Somewhere over the Rainbow

“If she pukes, tip the litter to the side,” I let my wilderness first responder lapse years ago, but it didn’t matter to the woman writhing in pain, she was just happy that she would soon be at the road and on her way to medical attention. I was glad that I opted for sleep the night before and didn’t partake in the 4^th of July festivities.

A few days before when we put the current issue of The Local to bed I knew that I didn’t want to be in Steamboat for the 4^th of July. I wanted to spend the 4^th in the woods far from cars and traffic. My choices were Conundrum Hot Springs outside of Aspen or the Rainbow gathering outside of Jackson, Wyoming. I opted for the Rainbow Gathering. Conundrum will always be there and the Gathering only happens once a year. When the Rainbow Gathering happened outside of Steamboat two years ago, I hitchhiked in, stayed a night and wrote a story about it. That gathering made the front page of the Steamboat Today paper almost everyday for two months that summer. When I got there that year I had a great experience, but I was rushed because of a deadline. This time I was free from Thursday until Monday morning.

This would be my first multi-day motorcycle journey, and when I tightened the strap that lashed my pack to my bike and kicked it into gear, I was overcome with elation. It was as if the rabble of butterflies in my stomach could fly me to anywhere that had anything resembling a road.

Steamboat to Craig, Craig north to bags and I-80 and I-80 to Rock Springs where 191 led north to Boulder, WY, and the dirt roads that led to the gathering. I stopped for some gas along I-80 and was sitting outside eating a banana and listening to the guy in the car next to me spewing random Wyoming facts. “Wyoming is number two in the nation for lack of population density. 2.5 people per mile. This is an energy state. They’re offering truck drivers $1000 sign on bonus and all they do is drive gas to the rigs and back to refill, and they get paid $95,000 a year.” He went on and I watched a deer sprint down the street. When he left a Halliburton Truck took his spot. I followed the deer and sprinted to where pavement became dirt.

I learned a couple things on that stretch. First, the best way to become comfortable traveling 65 miles per hour on my motorcycle is to spend a half hour doing 85. I also found out that I get 100 less miles per tank driving that way. Eventually I took a right and crossed the sage lands following the pines and mirror ponds as they led me to the ever-growing Tetons. I only saw one police car, but only after it turned on its lights and sped around me. Eventually I got to the back gate and parked right along the fence. Leather jacket and helmet were replaced by t-shirt and felt hat, and I covered my motorcycle and walked the 2.5 miles to the first kitchen and campfire. I was cheered (and munched) on by mosquitoes every step of the way.

When I got to the Warrior’s of Light camp I walked into the woods to find a spot for my tent that wouldn’t get the early morning light. My trusty North Face Tadpole was up in minutes and I wandered down to sit around the fire.

Many kinds of people attend Rainbow Gatherings. There are lots of hippies, some punks, some who are there to hide and some who are there for freedom to express themselves spiritually and artistically. It’s amazing how many great musicians are there. That first evening I did more singing than talking, backing up guitars, drums, and various other stringed instruments. Eventually I decided to walk the dark path into the woods. After all, this was only the camp on the perimeter.

“That must be where the party is,” I wondered out loud to a dark figure passing in the woods.

“That’s the Christian camp.” He replied. The drums and chanting echoed through the forest. I kept walking past many camp fires with people singing and playing music. Eventually I started to hear a deep rumble and followed it until it led me to a giant bonfire and three levels of people around it dancing, singing and playing drums. If Dionysus was going to show up at the gathering, it was here that he would be. This is what I was looking for. The drums eventually entranced me and I danced around the fire until the metal pendent around my neck threatened to burn its image into my chest. Then I stood on the upper level until the sweat dried and went on my way back to find my tent.

I was disoriented and took many paths through the forest. I finally found one that felt right and got in step with a woman who began singing a beat. I joined in and we sang harmonizing together about her birthday which had just begun. When the song finished I wished her a happy birthday and she gave me a huge hug and said thank you and goodnight. When she walked off I looked up and a star shot across the sky.

