Rainbow Gathering 2011: Welcome Home?...Not Quite

Was I really "Welcomed Home" as a member of the human species or was it my pink and purple tye dye that did the trick? I'll let you decide.

I rolled into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Cougar, Washington the other night en route to the 2011 Rainbow Gathering. It was every bit of what I expected it to be and at the same time not what I expected. Let's try the pro's and con's list since that seems to work for me lately as I become an observer of life.

PRO's

Beautiful location, lushly green and only a few miles from Mt St Helens!

Hottest girls I have seen in a large crowd, the fact that I'd mention that which is out of my character shows you how exciting that was! ;) (Their creativity with their outfits was mind blowing, the dudes were in the dark with a sense of hippie fashion compared to the chicks!)

Great energy of the land and a safe place to park/sleep for the night, I felt at home with the 20,000 other van dweller and gypsy types

Really good creatively made food, lots of help whenever lost, plenty of generous giving from people

CON's

The #1 issue I had with the gathering, DRUGS! Weed, LSD, shrooms, cocaine, booze..you name it, people were offering it up for free

The anti-authority attitude. I don't like cops very much either but the forest service was rather friendly at this event and the hippies are almost as annoying as the cops in their own way

Too many hippies, not enough spiritual people or gypsys by comparison

Immature and careless energy

Very anti-money and thinking outside the box, prided on poverty and no, I don't feel the "love" from everybody that said they loved me or someone else

I parked behind a yellow former DHL Ford cargo van with California plates and stepped out of my own van with my backpack full of canned food, a bottle of water(with a jug wire tied to my backpack as well), a flashlight, knife, camera and a box full of condoms that never saw use in Phoenix ya know, in case I decided to put my spirituality on the shelf for a few minutes and indulge in the fantasy of what I always hoped to experience...the 1970's all over again! ;)

I walked about a mile up the road to where the police had the main road up to the gathering blocked. They were having shuttles full of people going up the 6 mile road to the gathering(I was told it was 3 miles, liars!)people were hanging out of the back of pick up trucks, piled in vans and station wagons, sitting on the hoods of cars, standing on the back bumpers and laying down on the roof while in transit to the top, what did the cops do about all this? Left them alone! I decided to walk thinking to myself "What is 3 miles? Some good exercise!" Little did I know this was mostly up hill AND 6 miles, not the 3 they had mentioned! About half way up I was starting to question my sanity but the pain of ascending a mountain brought me back to one of the original reasons I wanted to live in the mountains out West and live the vagabond lifestyle. It was a painful pleasure and probably shed a few pounds, I know this morning I was sore as a blister, my shoulders and legs mainly. Half way up the mountain I met a guy named Chris from Oklahoma City, OK who was a big drunk/pothead that got kicked out the US Army for smoking too much pot and goofing around, just the kind've guy I want to make friends with. He was a friendly fellow that had hitched his way across the US and was willing to show me around the entrance of the camp. Once we ascended to the top we assisted a few of our "sisters" while he carried a fish tank(wtf?!)for one of them and I carried a sleeping bag for the other. This was around 10PM and the light wasn't fully gone, we walked deep into the woods about 2 feet from a beautiful river that ran into an open clearing where the event had been set up. After dropping off the girls and their stuff we walked in where he pointed to the information booth, we then parted ways as a guy who was looking to score some coke, weed, LSD, "anything ya got man!" came up to me to see if I had anything, after informing him of my sobriety he pulled out a bottle of wine to which I gladly took a swig(hope it wasn't laced haha!)and moved forward with my adventures. After reaching the gathering and seeing the big banner "WELCOME HOME! WE LOVE YOU!" I decided it was time to look for food, even a can of Chef Boyardees Beef Ravolis wasn't enough to quench the hunger of a 6 mile up hill hike. I started scouting all of the camps, walking into the woods as it got dark, through mud that my shoes almost came off in, through marshes and crossing rivers on a single plank of tree wood that seemed to shift the quicker I would attempt to cross it, I must say I never fell in! I found a food kitchen where I stated to the cute girl serving food "What do you have? I'll take anything!" so I was given fried rice with carrots and celery in it, much better than some of the other options like tootsie roll pancakes or FRIED GUMMY WORMS. Did I forget to mention the NAKEDness of the people working? I felt like I was in a time warp into the 70s for sure. Girls without tops, dudes walking around bare assed just because they could. Rock on brothers and sisters!

