EXODUS, when did u leave. How long did it take 2 the road?

[Galaxo Magic]

We left Monday at 7:11PM and reached the road at 7:56PM.

[oleg8888]

Around noon on Sunday it took me 1 hr, but I had to go slow due to road conditions while puling a fragile trailer

[RedHeaven]

Left Monday at 11am.
Took 1/2 hr to hit pavement
1 hr to get through Empire and gerlach
cruised thru Reno
and took THREE BLOODY HOURS to get to my exit in the Sierras after Truckee!!
Damn you road construction!!!

Why was exodus so chill this year?
People leave early, or was that accident on 80 last year the culrpit?

[captain mcguiver]

We went to the temple burn, and then finished the last bit of packing (1 hour?) and hit the line. We already hit traffic at the end of our block trying to get to the outer road.

A few people ignored the intersection sign asking for people to head to the outer ring, but for the most part the inner roads moved smoothly, as everyone allowed one car in, and then went in themselves. I was actually impressed by the vibe of the traffic and speed it moved.

The road conditions were terrible out to the exodus line, but we eventually got there after about 20 minutes of 5mph bumps.

Once we got to the "end" of the line, we spent three hours actually exiting. There was no pulse, it seemed like the gate was letting out about 3 cars per line in sequence, and then moving to the next line. It was a three hour crawl to the road, with maybe a 5 minute break maximum between moving at any given time.

I was glad to get out at the end, but it wasn't as painful as I thought leaving at that time would be. I admit, I think I left at the worst time possible (after temple, and not right away after temple) but I did it on purpose to gauge how bad the "worst" could be. I know people who miss the burn and temple just because of the line, and I think they are dumb. Leave later, not earlier. The worst case scenario is a little wait. Get a hotel in Reno or Fernley and have some rest before your drive. Leaving 24 or 48 hours early of burning man is just wasting your experience. You paid and prepped to get out here, why not enjoy 2 more days of whatever...? Never understand the early leavers...

[RedHeaven]

I think a lot of people have to work and need Monday to travel and recover. There are many reasons, including being a pussy hahahaa
Sometimes I want to leave, just because I am anxious to see my hubby and cats at home, but I always push through til Monday now after regretting leaving before a temple burn or 2.
Sunday can be a really lonely odd feeling kind of night, especially if you party all week.....but worth the transition and the overall feeling of the temple burn to complete the event.

I also know a few people who can only go for 4-5 days total. they would rather go tues-sat than wed=sun. I can get that.

[Noboundaries]

We headed to the gate at 9:30 AM Sunday morning. Hit the pavement in just under an hour. Took our time getting back to Sacramento but had no lines anywhere, including the construction on I-80. With the Burners and the Reno Rib Cookoff'ers all headed home on Monday, I'm not surprised the construction on I-80 created a backup.

[ZaphodBurner]

*LIKE*

Left half an hour before sunset on Sunday... Whatever time that was, and got off the playa about an hour after sunset. There was no line at all until the final straight stretch. They weren't pulsing, though, so a few vehicles still broke down and overheated. 95.1 was offline until we were almost to the Greeter kiosks, and then we heard a copy of Windows booting up and, a couple of minutes later, a voice said the wait was 1-2 hours and that it was a "great time to leave," and then all we heard was an entire Blues Traveler album.

Lots of people going 15-20 mph and then having to pile on the brakes suddenly, but the police were out there. We saw a state trooper reading the riot act to an RV-load of college-age types evenly spaced out online beside their vehicle.

Best Exodus I've ever experienced. Thanks to the 99%-non-assholes who drove like Burners all the way to the highway!

[aknod]

I would love to stay until Monday, but that means not getting back to Seattle until Wednesday and missing 2 more days of work, plus the kids start school and I gotta be there. We left Sunday afternoon at 1:10pm, took about an hour or a bit more to hit pavement (just driving the bus slowly), then 20 minutes of stop and go to 447, then vroom to Seattle.

[TT120]

We left around 2:00pm on Monday afternoon and there was no line at all all the way to the pavement. The road was torn up though and the dust was super thich. Once we got to the road it was pretty slow all the way to 80 then it got good till Reno. The construction on 80 in Kingvale had the traffic backed up all the way to Reno. We were in the 80 parking lot for 8 hours.