The next morning was the 4^th of July. At the Rainbow Gathering the 4^th is a day of silence where everyone prays and meditates for peace. The silence lasts until noon when everyone gathers around the main meadow, joins hands and begins to chant OM. The OM went on for about ten minutes during which time the cloudy sky directly above us began to part and a ray of sunshine lit up the circle. Traditionally at the gathering the morning’s silence ends with the children’s parade. When the children marched in everyone cheered, hugged and drumming and dancing commenced in the center of the circle. I opted to go to Yoga Camp and spend the afternoon learning from a kundalini yoga master.

By dinner time I was thoroughly high from the yoga and really hungry. I ran into a pizza kitchen on my walk back and had some pizza made in wood fired ovens. I was glad the meat eaters’ line was short. I also stopped by Jerusalem, the kosher Jewish camp where they were celebrating Shabbat by dancing and singing prayers. The devoutness in this camp was moving but I was still in shorts from the morning sans flashlight and I had only a few minutes until it would be too dark to find my tent. I made it just in time.

My cellular phone tucked in the mesh pocket in my tent told me it was 9:45. It was the teetering point. I could either suit up for evening with some warm clothes, some musical instruments and a thirst for nighttime fun or listen to my blistered feet that had already carried me ten-plus miles. I listened to my feet, put some earplugs in and drifted with the smoke through the trees and up to dream with the stars.

Side note:

While I was sleeping, Steamboat Springs was having one of the craziest Independence days ever. There were people getting hit by cars, falling face first and needing major plastic surgery, drinking tiki oil and getting rushed off by ambulances and others getting into major fights. The fireworks show even got cut short when the explosives went off prematurely messing up the computer system and causing the people around them to have to hide behind trees for their safety. These are only a few of the stories I heard. I’m glad I wasn’t in Steamboat.

I woke up after ten hours of sleep and wandered to find some coffee. On my way I passed the medic tent and was recruited to help carry Ashley, a woman who was screaming with kidney pain. Six of us rotated carrying the litter over rocks and through mud for the 2.5 miles to the parking lot. It felt good to be doing work in a place where if I wanted to, I could do nothing but relax and find the next kitchen serving food for three weeks. We finally got her to a car who raced her to the nearest hospital about an hour and a half away. I was glad I got to drink that cup of coffee before the journey.

I still had one day left before I had to be at work. I could spend another day at the gathering or head out and have a day of camping somewhere quiet before landing back in Steamboat. I opted to take a dip in the river, pack up and make that 2.5 mile trek again where my bike was comfortably covered and waiting quietly for me. It started immediately with no choke and only one push of the starter. It wanted to get out of there.

I must have passed 24 cars on my way out. 12 were police waiting on the side of the road and 12 were driving slowly and kicking up dust. I just waved and smiled as I zoomed past them. Thank goodness for an on/off road motorcycle.

That evening I stopped for a shrimp cocktail and a margarita at a Mexican restaurant in Rock Springs and then headed south on 191 until finding a sage prairie to lay my head.

Six Antelope greeted me when I woke up and bade me a safe journey home through Flaming Gorge, Vernal, Dinosaur and back to Steamboat where the hot springs comforted my travel weary body.

The soreness in my arms from carrying the litter is going away. I only hope Ashleigh got to the hospital and is feeling better. Outside the brewery where I’m writing this, my motorcycle is waiting patiently. Tomorrow morning it goes in for new tires and by tomorrow night we will be heading to Silverton for a Horizons Unlimited meeting for adventure riders who have or plan to ride around the world. A full day of work followed by six hours of riding, tomorrow; I’m ready!

Here's a link to a recent story: http://www.jacksonh olestartrib. com/articles/ 2008/07/05/ news/wyoming/ b6f13c1e81260414 8725747d0005a3c0 .txt