Lost & Found: People, Pets, Things

Every year people, pets and various objects are lost at the gathering or people not at the gathering fear people have been lost. 

Lost People

Every year people go to the gathering and their loved ones worry.  Just a reminder, there is no cell phone or Internet reception at this year's gathering.


If you haven't heard from your friends and/or family since they went into the gathering, odds are they are still down in the gathering and can't call you.  Either way, it's generally safer for people to stay inside the gathering, then to run the cop gauntlet to make a phone call.  Even if your loved one promised to call every day, that's a promise they will be unable to keep as that would require them to spend their entire gathering going out to some place with reception and then coming back in again.


Even if there is a place on the top of a nearby mountain where you can get cell reception if you stand on your right foot only with your left arm outstretched and the cell phone positioned exactly on your naval - one 5 minute call will eat up all your charge.  Unless your loved one can hike from 5,000 feet to 8,000 feet and brought a solar panel to recharge their phone, the calls aren't going to happen for a bit. NOTE:  You may think this situation is made up, but everyone I know is leaving the gathering to get reception.

Again, on the road where the cars and cops are is the area where problems occur. We strongly recommend that people stay inside the gathering. Going in and out increases a persons risk of a negative experience with law enforcement. Again, people on the land will strongly suggest to your loved one that they stay inside the gathering until it's over.


That being said, if you're going to the gathering, call your Mama or someone else, let them know you are going in and will be out of cell reception until after you leave the gathering.


If something serious happened to your loved one, then they are no longer at the gathering and would be found in a local hospital, jail, or mental health facility. If you check those places and your loved one is not there, then they are probably inside the gathering.


Most people usually surface by July 15th as the clean up crew starts shrinking by then, but some people will be on the land until at least the end of July (and on the land means no or haphazard access to telephones).  If after July 10, you still haven't heard, email ghost cry boo at gmail.com and/or kzirk at earthlink dot net a recent photo and include this information:

    How old is he/she?
    Was this her/his first gathering? 
    Was he/she planning to camp with any camp in particular?
    Did she/he travel to the gathering with friends who have since left the gathering?
    Did she/he have any mental and/or physical health issues? 
    What kind of drugs (if any) does he/she typically use?
    Was there a specific previously agreed on plan for he/she to return home at a certain time or at least check in?

You can try to get a message to the Call Yer Mom folks for distribution by posting on Facebook.

Lost Things

For those people who go to the gathering and lose something, found items are taken to Info or sometimes to the nearest kitchen so don't give up yet.  If you didn't check the lost and found items at INFO, your stuff may be there. Even if you did, many items are discovered during cleanup. At the end of cleanup, all the valuable lost and found items will be taken out of the gathering site. Check back mid-July for who to contact regarding lost things.  Keep in mind, lost and found at this level is for things like wallets, cameras, expensive gear.  We don't try to reunite people with lost t-shirts, bliss wear, etc.

Lost Animals

For those people who left without all the animals they brought, please go back to the site and retrieve your pets. I do not care if you have to be back to work or whatever. If you brought an animal, you need to go home with that animal. If you don't, folks on the land will find a home for your pet and it won't be your home. We never leave any pets behind.  Every pet will leave the gathering with a human companion ~ hopefully the one they came with. If you can't go back yourself, try to connect up with a friend in the area to retrieve your pet. Just a reminder, pets on leashes don't get lost as often as those not on a leash. The gathering is a scary experience for animals who aren't used to it. Read the Pup Rap for more info.  If you are a local who feels we drop off pets at the local shelter, we never do that. Other people may be stealing loose dogs from the gathering and dropping them off, but we don't. All dogs brought to the gathering, leave with people who were at the gathering.  Same is true about cats. 

A Sneak Peak

On Parking and Shuttles

Updated 6/20/16 2:30 PM Cali time

Since so many people have questions about shuttles and parking, I thought I would take the time to provide some basic information.

First off, I'm not on the land so I don't know what the parking/shuttle/handicapped parking scene is like today, but I've been to enough gatherings to know a few things about how this works.

Expect a dynamic situation. Especially in these early days, the situation is probably changing daily if not every few days.  Even when I get info, by the time you read it, things may have changed.



A key concept to understand is there are two forces at work here:

• United States Forest Service (USFS) which controls where parking is legal and where it is not legal.
• The gathering participants who do their best to communicate the parking logistics and who drive shuttles. 

Gathering participants are not organized in any traditional sense of the word.  If you don't understand what the gathering is and how it functions, read Carla's rap or go to the Welcome Home archive & hipstory and read.  The key concept to remember is that NO ONE IS IN CHARGE.  This means that people plug into different functions when they are so inclined and for as long as they are so inclined.

 Parking:

• As of today (6/19) I'm guessing the situation is still fluid.
• Normally all 4 wheels must be off the road when you park your car - however heard a rumor that may not be the case here. Check with the parking crew on site.
• The USFS may change the parking requirements after you have parked your car. This means the "legal" parking place you selected when you arrived is now "illegal" and you may be subject to ticketing or towing. This is especially true in the early days but should all be sorted out by June 28 or 29.  To avoid getting towed, make sure you check in with "dinner circle" once it starts happening as announcements about parking changes will be made there. Also check in with INFO once they are set up as they will have info on parking and cars that have been towed.
• At other gatherings I have been to, there has been a drop off point where you can drop off gear and passengers and then go park your car. I expect the same is true here. Please do not drop off your gear without a trusted friend to keep an eye on it. People can accidently or purposefully take a critical piece of your gear.  
• Listen to what the parking crew is telling you to do. Parking crew can be tired and cranky but are always trying to help you avoid any legal problems. If you stop to unload, you better be quick or someone will be yelling at you to move on. Please be tolerant. Parking is a job many people don't choose to do so the few volunteers may have been up for 24 hours straight taking care of this critical function.
• Rumor is there is no real bus village and no parking buses on the road.   Rumor is bus parking is in the town of Mt. Tabor population < 500.
• If you can, please help out with parking.

