By Shannon Lukens.
Here are some beautiful flowers along the driveway to Main Camp at the Back Gate.
Here are pictures from the Rainbow Gathering, from the afternoon of Wednesday, June 29. This was just before the rain started to fall, which caused the roads at the entrance to be slippery. County roads in Moffat and Routt counties closed Thursday morning because of vehicles that were stuck.
Pictures are not welcomed everywhere. Permission has to be asked. So pictures here are limited.
The official Rainbow Gathering is July 1-8 in northwest Routt County.
It’s a long hike up an ATV path. People would fill carts to haul food and camping supplies up to their gathering site from the Main Camp.
In the Main Camp parking lot, men were there to help with temporary parking for us. This looked like where people would go to unload their cars to begin the trek up to their camps.
There was signage at the trailhead and signs throughout the camp, with guidance and instructions.
Some of the food heading up was milk and dairy bought in bulk from a trip to Denver, since they couldn’t get enough in the local communities. We were told that after dinner, those at the gathering collect donations to help pay for the food that day. A “Magic Hat” is passed around at the Main Meadow Dinner Circle for anyone who would like to donate money. That money is distributed to different kitchens. Those at the kitchens purchase and prepare the food for everyone. Some people grow their own food to bring to the gathering each year. One Rainbow attendee from Steamboat said, “Most kitchens gather food from their own expense and effort and bring it to the Gathering and the Magic Hat donations are often just supplementary.” She added that there is no charge for anything at the Gathering. There is a trade circle that gets set up where people can come and trade one thing for another. “Many people feel that true Rainbow culture is a culture of blessing where people desire to bless each other with food, things, finances, and anything else relevant.”
Whatever is gathered is used to go and buy more food, whether in local communities or in bulk. If there is money left over at the end of the gathering, it is saved to use for the next gathering.
Camps include Tiny Camp with a little display of miniatures. Tents were up throughout the trail on the 3-mile loop.
Story Glory is a camp where they record stories from the Rainbow attendees. Tenali Hrenak works in radio and it’s his project. You can hear the stories at SoundsfromtheRainbow.org
Chris Kelly had just arrived and was unloading his trailer onto a cart to haul up the trail. Kelly lives in Hawaii for most of the year and he made it in last night, right when the rain started. He talks about his group of clean and sober Rainbows who used to be addicts.
Here is the list of camps with a map, from the 2022 Colorado Rainbow Gathering Facebook page.
The Lovin Oven kitchen was one of about 20 kitchens. They created an oven and cooling racks. Firewood was constantly being chopped from dead trees that were in the forest. When the Rainbow Gathering is over, this will all be disassembled and dispersed back in the forest. Video of Lovin Ovens with Tenali Hrenak from New York.
One sign at the “Dirty Kids Village,” was a reminder to please pick up your trash because “Littering is bad.” It looked like a sign made by the kids. Those in the camp were adamant on not having any pictures of the kids taken. They asked that permission be granted first. No pictures of kids were taken; just the sign that they made.
Parking areas are at the north edge of the camps and they have been filling up quickly. This is not in the area of California Park, which is closed. Routt County Road 80 is open, but that’s all.
U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers were stopping and checking some of the vehicles headed into the gathering.
As the rain started to fall, the dirt roads got very wet and slippery, almost like clay. Many parts of the road were one-lane and we had to pull over for the many Rainbow Gatherers headed to the event. On Thursday morning, at least three vehicles got stuck and were blocking the road, which was closed by the Routt County Office of Emergency Management. Good tires are needed and a good vehicle if going up there. It was close to two hours from Hayden and easily two hours from Craig. Also, be aware of Open Range and black cows on the road coming from Craig. There were many. If it is dark and at night, they won’t be easy to see.
I took the pictures and Robin Crossan with Steamboat Springs City Council joined me for the journey and adventure. And did I mention the MOSQUITOS? They were awful. –Shannon Lukens
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