As I walked through the woods where the only two things I smelled were pine needles and pot many pot pipes and joints were offered as well as people requesting me to share my "stash" to which I would disappoint them in my sobriety, but nobody gave me any shit to my amazement but their energy seemed kind've off, maybe they thought I was an undercover narco?

After eating I was debating weather or not I was going to just put my hoodie on and sleep on the ground, ya know..in the mud outside with $700 cash in my backpack(which would probably just have been used to start a fire rather than being spent if someone would have stole it..I can see it now "come on maaaannnn, we need to keep the fire goin' cash doesn't mean anything brrrrooo!")to which I decided to head back to the van, yes the 6 miles down the mountain and another 1 mile back to the van. I was hoping to catch a "shuttle" down the mountain to the bottom which I was able to do however I was informed halfway down that he wasn't going all the way down. The guy who picked me up? Damon from Sandpoint, Idaho and he was certainly one of the most level-headed dudes I encountered in the Rainbow Family. He was encouraging me to start an online business to keep myself on the road, he has chosen to take his wife and kids and live in a school bus in Sandpoint, ID 3 months a year and the rest of the year down in MEXICO! I like his style and I am grateful he gave me a lift. After he dropped me off it was roughly another 3 miles down the mountain which I walked about 2.75 of them because only 2 other cars were heading my way and sadly the local sheriffs department doesn't pick up any friendly hitchhikers such as myself, however a guy in an old Toyota pick up was nice enough to give me a lift the remaining .25 miles down the mountain. At the bottom I got out of the bed of his truck and walked the last mile back to my van. Covered in sweat and sore as a motherfucker I decided to strip down, put on some clean underwear and an undershirt and call it a night. I reflected on all of the journeys I have taken so far and decided that the "West Coast Journey 2008" and "Journey to Big Bear 2011" were my favorites so far because of their grandiose, scale and unexpected gifts, I laid there as I started to drift off to sleepyville thinking peacefully after getting a great workout from hiking "I bet the "Faith & Gasoline Tour 2011" will top the other two adventures...or at least give them a run for their money!". ..zzZzzZZzz..

I slept in until about 10AM and decided to get dressed in my other "uniform" for the gathering by wearing the purple and white tye dye(though I was tempted to dress conservatively to see if I would get treated with neglect). While getting dressed someone knocked on two of my windows to which I was hoping maybe Angela had changed her mind and decided to drive down from San Juan Island to join me and show me how it's done at the gathering! Instead it was a chick drawing hearts in the dust on everyones vehicle, not what I expected but pleasant none the less!

I threw on my backpack, locked up the van and started off toward the road block again 1 mile down the road only to find that the police had vanished and instead there was an asshole burn out guy directing traffic so I inquired "can I drive up near the camp area now?" to which he replied "you could've done that yesterday if you knew your rights you idiot! They can't block off a public road, all of you gave your rights over!" so I shrugged and decided to head back a mile toward my van. On the way I met a guy who was high and trippin on LSD from Duluth, Minnesota named Michael. He asked if I could give him a lift up the mountain and I figured "well, he may have LSD and weed on him...but who gives a shit? Theres more of us than cops and surely Shanti Sena(Rainbow Police)will help me if I need them to interfere". We walked back to my van and became briefly acquainted. I learned of his parents divorce taking place in Duluth and how he had hitchhiked from Duluth to East Glacier, Montana and then from East Glacier to the Rainbow Gathering without paying a cent in gas and with only two different vehicles! Impressive my leather-tramp amigo! This dude was living in the bushes and on the street for some time to come, hoping to head back down to the Rockies of Colorado after the gathering. I gave him a ride as far up as I could before the traffic jam started and then dropped him off. See ya!