Shuttles

• The gathering does not provide shuttles. Individual gathering participants offer to drive or use their vehicles as shuttles.
• Driving shuttle is a tiring and stressful endeavor. Please be kind to the shuttle drivers.
• Shuttles consume gas. Either bring a few gallons of gas to donate or a few dollars to donate.
• Shuttles come in all shapes and sizes from vans to pickup trucks and what ever else you can imagine. Please listen to the shuttle driver as the person driving will be up to date on the shifting parking scene. (see above). As to dogs on shuttles, that is up to the shuttle driver. I imagine most folks using a pickup to drive shuttle won't mind. Other types of vehicles could vary.
• Don't let your gear get on a different shuttle than you. Stay with your gear at all times. Things get lost or occassionally walk off with someone else. 
• Sometimes there will be a lot of shuttles running. Other times there won't be. Shuttle drivers stop when they have had enough or start when the spirit moves them to pitch in.
• If you are young and abled bodied without children you may want to hike it and leave the shuttles for those who really need it. But again, the situation is fluid. So if the shuttle is half empty, hop on board. If there is a single mama with 3 small kids or an elderly person, please let them go first.   Think of how you would want people to treat your immediate family and treat your Rainbow family the same.
• If you can, please help out with shuttles.

Handicapped Parking & Camping

• Parking at this gathering will be tough and handicapped parking will be limited.
• There may not be a handicapped live in vehicle area near the gathering.
• If you are coming to stay, trying to drop the gear and person with mobility challenges at the trail head and then have a more abled bodied person go park and come back.
• We are hoping a handicamp space will set up close to the road and an easy walk into the gathering, but if it does, it will be tent camping only.
• Rumor is that Forest Service Road 31 is relatively wheelchair friendly.
• Find the "snow mobile gate"  and ask the "welcome home" crew what is going on.
• If you can't carry your gear, ask for "sherpas."  If someone is your sherpa, please stay with her/him and your gear unless you know them very well. See comments above.
• The closer it gets to the 4th of July, the harder the handicapped parking situation will be.
• Placards are usefully but not golden in getting into Handicapped parking areas.
• We are a family. If you have mobility challenges, let the strong and healthy folks help you. If you are strong and healthy, please help those that need it. When we help our family we all benefit. Interdependence is the key.

Bus Parking

"Buses may also be parked in areas designated for vehicle parking to the extent they are parked in a manner that does not interfere with ingress/egress of normal vehicle traffic flow … Overflow and bus parking (which cannot comply with the prior parking standards) is available on the baseball field in the town of Mt Tabor …"

There are no facilities or water at the ball field. There is zero shade. The driveway is not marked at all. It is behind (west of) the back stop. If you miss it and just drive onto the field, there is a big drop off from the road (read: "CLIFF"!) and your vehicle risks destruction. Be sure to only enter this field from the driveway behind the back stop. 

Rainbow Ride Share

In a galaxy far far away sometime after dinosaurs went extinct, there was no internet. In those days of prehistory (circa the 1980s and 1990s), people used to focalize ride share over the various lightlines. But these days with so many web based opportunities, getting a ride to or from where you need to go should be easy. If you're not sure how to find some of these opportunities, google Rainbow Ride Share or visit Star's Rainbow Ride Board.

That being said, I noticed last year, a lot of people were hooking up with people on their local Craigs list - of for same people flying into a town, that town's Craigs list ride share.  If you use FaceBook, try the Rainbow Ride Share Redone group.

No matter how you make your initial contact. Here's some tips:

If you are offering a ride or have a ride to share, please take the time to meet with the people you’ll be traveling with ahead of time at your local coffee shop and work out the travel rules: smoking, no-smoking, who pays what, who drives, what's allowed in the car, etc.

If you don't feel comfortable with someone, don't travel with them. Trust your instincts. There will be other opportunities for both of you. It's probably a long ride from your point of departure to the gathering, and if it's not right, it's not going to be a positive experience for everyone.

Please make sure your car is 100% legal and you have a valid driver’s license, registration and insurance.

The last few years there have been checkpoints coming into the gathering and people have been hassled pretty badly. Some years, people even got a mandatory court appearance ticket for a beads hanging from their rear view mirrors and no front plates even when the car was registered in a state that doesn't issue front plates (sigh). So cross your ‘t’s and dot your ‘i’s and you’ll come home safely.

On Lyme Disease

Now I'm not a doctor and don't claim to be an expert in Lyme disease. However, when folks go camping they sometimes get bitten by ticks and some ticks spread Lyme disease. Because I have had friends whose Lyme disease went undetected for years and were told they had all sorts of other really nasty issues, I want to make sure you take a few minutes to educate your self on the symptoms of Lyme disease.

Here's a handy article on checking yourself for ticks.  Some people use DEET to keep ticks aways, but  if you don't want to use DEET, I have had wonderful results protecting myself by wearing long pants and shirts while dousing myself in Euculyptus, Citronella and Pennyroyal oil. (Note if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, DO NOT use Pennyroyal oil).


