A Tourist at the Rainbow Gathering By Jim Beyer
A Tourist at the Rainbow Gathering By Jim Beyer
The 2013 Rainbow Gathering was held at Skinner Meadows , 10 miles up a gravel road from Jackson , Montana , in a region called the Big Hole . The Big Hole is a well-watered high elevation , flat basin surrounded by mountains . The Rainbow camp was perched in low hills , accessible by a single maintained Forest Service road . I rode my BMW R1150GS motorcycle to the gathering . I packed a heavy , two-man , threeseason tent , a sleeping pad , a good down sleeping bag , a mess kit , a change of undies and socks , shorts , Hawaiian shirt , sandals , and a gallon of water on the bike . I rode through 90 degree heat down the Bitterroot Valley through normal summer tourist traffic . The ride up
Lost Trail pass and then down Chief Joseph pass were blissful . I rolled into Wisdom and
Trading Circle at a Rainbow Gathering bought some food at the only market there , five bananas , three apples and bottle of wine . A
chatty 50-ish fellow named Al told me “ all about the gathering . He said it was so bad that people were already leaving , because of brawling , marauding gangs of thieves , rampant dope use , sexual abuse , giardia , and all manner of mayhem . As the mosquitoes swarmed and attacked , I thanked him and told him “ Now I really have to go to see that .”
I had a hamburger at Rosa ’ s Cantina in Jackson and talked to the proprietors , Tom and Terry about their impressions . As Terry took my order , she complained about the 20 Montana Highway patrol men who had rented the entire Jackson Hot Springs Lodge . She said the police were busy ticketing ( mostly warnings ) the locals for broken windshield and having mud flaps positioned too high on their pickup trucks . “ This is the Big Hole , everyone has a busted windshield ,” she told the reporter from KUFM-FM radio . Terry related that everyone had been very nice and had paid their bills . The two of them were very upbeat about the gathering and had bought extra provisions to feed the travelers . The bar was empty at 3 p . m . but they expected an up-tick in patronage . When I stopped by the next morning , there were three local cowboys at the bar drinking whiskey and eating burgers , while four Rainbows and three other locals were eating lunch in the booths .
Public opinion about the Rainbows was split . One hand lettered sign on cardboard along the road offered “ free haircuts ”. The three young cowboys were talking among themselves and two admitted to going up to the camp to see what was going on . They also complained that the gathering would cost the taxpayers $ 30,000 , possibly to pay for all the extra police protection . The Jackson School yard was filled with dozens of US Forest Service Law Enforcement SUVs . Apparently the Forest Service sent every law officer in the state to Jackson . The federal officers patrolled the road next to the camp , but I did not see anyone get out of their air conditioned SUV , nor did many roll down their windows , except to stop in the middle of the road to converse with other officers . When the FS cops drove on the road , the people would yell a warning to the Rainbows down the road that the police were coming . I did not see any uniformed officers in the camp , but presumable there were plain-clothes FBI and DEA agents in the crowd .
At the junction of the county and Forest Service roads there was a greeter “ road block ” They welcomed everyone with “ Welcome Home ” and offered directions to various camps . I found that most of the directions were confusing and vague . I continued forward and kept asking directions . It was not easy to handle the top heavy BMW on rough ground so I had to be careful where I went . After driving up and down the road , getting off to see a panoramic view of main camp and instructions by Jim from California , I finally found a place to park as near to the main camp as I could get . I parked the bike between a car and a tree on a slope . Basically the bike was stuck so that it would not move .
I unpacked the tent and carry bag and carefully mountain-goated down a rough trail into camp . The first thing I saw was a portly , elderly gentleman emerging from a tipi . He was buck naked and seemed to be a nudist , complete with shaved genitalia and all-over tan . That was the only naked person I saw , except for three topless girls by the main fire .
The main camp was some 500 feet down the hill from that road . The majority of activities took place at the main camp but it seemed that many people chose to camp in or , near their cars , trucks , or buses in the parking lots beside the road .
Everything in main camp had to be carried down a steep slope , and presumably carried out again-up that hill . There were no engines allowed in camp , therefore no generators , no vehicles , no electricity and no amplification . Various Rainbow groups set up community kitchens and activities camps . The kitchens fed the people for free , out of huge woks and pots that were heated by wood fires . There was very little propane in the main camp , and very little ice . Wood was abundant so every large camp had a cooking fire and communal fire to huddle around during the night ’ s cold .
Starlight was the only illumination , except for fires , the occasional candle , kerosene lamp , battery powered head lamp or Chinese-made solar-powered yard lights . It was dark unless you brought your own flashlight . The camp had trails marked with deadfall logs along the edges . The trails were mostly foliage free because thousands of people had trampled the sage brush into the ground . Unfortunately , trails did not always take you where you wanted to go , so you had to make your way through mature sage brush and over uneven ground . Not fun if you were stoned and light-deficient .
The weather was moderate . During the day the temperature rose to about 80 and dipped to 40 at night . At the same time , the temps in Missoula reached 100 and barely dropped to 60 just before dawn . It rained on Wednesday af- The West Old & New Page 11