BM2K6 Art on Fire! #1 Art on Fire! #2 Art on Fire! #3 Playa-bound No Place Like Home Dust & Whiteouts The Man Kidsville Night Black Rock Rangers The Belgian Waffle Family Time Other Sights Leaving BRC
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Burning Man 2006: Playa Dust & Whiteouts
Nothing says Burning Man quite like playa dust spun around at high speed and driven through a campsite :-) This year we're seeing lots of dust devils that are both fast and robust. This one starts a few hundred feet away, but in a few moments...
it's just on the other side of those tents, and it continues right through us. It's no big deal, once you decide to just close your eyes and stand your ground for a few seconds. Some people are such babies about things. :-)
The kids are used to the playa dust. Isaac doesn't even pause in his trampoline time as a whiteout thunders toward us. The kids have both goggles and masks nearby, but only use them when it takes a while to clear.
Here's a more typical whiteout: like the dust devil the playa dust is being driven by wind, but here everything is blanketed for minutes at a time, perhaps even as long as a half-hour.
Then it's time to hunker down with old friends or new friends. It's considered good playa etiquette to ask to enter the nearest camp during whiteouts.
Proper playa structures can withstand fierce wind for a good long time. Most commercial offerings can't, even when staked down. Here's a participant interrupted while setting up an awning-style shade structure. With the canopy on it more wind will be caught, and it'll undoubtedly be broken in a few days, if that long.
The whiteout makes it almost impossible to see the long row of porta-potties near Kidsville. This was actually a clear moment. (I use a dustproof Pentax Optio W10 to withstand the elements.)
Everything clears out by dusk, and crowds return to the Man. Most of the winds seem to be driven by the sun, and things calm after sun-down.
While we're in the neighborhood, let's check out the Man.
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