I do know that the longer your Lyme disease goes without being treated, the harder it is to treat.

So take the time to read this handy article on PubMed Health.  If at the gathering, you suspect you have contracted Lyme disease, please go to CALM.  If after the gathering you suspect you have contracted Lyme disease, please inform your health care provider that you want to be tested for Lyme disease.

Let the Games Begin

Every year once the gathering location is sorted out, the media goes into a feeding frenzy that fuels negative reactions from the local community.

The best way to counteract this is to contact the media, introduce yourself, invite reporters to come out to the site, and put our best foot forward.

If you are in town and see family who are engaging in negative activity, Shanti Sena the situation using peaceful loving methods and help family get back up to the site while trying your best to get their needs met. Remember with freedom comes responsibility.

If you spend money in town, introduce yourself as someone who is here for the gathering. Be polite and respectful.  Share your personal perspective.  Help out someone in the local community. Spend money in town.

Hopefully, folks on the land are planning a town hall meeting where we invite the community to get to know us in a space that is more comfortable for the local community.  Make sure to let the media know when and where so a good cross section of the community can participate. 

Some people who live in small towns aren't used to dealing with the diversity of people the gathering draws. Creating a time and space where we can meet each other one-on-one is a critical way to dispel rumors and misinformation. 

Please encourage people to use the medical resources at the gathering and not burden the local hospitals.  Once CALM is set up, go there or send a runner for any critical needs.  CALM will treat you on site at no cost and/or make appropriate arrangements for transport to the best provider for your needs as they will be reaching out to the local facilities to determine protocols etc. Most years we have medical doctors, EMTs, and all flavors of nurses on site who can assess your needs.  Please do not call 911 yourself unless it is a life/death situation like a heart attack.  We will provide no cost transportation to the hospital if that's where you need to go.

Please let your family help you!

HOWDY FOLKS

 Updated 6/24/16 7:30 p.m. California time

Welcome Home
45th Annual Rainbow Family Gathering of the Tribes
Last week of June (give or take) to July 7

We, who are brothers & sisters, children of God, families of life on earth, friends of nature & of all people, children of humankind calling ourselves Rainbow Family Tribe, humbly invite:

•     All races, peoples, tribes, communes, men, women, children, individuals -- out of love.
•     All nations & national leaders -- out of respect
•     All religions & religious leaders -- out of faith
•     All politicians -- out of charity

 to join with us in gathering together for the purpose of expressing our sincere desire that there shall be peace on earth, harmony among all people. & to hold open worship, prayer, chanting or whatever is the want or desire of the people, for three days, but upon the fourth day of July at noon to ask that there be a meditative, contemplative silence wherein we, the invited people of the world may consider & give honor & respect to anyone or anything that has aided in the positive evolution of humankind & nature upon this, our most beloved & beautiful world -- asking blessing upon we people of this world & hope that we people can effectively proceed to evolve, expand, & live in harmony & peace.

Feel free to arrive a few weeks early to create the gathering and/or stay a few weeks late to clean it all up.

RAP 107 ~ Gathering Consciousness

Please protect this Beautiful Land.

Walk softly. Harm no living thing. Harmonize - Blend in. Use only down, dead wood. Cut no living trees. Preserve the Meadows...camp in the Woods. We are caretakers of this land.
Everyone sharing makes a strong Human Tribe!

Please Protect the Water Sources by staying out of DELICATE spring areas. Avoid camping, peeing, washing above spring areas. Keep ALL soap (including biodegrable, Dr. Bronners, etc) out of streams, springs or the creek! Use a bucket to take your bath 60 feet away from the water source.
 
To be certain of drinking water: boil it for 20 minutes!  Use the slit trenches or covered latrines - cover your paper & waste with ashes or lime, wash hands. Break the fly/illness connection: shit-fly-food-you! Dig no shitters near water areas or kitchens.

Protect our Health! Use your own cup, bowl & spoon! Wash them after eating and rinse in disinfectant-water.
 
Visit C.A.L.M./M.A.S.H. if you feel ill - especially if you have a contagious disease - or are injured.

Camp Together - Establish neighborhoods. Community Fires only! ~ Each with 5 gallon water bucket and shovel for Fire Protection. If you are the last to leave a fire PUT IT OUT!

Watch your gear: Be Responsible ~ "Tempt Not Lest Ye Be Lifted From."

Pets are discouraged but if you must bring them keep them fed, on a leash and out of the kitchens, springs & fights. Clean up their poop. Clean up their poop. Love them.

PACK IT IN - PACK IT OUT !!!

Cleanup begins when you arrive. Bring in only what is necessary. There is no janitor here...you are the cleanup crew. Separate Garbage for recycling. Don't litter - Find collection point. Compost in pits only.

You are the Gathering! Participate in Shanti Sena, the peace keepers council, and all activities, councils, work crews, workshops. Volunteer wherever needed: kitchens, welcome home, firewatch, parking lot, shitter digging, supply, front gate, etc. R-E-S-P-E-C-T your Sisters & Brothers energies. Keep the Balance: Earth, Sky, Trees, Water & People!

Alcohol is Discouraged, Guns are Inappropriate, Violence is contrary to the Spirit. Please take no photographs or videos of people without permission. Discourage Drug Abuse.

Buying and selling endangers our legal right to be here. The Magic Hat is our Bank, donate early to fund our Needs. The Magic Hat goes around at mealtime circles and with the Magic Hat Band.

Our power together is many times our power separated.

Enjoy the Rainbow with an open heart and you Will see the Vision.