As traffic became more of a hassle due to the road narrowing and everybody parking on the left hand side(facing both the right way and wrong way)I saw all kinds of vehicles. From Mercedes and Lexus' to vans, trucks, school buses, RVs, an old Greyhound bus and even a van that had paint buckets in front of it encouraging people to paint the windows and side of the van. Neat! Some of my brothers and sisters were assisting with traffic to which after sitting in traffic for a few hours I turned around with almost no room to do so, attempting to avoid driving into the snow at the same time. I started to head back down the mountain again realizing I'd have to park 3 miles away from the gathering and thats just to the front "gate" area...fuck. As I was heading down I picked up another brother hitchhiking with his dog, his name was Huck Finn and he was heading back home to Olympia, Washington. His dog rested its head in my lap and we descended the mountain. I got about half way down the mountain and dropped him off, the same asshole that called me an idiot earlier was now assisting people in parking, so I parked..facing the wrong way of course. I was then contemplating if I really needed to go back to the gathering in the day time to take pictures or to see anything else. I realized that no matter how much free food, beautiful nature and my chances of hooking up with some hot hippie chicks that this wasn't my scene even though I didn't regret going, I was ready to leave.

I went in the back of my van and meditated briefly, asked my pendulum to confirm if my feelings were correct(which it did)for a little secondary opinion and decided to fire up the van and head back toward the closest town 30 miles away, Cougar, WA.

In conclusion, what I was hoping for was to interact with more gypsys, healers and Native Americans. What I got was really friendly hippies, stoners, Seattlites/Portlanders and full time 9-5 people taking a break from their reality. No different than a Renaissance Faire only cooler because it didn't revolve around profit but around people just hanging out. My strong feelings and beliefs kicked in when I realized that there wasn't much of what I was looking for to be found and I realized that had I decided to head back into the event I would have only been walking in circles eating fried gummy worms and acting on the lustful eye contact exchanges with the attractive ladies to which I felt no spiritual connection.

3 years ago I took on the tye dyes and long hair as a way to express my colorful feelings that loomed within myself, 3 years later I feel like an intruder putting on a costume no different than a work uniform. While the tye dyes remain colorful their meaning to me has been lost and I may as well have worn a sign at the gathering that said "look at me, I fit in!". The colorful meaning of my tye dyes that I prided myself to wear back in 2008 faded as I became incredibly negative in 2009 and 2010 and even though I am swinging back into the light in 2011 I no longer feel the connection I once felt with the tye dyes, in some ways the last time I wore one with pride was the day I spent in Sedona in January with Sara.

For the majority of the people at the gathering still stuck in the high school mentality of clicks and coolness I find myself not being concerned with how long my hair is or what I am wearing. Don't get me wrong, there were some cool folks at the gathering and plenty of unique and nifty outfits and I'm supporting the whole idea of "to each his own", however I felt like maybe I was one of the few that felt that way at the gathering.

My critique of the 2011 Rainbow Gathering in Gifford Pinchot National Forest is by no means negative and by no means positive, but more so neutral. I enjoyed it for what it was and it was quite the experience. As I continue on down the road of life I continue to document my experiences as an observer and I would say this about the Rainbow Gathering to those who have not gone. If you like crowds, drugs, hippies and just hanging out or if you're into colorful people, beautiful nature, community and anybody willing to help you at the drop of a dime when all you have to do is ask then it's certainly worth checking out! I'm glad I went, I just don't believe I would go out of my way to go again by myself, with someone else? That's a different story.

When I hit the road and left the gathering and started driving through the beauty that is Gifford Pinchot NF I yet again was shown that I already know what I value, now it's just time to attract it and make it happen!

-LATE ADDITION-

I walked back to the van under a beautiful starlit sky seeing the shadows of the tops of the evergreen and pine trees all alone with the flashlight turned off singing John Denver's "Country Roads, Take Me Home", this was the most relaxed and free I felt at the event.