Is it generally softer 3:00 side? Why?

[jasonk]

Is it generally softer on the 3:00 side? Why? I've found a few posts about this, but no good explanation.

[LowePro]

A few guesses: Some of the heavy equipment staging areas are on that side, thus more heavy traffic on that side.
Wind is generally toward that direction, so dust from the south/west parts of the city might get deposited there.
Innate differences in the playa soil/microclimates, since the City is generally in the same general location, areas toward the east are natively softer, due to some underlying effect of the geology/geography/hydrology of the region. All just conjecture on my part. There will be dust everywhere, we'll all get our turns.

[Token]

I think they use Cialis on 3:00 and Viagra on 9:00.

[jasonk]

Some good guesses.

>Innate differences in the playa soil/microclimates, since the City is generally in the same general location, areas toward the east are natively softer, due to some underlying effect of the geology/geography/hydrology of the region.

I don't buy that one...they move it a little every year, yet it's supposedly consistently softer on 3:00 side.

[LowePro]

It's fun an interesting to look at Google Earth "History" timeline and toggle thru the aerial photos, you can see how the City has moved around from year to year, as well as some different colors and textures in different zones of the Playa thru time.

[motskyroonmatick]

It seems to me that the moving the city around is much less of a distance now than in the past and that the 3:00 side always overlaps where it has been in the last 5 or so years. My guess.

[trilobyte]

Because... science!

Here is my understanding. The playa is not actually perfectly level. There is something like a 2-3% grade, the 3 o'clock side is slightly higher, and the 9 o'clock side is slightly lower. As a result, whenever there's a significant enough rainfall for Lake Lahontan to make an appearance (it does happen from time to time in the off season), the 3 side gets dry sooner. The extra moisture on the 9 side makes for a better pack.

Do understand though, the difference is fairly slight. Also, the 3:00 side has a couple really important things that also work in its favor and in many ways make it more desirable. Well, one key thing. For the last couple years, it has been less densely populated. Less densely populated means that it's less crowded and easier to find a spot to camp. Less densely populated also means fewer people using roughly the same number of porta-potties, which translates into a better porta-potty experience. And less densely populated also means that while the playa may be softer, it's the road less heavily traveled.

[mudpuppy000]

I remember reading that they altered the gate road route a while back to reduce the dust blowing into the city. IIRC it tended to blow in towards the 2:00 side.

[watchyourfeet]

Can't be 2%. That would be a 220 foot drop from the end of 3:00 to the end of 9:00 (11000' x 0.02). Biking east would be a bitch if that were the case. For reference, if you are standing in a parking lot that slopes to a catch basin at the middle, that is generally a roughly 2% grade. Steeper than you would expect!

Because... science!

Here is my understanding. The playa is not actually perfectly level. There is something like a 2-3% grade, the 3 o'clock side is slightly higher, and the 9 o'clock side is slightly lower. As a result, whenever there's a significant enough rainfall for Lake Lahontan to make an appearance (it does happen from time to time in the off season), the 3 side gets dry sooner. The extra moisture on the 9 side makes for a better pack.

Do understand though, the difference is fairly slight. Also, the 3:00 side has a couple really important things that also work in its favor and in many ways make it more desirable. Well, one key thing. For the last couple years, it has been less densely populated. Less densely populated means that it's less crowded and easier to find a spot to camp. Less densely populated also means fewer people using roughly the same number of porta-potties, which translates into a better porta-potty experience. And less densely populated also means that while the playa may be softer, it's the road less heavily traveled.

[theCryptofishist]

I've lived on the 3:00 side basically since 2008. It's fuckeked up and rutted. Admittedly, I'm a special case.


edited to add: If you're asking if there are drifts and puddles of soft dust that can keep you from getting any purchase, then yes, there are.

[Sham]

I've heard it explained this way: trying to find the quiet side of the playa, is like trying to pick up a turd by the clean end.

[666isMONEY]

I remember reading that they altered the gate road route a while back to reduce the dust blowing into the city. IIRC it tended to blow in towards the 2:00 side.

My citizens-band radio handle (when I was in high school) was "Mudpuppy".

One year I walked around the 3:00 side to see where all the dust was coming from, 3:00 side didn't have any. The cause was huge RVs driving too fast as they entered the city.

One RV can create a dust storm on the playa.

[Jovankat]

Here is my understanding. The playa is not actually perfectly level. There is something like a 2-3% grade, the 3 o'clock side is slightly higher, and the 9 o'clock side is slightly lower. As a result, whenever there's a significant enough rainfall for Lake Lahontan to make an appearance (it does happen from time to time in the off season), the 3 side gets dry sooner. The extra moisture on the 9 side makes for a better pack.

I know some folks doing a large art project this year to do with the shape of the earth/playa who went out on 4th of July weekend and measured this exact thing. I checked in with them to ask if their survey findings confirmed Trilo's explanation. This was the response;

That's approximately right. Our survey showed it being bowl-shaped, and higher on the 3:00 side. There's a graph of our results in this Kickstarter update.

[Canoe]

... One year I walked around the 3:00 side to see where all the dust was coming from, 3:00 side didn't have any. The cause was huge RVs driving too fast as they entered the city. One RV can create a dust storm on the playa.

Doesn't have to be an RV. One vehicle going over 10 mph can have a huge effect. Even if it's just 12 mph. Surprisingly huge difference.

Get five idiots racing across the playa to try to beat the others to Gate on Friday (after they left work early) and with the typical prevailing winds, you've then got a white-out blowing over the down-wind section of BRC.

one rushing car, in at 18.30, out at 1.34.jpg

[Canoe]

I've heard it explained this way: trying to find the quiet side of the playa, is like trying to pick up a turd by the clean end.

I've seen it quite once. 2010, Thursday morning, shortly after dawn. Quite for 20 minutes. Really weird. People were getting up, going outside, looking around across the distances, wondering WTF...

As to the extra softness: isn't that were the hippies roll on the playa to clean themselves and get a surface coating to protect from sunburn?