Join us for the July 4th Silent Contemplation & Prayer for Peace, respect those maintaining silence from dawn. Hold the silence until the arrival of the Children's Parade and all the children are in the center of our circle.

Click here for the some suggestions on what to bring. Remember the more you bring in the more you need to hike out and take home.

WE LOVE YOU!!!!

CONSENSUS:
Spring counsel for the 45th annual rainbow family of living light gathering of the tribes reached consensus by passing the feather in silence that we encourage individuals to gather at the Berry Field site.

***** DIRECTIONS *****

From all points South take Highway 7 from Manchester Vermont towards Danby, Vermont (north of Manchester, VT). Go 10 miles and turn right on Forest Road 10 (aka Brooklyn Rd) in Danby. Check the odometer and call this @0.0.  Hairpin turns and climbing. Big Branch Picnic Area @2.5. Appalachian trail @3.0. The site is 6 miles on your left. FS31 @ 6.2.

From Interstate 91 in Vermont
Take I-91 North to Exit 6 in Vermont. Take US-5 West towards Chester, Vermont (US-5 becomes or intersects 103 West - you want to end up on 103 West heading towards Chester).  Continue through Chester, Vermont where the road becomes VT-11 (was 103 West).  Drive approximately 14 miles. You will see a Clarks Grocer Store on the left down a small hill. Shortly after that turn right onto Landgrove Road. Drive 2.8 miles.  Landgrove Road will do a 90 degree turn to the left. Drive 1.8 miles past the turn you will see the Landgrove Inn on your right. Go approximately 1/4 miles past the Inn. Take a left turn onto Little Michigan Road. Drive approximately 1/4 mile and take a right hand turn on to Forest Road 10. Go 7 miles to site.

Alternate route from I-91 in Vermont
From points East (like Boston, Cape Cod, Berkshires, Maine, etc) via Interstate 91 in Vermont.
Make your way to Londonderry, Vermont using any map or GPS. Shop @ Clark's IGA which has BLOCK ICE (closes 9 PM)!  Take hwy 11 west a half mile.  Turn right on Landgrove and go 2.8 miles. At the fork follow Landgrove to the left for another 1.2 miles. Watch for Little Michigan Rd where you will go left for just .4 miles. Take a right on Forest Road 10 (brown forest servce sign).  Go 7 miles to the site.

NEW:   If you decide to take 30 North out of Brattleboro to get to Londonderry, VT, note that 30 North joins up with 100 North, just after the town of Townshend, and the road carries both names for a while. To get to Londonderry, you will need to take the 100 North when the two roads split apart, at the village of Rawsonville. Look for a Honeypie Restaurant and "Ski and Sport Shop" on your left- where you turn right onto 100 North.  100 North will take you to the Clark's IGA mentioned above.


From all points North
Take Highway 7 from Rutland, Vermont. Go 20 miles and take a left turn on Forest Road 10. The site is 6 miles on your left.

GPS: N 43.36087 W 72.90240
The 2 main trails start between FS 31 and FS 30 on FS 10 near Danby, VT. Walk north. FS 31 is gated and one of the main trails.



Parking is mostly on the road please pay attention to any for any forest service signs related to parking.   Keep in mind that we will be using a shuttle system for parking at some point and unless you're pulling in soon, you will be parking at a distance and hopping a shuttle or walking to the trailhead.

TIP!  In the early days, the USFS may change the parking rules multiple times and the parking that was legal when you put your car there may become illegal two days later. Stay plugged in to the parking rules on a daily basis for at least the next week or two if you want to avoid your car being ticketed to towed.

NEW INFO!    It seems that the Law Enforcement Officers (LEO's) are pretty regularly parked on the side of Forest Service Road 10, watching and pulling people over. They are set up "just past the last houses" and also between mile marker 3 and mile marker 3.5    Please make sure your car is legal and going within the allowed speed limit.


Please note there are Wilderness Areas near here and we want to stay out of the Wilderness Areas unless you're taking a hike.

Site Map with Trails, camps and kitchens.
For a link to a high resolution copy, click HERE.

Topo Map of Site Showing Major Locations

Click here for a Google Map from Danby, VT.
Click here for a topo map of the area with the coordinates circled in red.

Using Public Transit

Best place to get to if your busing, training, or flying is Albany, NY. We will be near Danby which is just off route seven about 75 miles north east of Albany, NY.

There is a bus which leaves the Albany, NY airport 7 days a week at 2:30 pm which travels up rte seven. The closest town where there is a stop is Manchester VT -- about 15 miles away from Danby. The price is $12.00 each way.  For more info, contact https://www.vttranslines.com/.

The nearest commercial airport is actually in Rutland, VT but it is really expensive to fly into that airport and the plane is a little puddle jumper

There is also a Yankee bus service which goes three times daily between Bennington, VT and downtown Albany. Bennington is about 40 miles south of Danby. The fare is $4. One would still have to get transportation from the airport to downtown Albany, NY.  There is city bus service to and from the airport.

A bus runs from Manchester to Rutland and from Rutland to Manchester and stops in Danby in both directions. Cost is $2. Driver will make unscheduled stops upon request, so you should be able ask the driver to stop at Forest Road 10 (aka Brooklyn Rd).  Click here for bus schedule. 

Please check back before you hit the road or leave internet access as updates will be provided as I get them.  Generally the more information becomes available a few days after the initial directions are posted. I will put a note at the top of this post with the date/time updated.

Click here for a handy printable version of this information in PDF format.


Rumor has it that there is good shopping in Brattleboro Vermont of I-91 at the southern end of Vermont.

