, and even Vancouver BC. Most
everyone was set up in a tent with a small minority in
trailers and RV's.
The moment we turned off of Highway 34 onto the single
lane road up the mountain we knew it was to be a good
weekend. The road up was filled with signs warning of
gnomes, a non-actual shutdown of the event, and many
other notices that provoked laughter and playfulness.
Upon reaching the Greeters station we were embraced in
hugs and fed the needed information to enter. We were
very happy to see that there were port-a-potties
stationed in all major areas. Rangers and medics were
in abundance.
1derland was the largest of about a half dozen theme
camps at Soak; we numbered about 30 happy campers. My
wife, Emily and I were among the first of the camp to
arrive, reaching the property at about 5 p.m. on
Friday evening. Under bright blue skies littered with
the occasional cottonball cloud we raised camp. We
spent the first few hours erecting a large carport
structure and getting our sound system up and running.
In the waning light it was easy to see the Rain Man.
Standing near 20 feet tall, he sported a turnip-like
head that was to be lit on Saturday night.
Firecrackers popped and hissed into the darkness to
the cheers of onlookers. We continued our setup before
tracking down friends who had been arriving during
this time.
For illumination we went simple: We used strands of
Christmas lights, an oil projector, and a few other
light gadgets. Near the carport we planted some
eight-foot-high 2 x 4s, attaching eye bolts to the
top. We then strung rope and created a small dance
floor encircled by Christmas lights.
Next we planted our giant mushrooms, an amazing
decoration using umbrellas. We encircled these with
some giant flowers.
Around 10 p.m., a large contingent of our camp
arrived, about 30 people. We got our sound system
going and that got other peoples’ attention. We had
several good DJs playing everything from deep house on
through to hard-core. Much drinking ensued. I managed
a trial run of some of the tunes that I have set up
for Burning Man and with great success.
We were visited many times in the night by one of the
only art cars on site over the weekend, a boat frame
on top of a golf cart decorated with a simple pirate
flag. At one point during the weekend this boat was
hijacked by two pirates who proceeded to taunt the
owners and on Friday night the boat capsized in front
of our dancefloor spilling its occupants to damp
grass. The boat was also seen parked in the middle of
our dancefloor with the occupants dancing on the bow.
It became a standard image for the weekend.
I managed to climb into bed about 7 a.m. on Saturday
morning after a long night. I slept for a few hours
and was awoken by a bullhorn outside my tent. A few
middle fingers and cuss words ensued and I was back to
sleep. After a few hours and a little drinking the
morning lead to afternoon. I pulled out the records
and dropped into a four-hour set. Mixing tracks and
feeling the afternoon was one of my highlights.
Our camp was bustling with activity and many friendly
faces were around. At this point I was scheduled to
greet so I pulled on my best wig and vinyl skirt and
made my way to the Greeters station. Most everyone had
already arrived ,and it was very quiet at the station
so we did what any bored person might do: We poured
gasoline in the burn barrel and tried to remove our
body hair with little luck and were left with a fire
that would not light.
When I finished my shift and got back to camp at
around 7pm practically everyone was in costume. Sadly,
it was cold, which put a damper on our camp’s planned
Drag Night, and some of the more revealing outfits
were covered up. We had a school girl and several
other woah-mans who had come out to scare the weekend
warrior types. We were also graced by the presence of
a Mad Hatter and the aforementioned pair of pirates.
As the night started to darken, the skies were taken
over by a flamethrower and a procession of drummers
leading the masses to the Burn. With the aid of the
flamethrower, and accompanied by fireworks mistakenly
launched into the crowd, the Man proceeded to burn.
Almost immediately as the Man fell the rain began.
Some people braver than others danced around the fire.
Myself and family made our way back to camp. I set up
the DJs and got them running. My wife then put our son
in bed and the tequila flowed. As soon as our burn
barrel was lit the crowd was drawn to the fire. We had
community umbrellas, which allowed many people to
dance and still stay dry.
At one point Emily told me that our tent was leaking.
The rain fly had plenty of condensation and had been
dripping onto our bed. The night was cold as all hell
and the rain fell hard. Many people were flooded out
of their tents.
By morning my clothes were all soaked except for a
clean pair of underwear, a jacket and a pair of socks
I had forgotten in the trunk of the car. Luckily a
friend let me borrow some firefighters pants and they
became my comfort for a rough day ahead.
This was the day to tear down and begin home. The rain
seemed never-ending. Slowly but surely items got
packed. As people began to leave, a big problem
presented itself. The ground was slick and many cars
were unable to drive away. Vehicles had to be pushed
over the slightest of hills, and the heavier vehicles
were nearly mired. There was a single tow truck driver
in the area, and he began to rescue people, joined by
a few drivers in sturdy vehicles with tow ropes.
We had to tow my car and Emily's car more than 50
yards to get to the main road. We had brought two cars
to haul all the necessities of camp and in return had
twice the effort to escape the mud.
In so many ways this day was the worst but it was the
best. Everyone was getting dirty and soaked but the
still helped each other and dug in and got it done.
There was so much a sense of community. No one person
was left behind to fend for themselves. The descent
down the mountain was quiet and rainy. Nearly three
hours of driving and we arrived home by 8 P.M. It was
a hell of a weekend not soon to be forgotten.
You can see more photos of Soak at
www.burningmanportland.com
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