Black Rock Rendezvous

2016

It was another great year at the Black Rock Rendezvous! 

This is an annual event held over the Memorial Day weekend in the playa of the

Black Rock Desert.  The BRR is sponsored by Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Friends

of the Black Rock-High Rock and the Nevada Outdoor School.

Because the playa was dry this year, we were able to camp and drive on it without any problems.

For anyone who's familiar with the playa, when it's wet, it's treacherous and you're

guaranteed to get stuck up to your axles if you try to drive on it.  A word of caution, however, 

because the playa almost always looks dry because of its white top layer.  Always check it

out on foot before attempting to drive on it.

This year's event kicked off on Friday afternoon with setting up the camp and getting 

settled in.

I chose a nice level spot that was close enough to the main camp, but not so close to where there

was no privacy.

After Dexter and I were settled in, we had our customary first night's dinner of

steak, fried potatoes and a salad (Dexter skipped the salad...).

I though it'd be a good idea to walk a little dinner off, so we made the rounds through 

camp.  There were rigs of every kind out here this year, including two FWC's and a Palamino

pop-up.  There were also quite a few travel trailers, 5th wheels, roof-top campers and

a ton of tents.

This little FWC Swift belonged to Mitch from Reno.  He hadn't had the camper long, but he

had it decked out nicely and had gotten a lot of use out of since getting it.

This old Grandby belonged to Fred from Santa Rosa, CA.  He bought the camper used

and mounted it on this trailer because it wouldn't fit on his little Nissan.  I told Fred that 

next year he can't come to the BRR from Santa Rosa without bringing a few bottles

of Pliny to share.  I really wouldn't be surprised if actually brings some out next year!

Dexter and I talked to quite a few of the other campers that evening, but the big influx

of campers was going to arrive the next day.

On Saturday morning, there were a lot of presentations under the big tent in the main camp.

There were presentations on the BRR itself, Leave No Trace, Outdoor Ethics, Natural

History, Invasive Weeds, the Artist in Residence Program, the BLM's proposed 

management plan of Trego Hot Springs and more.

Peter Clay of Aero Pac gave a very interesting presentation

on rockets.  We'll see more of him later at his launch site,

which was about 6 miles from the BRR camp.

Will Roger and Crimson Rose (two of the eight original founders of Burning Man) gave

a very insightful presentation of the history and future of Burning Man and how the

event impacts the playa.

After lunch, there were many guided excursions you could go out on.  They offered service 

projects, tours of area petroglyphs, a hike to Mormon Dan Peak, a Guru Road hike, a Dutch oven 

cooking class and a tour of some of the areas hot springs.  A buddy and I chose to go out to 

the rocket camp where they were planning to launch their biggest rocket that afternoon.

On the first attempt to launch this big boy, it failed to ignite, so this guy went out to fix it.  

I have to give him credit because that rocket held a lot of very explosive fuel and one wrong

could  have been disastrous.

While the rocket was getting re-fused, we checked out the rest of "Rocket Camp."

Each rocketeer camp had their own little portable workshop on-site that looked like

something Robert Goddard feel right at home with.

A few of the rockets that were going to be launched over the weekend.

This was one a kid could truly relate to.

Another on-site work station.

And we have lift off!  This thing was amazing.  We were told that thing pulls 28 Gs

on lift off and the fuel only burns for three seconds, but that was enough to shoot it

completely out of eye shot.

Nothing but a trail of smoke.

Back at the main camp, everyone had to get ready for the Dutch oven cook off and pot luck

feast that always a highlight of the event.  

There was so much incredible food brought out for the pot luck--it was just incredible.

Dexter was keeping everyone in line as usual.

This was only one of two buffet lines.

This area was only the dessert line.

The evening weather was perfect for dining al fresco!

Here is line number 2!

There's a Happy Camper

It didn't take long for the food to vanish.

After 30 minutes or so, this was all that was left...

That evening, in addition to a group camp fire and jam session, a fire dancer emerged.

They were handing out sparklers to all of the kids and they had a blast with them.

After the day was over, Dex and I went back to the camper and settled in for the night.

On Sunday, we went to Trego Hot Springs, which is all the way across the playa, but because the playa was dry, we were able to drive straight across it and arrived a the hot springs in about 20 minutes.

My buddy Pete and his daughter Kayla enjoying a soak.

The water was a perfect temperature, but this was only at 10:00 AM.

I don't think I'd want to be soaking in the heat of the day.

Trego is a long hot ditch that provides a lot of room for the many

soakers who are usually at the springs.

Dexter even jumped it and then found a nice mud hole.

Some BRR folks were out doing a service project at the springs.

This sign is COMPLETELY ignored.  There must have been at least

five large groups who camped right on top of the springs.  This is why

the BLM is probably going to have to start regulating it's use.

After taking a nice morning soak, we went to Planet X Pottery, which is 8 miles

west of Gerlach.  I've passed up this place numerous times, but never again!

It's in somewhat of a oasis and has some of the most amazing pottery and artwork

that I've ever seen (and I used to live in Santa Fe).

The pottery was serving free food and passing out hors d'oeuvres and they were 

selling wine and craft beer.

Pottery was on display all over the compound.

This guy was just taking a nice looking pork butt out of the smoker.

There was also a really nice painting studio on the premises that focused 

on landscapes of the area.

They had a huge geo-dome that was used for the kids camp and a lot of other activities.

Dexter's a desert dawg now...

This forlorn little outhouse just struck me as the epitome of life on the playa.

The Black Rock Rendezvous is always a good time and I plan to come back year after year.

I guess I'm kind of a desert rat because the desert seems to call to me in a very special way.

Just being out here, enjoying all of the public land that we Americans are so fortunate to have,

especially in the west, makes me so thankful our forefathers set it all aside.

And I just thought I'd leave you with this parting shot...