Tips for avoiding New York State toll roads: 
How to get across New York state to the gathering without paying any tolls. Irom I 70 in Hagerstown, Maryland take I-81 north to Binghampton, NYI 88 northeast from Binghampton to Albany from Albany take NY rte 7 east which turns in Vermont Route 9 at the border. take a left when you get to Vermont Route 7 and head north to Danby, Vermont.

Misc. Info

 Elevation is 600 meters or about 2000 feet.

Please keep compost pits covered.
 For folks coming from the EAST, do your final shopping in Brattleboro, VT on I-91 just over the state line from Mass. It's a great town with a HUGE food co-op (feels like Whole Foods inside) and box stores. They like us … give them your business! If you can make it to Londonderry before 9 PM though, skip the ice in Brattleboro and buy the block ice at Clark's IGA in Londonderry. Clark's closes at 9 PM.

If you have questions about parking and shuttles, click here. 

Please copy and distribute freely. Ignore all rumors of cancellation.

What Rituals Do and Mean

The filmmakers of Ritual Nation explore ritual in our lives not just related to rainbow gatherings, but I think shows the importance of rituals in our lives and specifically at the gathering. Shot in the 1990s, it's a beautiful introduction and statement about why people gather in many different ways. Especially relevant to the big rituals, which happen at the gathering, like the prayer for world peace.

First Time Gatherer?

Everyone with a belly button is welcome to attend. However, if you have no belly button due to some medical procedure, you fall into the special group of people who have lost their belly buttons and are welcome to attend under the belly button challenged clause of the Rainbow Family guidelines.  (Just a bit of rainbow humor.)

That being said, showing up at a gathering and not knowing anyone can be very overwhelming. 

My best advise is to plan your arrival for early in the morning (say before 10 AM). This may mean you stay at a campground or a motel a short drive away from the gathering. Get up at 7 a.m. and do the last 75 miles.  These are always the slowest hardest miles into a gathering site, some times it is easy to get lost, roads can be rough, folks are exhausted and tempers can flare. You don't want your first gathering experience to be a bad one do you?

If you already have plans to meet up with friends at a specific camp, gather your gear and ask people to point you to that camp. Otherwise, ask for INFO.  The journey from your car to INFO may take hours. Bring one gallon of water per person for the hike in, more if you can carry it.  Sometimes it's a long hike in, sometimes there a lot of traffic on the trail, sometimes you need to explore the sights along the way. Sometimes you get sidetracked by a drum circle or hug pile. Filtered water will be available at the gathering but you don't want to have to fill up for at least 8-10 hours after you arrive and one gallon of water goes fast at the gathering.

Once you reach INFO, there will be a map showing the gathering layout and some of the many camps. Some camps are location based such as NERF (New England Rainbow Family), others are activity based such as Yoga Camp. If you're not sure what's right for you, ask the folks at INFO questions about the vibe of the different camps.  Again this may take hours and you want to set up your tent before dark.  AGAIN I REPEAT. You will be happier if you get your space set up before dark unless wandering around all night long without a flashlight and a jacket is what makes you happy, then go for it. I also recommend walking around the gathering and feeling out what feels like a good place for YOU. Once you feel that, introduce yourself to who ever is around and say you'd love to plug into this camp.  Then take it from there.  Always keep your day pack with you. Keep your flashlight, bowl and eating utensils, a water bottle with drinking water, as well as a sweater or such in your backpack on your back every time you leave your tent. You may think you'll be back in 5 minutes, but you may not make it back until after dark.

Keep in mind that your first day at your first gathering is going to be a long one. No matter what, do not get separated from your gear unless the person who has it is someone personally known to you. If someone offers to help carry it, stay with them. If you don't,  you and your gear may take a few days to reconnect. If you shuttle in, DO NOT put your gear on a different shuttle than you are going on.  Hiking in is confusing and that kind sibling who offered to carry your tent may have thought you were going to Yoga Camp when you said Yoga Space - and yes sometimes there are multiple camps with very similar names.  Again it make take a few days for you and your gear to connect up again.  If you brought it, keep it with you and take it home when you leave (trash included).  The less you bring the less you have to haul out.

Remember, dinner circle is in main meadow - Listen for the conch shell being blown later afternoon. Bring your bowl and a spoon so you have something to eat with.

If you need help with anything, go to INFO and we'll help you out as best we can.

Info Crew (Montana 2013) Providing Free Rainbow Shrugs
(you'll get the joke after you been home for a few days)

Tips for a safe journey home & a Positive Gathering

If you plan on driving, make sure your car and driver is 100% legal-all lights work, valid insurance and registration, seatbelts, car seats for children. Our government assumes that we are criminals. Please try to arrive during daylight hours as the roads into gathering sites can be tricky and we want you to arrive home safely. If you can make space in your vehicle for a rider or you need a ride, ride share is happening at your local craistlist.org or on FaceBook.

If you will be sharing a ride, please meet the folks you'll be riding with at a local coffee shop, make sure you feel comfortable traveling a long distance with them, and establish the ground rules. If you are coming via bus, plane or train, try to connect up with a ride from your destination before you get there. If you are planning on hitchhiking, please travel with a buddy, only bum rides during the day and if you get a bad feeling from a ride, PLEASE don't take it. There will always be another one.


