Leaving Burning Man on Sunday...

[YoBen]

Hi all,

I've searched but couldn't find anything so hoping you can advise.

Just planning the logistics of our 1st burn (so excited). One of our party needs to fly out of Vegas on Monday night. Do you think we'd be able to watch the burn (I understand the man burns on Saturday night), then leave Sunday and make it down to Vegas by Monday evening?

Thanks in advance...

Ben

[ygmir]

yes, it is possible.

[digital]

Consider having everything packed up and ready to go burn night. That way you can either leave immediately after the burn or watch the burn from your vehicle and hit gate while he's aflame. Don't wait 'till Sunday to catch a Monday flight (unless you leave Sunday morning). Always leave buffer time between the end of Burning Man and a flight. More than likely by Saturday you will be ready to get the heck out of town to grab a long shower. Just make sure you're sober and rested.

Don't underestimate energy drain by the end of the week -- Never hit the road tired!

Good luck!

[YoBen]

Thanks both. Are there generally big lines to get out on the Sunday?

Regards being sober and rested, that's absolutely the plan. It just feels wrong to come to my first burn and not see the burn!

[Popeye]

typening "gerlach nevada to las vegas nevada" into google returns 7 hrs 53 minutes. Add an extrea 4 hours for burn traffic, 4 hours to stop for meal and "shit happens" and it is a 16 hour trip. Don't forget that your friend needs to be at the airport 2 hours before take off. YMMV.

[digital]

Are there generally big lines to get out on the Sunday?

Yes.

[ygmir]

lines out can vary hugely.
the best advise, I'd think is:
plan for the worst, hope for the best.
Often BMIR has outgoing traffic reports, as well.

[Sham]

I years past, I've made it a point to leave my camp by 8:00am. I take the slow, sad ride out of BRC for about a half hour and hit the pavement without stopping. Once on pave road, I always drove with no delays. 2014 was dreadful getting out, but 2015 was a breeze.
I would figure to give yourself 12 hours to Vegas then get some sleep. This is all very doable.

[Lonesomebri]

Make sure that the actual travel time doesn't include time for breaking camp, packing and repacking, moop sweep and last minute unexpected delays.
Most the time for me, I plan to leave at X time and it stretches out to be Z.

[YoBen]

Looks doable. Plan would be to break camp on the Saturday so we're set to leave early Sunday.

Thanks again

[burner von braun]

...Once on pave road, I always drove with no delays. 2014 was dreadful getting out, but 2015 was a breeze.

Woohoo!

[misfit]

>>>2014 was dreadful getting out, but 2015 was a breeze<<<

what year is it.?....

[Savannah]

YoBen: agreed--don't miss the Burn of the Man your first time! I still never miss a Man burn. I have left before the Temple Burn, or worked during it. Sometimes I minded, sometimes I didn't. The Man burning is celebratory and over-the-top, the Temple Burn tends to be more somber/cathartic--depending on who you are, and what you're bringing to it.

I would agree with Sham's estimate that 12 hours would generally be sufficient to get from BRC to Reno, not including camp breakdown and moop sweeps, both of which take a long time.

My longest Exodus was 6 hours (this has happened twice) from departing camp to hitting pavement, and longer is not unheard of.

[Captain Goddammit]

Especially your first time, you do need to stay for the man burn, not so much for the burn itself but because that's the absolute zenith, Black Rock City cranked up to 11. Every big mutant vehicle has its huge sound system going (and trust me, you probably haven't ever heard bass like you will coming from huge busses in BRC) everyone has all their lights on and their fire spewing and generally everyone is throwing down everything they've got. You haven't been to a party until you've been in Black Rock City on Saturday night.

[Bless]

We usually leave immediately after the Temple burn on Sunday and make it back to Sonoma County by Monday morning.

[Molotov]

If I bugged out in the middle of the night, my camp-mates might be less than impressed since I didn't stay to help break the camp down and make MOOP sweeps.

[Eric]

We've gotten to Reno as quickly as about 5 hours from leaving camp, and it's taken as long as 12 hours. There is no way to know what kind of Exodus it's going to be in advance, and we've had friends leave an hour after us who had an awful Exodus when we had a smooth one. Plan to leave early enough to give yourself maximum time to get out of BRC - you'll be leaving at night, the streets will be filled with bikes & pedestrians so you'll be lucky if you can go 5mph (which is your max speed anyway), street signs will be missing because people took them as souvenirs, and you have to figure out which road leads to the Gate, which can be confusing in the dark if there's not a line of cars ahead of you.

Your trip from Reno to Vegas should be fairly smooth (7ish hours), but that's on top of the 5-12 hours to get out of BRC. Make sure your drivers are rested & sober, and if possible you might even want to plan a couple hour nap break on Sunday just to be safe. Plan for the worst, and if that doesn't happen consider it a playa gift.

[chuckularone]

I can't see from your post, but why are you going to Reno?
I did the drive from BRC to Las Vegas last year, left early afternoon on Sunday. It took about an hour to get to Gerlach from my camp site and 9 more hours to get to Las Vegas. I went ALT 50 to 95S after Fernley.

[ACfromSAC]

Especially your first time, you do need to stay for the man burn, not so much for the burn itself but because that's the absolute zenith, Black Rock City cranked up to 11. Every big mutant vehicle has its huge sound system going (and trust me, you probably haven't ever heard bass like you will coming from huge busses in BRC) everyone has all their lights on and their fire spewing and generally everyone is throwing down everything they've got. You haven't been to a party until you've been in Black Rock City on Saturday night.

Reading this just got me so excited. SO TRUE! Well said.

[Token]

Hi all,

I've searched but couldn't find anything so hoping you can advise.

Just planning the logistics of our 1st burn (so excited). One of our party needs to fly out of Vegas on Monday night. Do you think we'd be able to watch the burn (I understand the man burns on Saturday night), then leave Sunday and make it down to Vegas by Monday evening?

Thanks in advance...

Ben

I would seriously book a cheap flight from Reno to Vegas for your one party member as a backup. Southwest Airlines should be under $100 for the flight.

You have no idea how hard it is to drive and stay focused on driving after a week on the playa.

Also, the "it is doable" statement is exactly that. On a good day, sure it can happen. Odds of a good day - 50%

[Eric]

I would seriously book a cheap flight from Reno to Vegas for your one party member as a backup. Southwest Airlines should be under $100 for the flight.

I just did a quick check, the cheapest flight is at 9am on Sunday the 6th: $165. There's also a 7pm for $182.
Personally, knowing how I felt after my first Burn, it would be worth every penny.

[trilobyte]

Have the one member of your party who needs to leave earlier book a ride out on the Burner Express bus, and then the rest of your group can actually stay and experience the whole event.

[maladroit]

It would be a good idea to know exactly what to do if, for some reason, it's completely impossible to make it to the airport on time.

Normally, yes..if you leave a full day before the flight, you are very likely to make it.

However, vehicle troubles and the lack of ways to easily resolve them could delay your plans. And if Exodus is rained out the way entry was last year, you could be stuck in one place, in your vehicle, for 24 or more hours.

So, while your current plan is solid, it helps to know what will happen if for any reason you don't make it. Something like, they'll miss their own wedding...their visa will expire and they'll be illegal after Monday...operation date for an organ transplant...anything that is absolutely impossible to miss, don't go out into the remote desert right beforehand with a chance to strand yourself.