I strongly recommend you plan on arriving home in the morning - the earlier the better. If you are coming home and it's late, my best recommendation is you kick it at a campground, roadside rest area, or motel as you sit fit. Then get up at dawn and come on home.  The roads into the gathering can be challenging, the signage can disappear, and you will be tired. Keep in mind that your journey really begins once you park your car. From there you'll have to hike into the gathering with your gear and try to find a place that meets your needs -- very hard to do after dark.  It can easily take 6 hours from the time you park your car until you have your tent set up. Doing it in the daytime is fun, doing it at night when you are exhausted is not my idea of a good time.

*Always* say no to requests for search, no matter what they tell you. It is not illegal for cops to lie to you, and they often will do so to get your consent to search. "You might as well give us permission, because if you do not, we will go get a warrant and you will be here for hours." This is a bluff. Don't fall for it. Their time is much more valuable than yours.

If they insist on searching over your objections, don't prevent them physically in anyway - but continue to repeat "I do not consent." Ask for names and badge numbers, write down time, place, and what happened in detail. Every little thing matters in a court of law, even the things that don't mean much to you or me. If you can, take pictures, videos, and/or tape recordings.

Also, if they ask you if you have contraband, and tell you that if you have just a little bit and give it to them that they will not search you, tell them no. Never, never, never incriminate yourself. That means don't consent to anything, don't give them anything but your license, registration, and proof of insurance, don't admit to anything. When approaching the Gathering site, remember that you're coming as friends in somebody else's back yard. Treat the local folks with the courtesy, respect and concern that they deserve as members of the Family of Humankind. Be Loving and Kind. Don't be rude, steal, trash the town, disturb the Peace, or try to "shock" people. Be mindful of others' sensitivities. Remember the original Golden Rule when dealing with BOTH Babylon AND Rainbow: Treat Others the Way you want to be treated! Please, make your journey a safe one. Don't be under the influence while driving.

Let's all get home safely.

DRIVE SAFELY!
Ignore all rumors of cancellation or organization!
Live Lightly with the Land and People!

Musings on getting fed at the gathering

If you've never been to a gathering (or even if you have), getting fed may seem like a mysterious process that sporadically leaves you hungry or amazed at the wonderful food you just ate.  Well it's not really as mysterious as it seems.  So here are the basics.

First off, no one should ever ask you for money or trade for food (excepting small things like candy bars at trade circle).  Everyone eats for free.  We share food with each other in many different ways.

During seed camp, you better come prepared with food to share. Some of the early kitchens may be serving "off the rails" (@ the kitchen counter) but you never know who will be there and how much food they have to share.

Bring whatever you can and share as best as you can with others.  Some of the kitchens may come with food supplies they have purchased, but you never know.

Once the gathering gets going (usually a few days after the Summer Solstice), dinner will be served in the main meadow.  Commonly called "Main Circle" or "Dinner Circle," kitchens bring food to the meadow, we circle up, om, and then are served food from a bucket or cooler.  THANK YOU KITCHENS!  After we eat, many folks hang out to play music, visit with friends or participate in activities like the "Angel Walk."   This is my favorite time of the gathering.  It's when those who wish take the time to hang out with old and new friends.

Many kitchens will continue to serve off the rails but normally do so earlier in the day or later in the evening.  Each kitchen decides for itself when and what to serve so finding a kitchen that is serving "off the rails" is catch as catch can unless you get plugged into a kitchen.  One easy way to get plugged in is to approach a kitchen and offer to dig a shitter, chop wood, haul water, or chop veggies for some meal or another. 

As I mentioned earlier, many kitchens come with their own food supply purchased by the core crew.  Other kitchens come with gear but not much else.  No matter how things start out, more food needs to be purchased as the gathering progresses and more wonderful people come home.

Generally a group of people come together to facilitate supplies.  After all, purchasing large quantities in bulk is usually less expensive.  Some kitchens do their own supply runs with either their own funds or funds from a collection can stationed in their kitchen, others participate in large scale supply runs usually involving a lot of food and funds from the "Magic Hat."

The Magic Hat can be found at Dinner Circle and Information when Dinner Circle is not happening.  Sometimes the Magic Hat goes on a Magic Hat parade around the gathering soliciting funds.  Magic Hat funds are managed by the Banking Council some or most of whom are usually at Dinner Circle.  Folks who become part of this council track income and expenses, count them money and insure the integrity of the process.  Most of the magic hat funds go to buy food that is distributed to the kitchens serving Dinner Circle. If a kitchen is not serving Dinner Circle, usually they will not get funds.  There is a Kitchen Council that meets daily or every other day (usually by Information) that plans supply runs, meals and works out all these issues.

Basically the process goes like this, you put cash money (no checks, credit cards, food stamps, etc) in the Magic Hat.  Money is collected and counted.  After a few days of this, a supply run is organized.  Once that has happened the supply run goes out, purchases the agreed upon supplies (or as close as possible) and then comes back with the food.  A supply run can take two days or even three.  Once the food comes back, it is distributed to the kitchens - a process that can take another day or two.

After the food is distributed to the kitchens, it gets cooked and served - a process that can take another day or two depending on when the supplies arrive at the kitchen and what else the kitchen is involved in at present. 

Now we come to the most important part, if you have $50 to donate to the Magic Hat, do it the day you arrive at the gathering.  Don't put $5 a day in for ten days.  Every year we have a food shortage for a few days somewhere between June 23 and July 2 because people start arriving in mass after the Summer Solstice and we have a lag between donations coming in and food being served.

Look at it this way, if one hundred people arrive on June 23 and donate $50 dollars each, we will have $5,000 to feed not only these one hundred people but the additional two thousand people who have subsequently arrived on June 28 when the purchased food is served.  If on June 25, two hundred and fifty people arrive and donate $50 dollars each, we will have over ten thousand dollars to feed the fifteen thousand people on site by June 30.  However, if people donate one or five dollars a day, then by the time we have enough money to feed fifteen thousand people, it's July 5 and most people are leaving.

If you do not have or do not wish to donate cash money, food supplies are always welcomed.  The good news is that the food you bring with you will make it into your belly tomorrow.  While brown rice, beans and quinoa are always welcomed, hardy fruits and veggies are very important as well.  Bring apples and oranges by the caseload. Cabbage, carrots and zucchini transport well and as much as you can bring will be eaten. Onions and garlic are always needed. Leave the fancy lettuce and peaches behind unless you know how to transport them so they don't get ruined.

 If you bring pasta, try to bring vegan pasta so everyone can partake.  Save the egg noodles for another occasion.  Peanut butter and bread (vegan if you can find it) go a long way to providing healthy fuel and whole wheat flour is always needed for kitchens that bake bread and pizza!  If you decide to go shopping after you've been at the gathering, check in with Kitchen Council to get plugged into any special deals folks may have worked out with local suppliers.  After all, if you can get it for 30% off, then you can buy more food to feed more bellies for the same amount of money.

Spring Council/Counsel/Circle -> Seed Camp

*** Updated June 14 @ 11:30 AM Cali time ***

Spring council is over. Folks have moved onto the site. Click here for details.

*** Original post ***

Spring council/counsel/circle  (spring ccc) starts June 10. Spring ccc will be held in the southern portion (Manchester district) of the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont.

People who have been scouting have said that they are still considering several options which will be presented to the council for consensus. The location of spring council will not be at any of the sites under consideration for the gathering.
Spring ccc is where the site for the 2016 gathering will be determined and gathering layout begins. There may be travel to see sites the scouts propose, lots of walking, discussion and consensus. All are welcome to participate in the process.

However, if you come, please be self sufficient. Bring clothes for warm, wet and cold weather, good boots/shoes. Water and Food to share, shelter (tent, sleeping bag, etc) your own cup bowl spoon, all the stuff you'd need for gathering & a sense of humor. 

As a refresher, the purpose of spring ccc is to determine where home is. The individuals who have been out scouting will have information to share about the site(s) they found and the family on the land at spring ccc will have to reach consensus by silence or by foot on where we will be.  Directions to spring CCDs will be available on wed June 8th.  If you are heading there now go towards the southern section of the green mountain national forest of Vermont.  (The Manchester district of the forest)

Please be advised that from spring ccc, the gathering moves into Seed Camp.  Folks at seed camp find and develop water sources,set up the first kitchen and dig the first latrines, locate and mark out the parking lot, lay out trails and remove obstructions, locate Main Circle and dig the fire pit, and set up a welcoming entrance to the gathering.

This is a time when you can work intensely with a few other people and form some deep friendships. 

From this seed grows the flower of our Gathering.

Just an FYI, early in the gathering is when law enforcement presence can be the most intense as ratio of cops to gatherers may be high. 


This is a great time to form relationships with the USFS resource personnel, work out an unsigned operating plan with the rangers, and set up a process by which the USFS personnel can meet with gatherers on-the-land.  A specific location and time is a really good strategy as then everyone in camp knows where/when to be if they want to meet or not meet with the forest service. It takes many voices to do this work.  If you are not sure what an operating plan is, check out the collection of past operating plans on-line.

Directions to spring council/circle/counsel

Directions to spring council-
From Manchester take highway 11 east.
Turn left on Main St toward Peru.
At general store, Left onto Hapgood pond Rd (also a sign saying wild wing xc).
Drive  roughly a mile till fs22.
Slight left onto fs22, then 3/4 mile to fs21, then left onto fs21.
At fork in Rd with the small stop sign, stay left on fs 21, site is 2 miles on your left at the rock stack.
Mostly road parking, save spots in the small lot for those that can't get around as well.

For a handy map, click here.

If you're looking for a major town, try Albany. There is a bus that heads up to the Green Mountains. https://www.vttranslines.com/bus-schedules/ 
 

Creating a Healthy Gathering Through Hand Washing

One thing that goes a long way to keeping folks at a gathering healthy and safe is washing hands - a lot. And I don't mean just rubbing your hands with sanitizer, but actual biodegradable soap (Dr. Bronner's is great) and filtered or boiled water. Some awesome Rainbow engineers have designed a hand wash station that's transportable and light weight. One goal of a Rainbow hand wash station is to make it hands free, so no one picks up germs in the process of washing their hands. (A smaller setup of this same type can be used for soap dispensing). If you're not up to speed on drinking water issues, Hawker has a great website showing what he's done in the past and discussing issues in greater depth.

Here's a great drawing of what I'll explain in words below. Thanks TimBear.



"From our experience, the primer bulb check valve can fail if the water gets trash in it. The solution we found was a small piece of filter material (like the filter from a wet vac) or fine mesh screening (a couple of layers of panty hose) around the end of the water intake. The pvc pipe allows you to direct the water where you want it, even if there is no tree where you want the water." - TimBear's words, not mine. What ever you do, make sure the grey water is at least 300 feet from creeks, rivers, and ponds and preferable somewhere where no one is walking. Dogs and people can get into the grey water and spread the germs all over the place and that's not healthy.

The key is a one-way syphon valve. It's made of rubber and can be squeezed by hand. Each end has a place to clamp hose onto. I usually get them at my local Marine supply store. Hook it up to some clear plastic tubing - one end to go into a bucket of filtered water. It looks like this:


The other end should be fastened somewhere (if not using TimBear's Pipe method) and hopefully have a drain system so people aren't standing around in gray water. To conserve water, get spare sun shower nozzles and put it on the end. These are $5-10 each from a camping supply store. They work great for the "faucet" end. Here is a photo of one.



Then to wash hands, all people need to do is pump the black syphon ball with their feet, and water comes out the shower nozzle. Portable hands free hand washing and kids love it!

Filtered water is best for hand washing. Providing an alcohol based hand sanitizer and/or a bleach wash as a final step is a great idea, but please label the ingredients so people can make informed decisions.

I also like to make a sink to minimize the amount of mucky grey water around the faucet. I've used a plastic bowl in a round tomato cage. Then drill a hole in the bottom and put in a connector so you can clamp a discharge pipe and run the waste water into a gray water pit. WARNING! HIPPIES CAN BE DUMB. Every time I use my sink setup, someone thinks we should recycle the gray water by putting it back into the fresh water container. THIS IS UNSANITARY AND IS WORSE THAN NOT WASHING YOUR HANDS AT ALL. So if you use a sink, please make a sign telling people that the drain DOES NOT go into the water source.

I'll be bringing a few extra setups to give out - but we needs lots of them. If someone(s) are looking for a great public service project for this year's gathering, here's a great one. Let's make sure we have enough hand washing stations scattered around the gathering so that people can't help but wash their hands at least twice a day. Every year I promise to make them at home and bring everything but the sink, but it doesn't seem to happen. Sure is easier at home with my tools.

Clean hands creates a healthy gathering.

Just a quick reminder, no soap in any surface water. Biodegradable soap only biodegrades in the soil.  All soapy water should be kept 300 feet from surface water like creeks, rivers, ponds and springs.  Don't be the dufuss who tries to wash your hands, clothes, hair, body in the creek. All you're doing is creating dirty water for the animals (2 and 4 legged) who drink the water.

How to gather (AKA gathering basics)

Just an FYI, no one speaks for the gathering and there are as many different opinions as there are gatherers. For a hipstorical perspective, click here. For a more recent perspective, here's a great video for those new to the gathering that was done by some folks in Oregon in 2012.

So you want to focalize a kitchen?

In my humble opinion, the gathering needs more kitchens like it needs more dogs, but for some  reason, everyone wants to focalize a kitchen. Seems to me that being part of the kitchen provides an amazing growing, learning experience on working collectively and provide safe and healthy food in the woods.

However.....

The reality of focalizing a kitchen goes something like this:

Unless you're of a certain size, providing a certain number of meals, and maintaining a clean kitchen, Main Supply won't provide food for cooking. This means you provide the free food in the woods. While some kitchens have a donation can on the counter for after people have been fed if they want to donate, in reality most of the cost of food is born by those running the kitchen unless you have a big network of support. You'll need to provide pots and pans for cooking, at least a half a dozen 5-gallon water buckets for dish washing, filtered drinking water for you and your crew and hopefully for all gatherers. You'll need to chop wood, haul water and wash dishes in addition to cooking. You'll need to make sure you provide sanitary cooking and serving facilities, keep sick people out of your kitchen, deal with late night movies and work your ass off.

If you've never plugged in with a kitchen at a gathering before, you might think about joining your energy with a well established kitchen to get a sense of how hard cooking in the woods can be before you strike off on your own.

If you're ambitious enough to serve main circle, make sure to be at kitchen council so your kitchen gets some of the supplies (often around 11 AM near Info but check with Info once you're on the land to find out when the council happens). But keep in mind that even those kitchens serving main circle only get a portion of the food they serve from main supply.

Sure late night zuzu cooking is fun, but it also is hard to work around all the tripping hippies -- especially those who need baby sitting at 2 AM.

You'll also need to have some serious shitter movies going down. Not only for your crew but for anyone who is attracted to your camp. This can mean digging a new shitter every day from June 28 to July 3 when the gathering population swells.

When the gathering is over, you get to disappear your kitchen so no one knows it was ever there. You get to haul your trash out, bury your compost and fill in your shitters.

What do you get for focalizing a kitchen?

More personal growth than you ever imagined possible in a couple of weeks. More stress than you can imagine and more people smoking you out that you could ever wish for if you're kitchen is dank. You get to move your kitchen three times because the US Forest Service keeps changing the rule on how close to surface water the kitchen can be - play it safe and go 500 feet if you want to avoid the move your kitchen game. Shitters should be even further.

You get people bugging you at all hours of the day and night because they're hungry or thirsty. You get random dogs digging through your supply tent and eating the food you just hiked three miles on your back. If you leave your kitchen unsupervised by trusted kitchen crew, you come back to a kitchen missing pots or oranges or a tarp.

The wonderful tarps you strung over your kitchen collapse from rain in the middle of the evening meal. And above all, you get to have a complete temper tantrum when your nerves snap because no one wants to help wash dishes or dig the next shitter.  Of course, you can plug into an existing kitchen and learn from experienced family how a great kitchen works. (Try the Ovens, Kiddie Village, Instant Soup, and Tea Time,  to name but a few of the great kitchens). Ask at Info or better yet at kitchen council when you get to the gathering where else energy may be needed.  Most kitchens welcome new people who are willing to work.

It's a wonderful magical crazy ride and worth every second if you last. But please, please, please read the Kitchen Mini Manual so you don't get your family sick due to lack of proper hygiene.

If you've every plugged into a kitchen, please share your words of wisdom.