[Dr. Pyro]

We left Sunday at 1:15 p.m. and never came to a complete stop all the way to the pavement. It took 50 minutes. The best (and most unexpected) Exodus ever. Moses should have had it so good.

[Queen Bee]

We left at 1:15 a.m. on Monday from 2:30 and G and it took us 4 hours to get out of BRC. On exodus we listened to BMIR. Not sure what time it is, but after they played a dating game with a chick called "Cosmos" the guy played one of the longest sax instrumental songs I've ever heard, it literally went on for 10 plus minutes, and it was awesome. At certain points, the sax sounded like screams. Anyone know what this song is, I would love to know.

[danibel]

Left camp (5:15 and G) at 10am this morning. It took us an hour to the road going very slow in very windy dusty conditions. Then another 2 hours or so to Reno. Best exodus ever.

[strike-anywhere]

We left as soon as humanly possible after the Temple burn. The truck was rolling at 9:47 and we hit pavement at 12:45 so a three hour crawl out to the road with mostly decent drivers. Only at the end when lanes were combined just before the pavement was there a bit of a rude scramble. There were some 20 minute pulses which were a great opportunity to fall asleep but we somehow muscled through.

[beachlife]

we departed camp 4:30pm Monday and didn't have to stop until the 15minute sign's appeared with the road in sight. Few minutes more and we were on our way. Thanks to those who made Exodus so swift

[Eric]

Left about 9pm Sat (right before the Man Burn - yeah, suck it) & it took us 40 minutes to get out, mainly because we followed the car ahead of us & they ended up not having a clue. We broke off from them as they went in circles & went straight down Gate road with a line of cars behind us.

Straight shot to Reno, slept in a hotel overnight, hit the road for SF at about 11:30am & made it to SF around 4:30pm: fastest drive ever!

[lemisanthrope]

Well, I won't make the same mistake again (This was my virgin burn). Attempted to leave after the temple burn but could see the traffic on the outer ring road not moving, so took a nap for a while. Woke up at midnight and the traffic was rolling so fired the ignition and pointed towards the gate. Took us from 12 am to 5 am to get to pavement; no pulse. Traffic moved quickly enough from there to Reno, where we slept most of the day in a hotel. I dropped my companion off at the airport in the afternoon and hit I-80W at 5 pm. With construction traffic, I didn't get back home to the North Bay until 11 pm (this drive is usually under three hours).

So 5 hours to pavement. 6 hours Reno to Bay. Fuck.

[Fiver]

We left at 3:30 PM on Monday. From 8:05 & I. It was a slow five mile-per-hour crawl down a very bumpy gate road but we did not stop until just before the pavement. There was a brief five minute wait and then on the road and out of town. We hit traffic before Gerlach but it was a steady 5 mph. Once we got through Gerlach things picked up and it was smooth sailing to 80. 80 Eastbound was free and clear the whole ride home.

Last year, (my virgin year) on the way in we hit the gate road right before it "opened" at midnight and drove essentially right to the actual gate. The non-virgin in the car with me was freaking out saying "this isn't normal, don't think this is normal! Usually this takes HOURS not minutes!" I paid the price last year during the insane exodus on Monday, spending 8 hours trying to leave.

This year I was the veteran and the person with me was the virgin. We waited maybe an hour to get in around midnight Sunday, but I kept warning her about leaving. Sadly (or happily) she didn't have to experience any wait really at all on the way out. WTF happened this year?

[Corbin]

Left around 12:30 pm on Monday, hit the pavement about 45 minutes later. Traffic going to Gerlach was backed up due to vehicles stalling and breaking down in the road; maybe took around an hour to reach Gerlach. After that there were no major delays except where a vehicle went off the road and police were trying to pull him out. It sure beat the 6 hours from last year.

[BBadger]

Departed for the gate at 2:00AM Monday morning, left the gate at ~5AM... had to pull over for sleep. It was crazy, dark, dusty and oppressive. People asleep in their cars, at the side of the road. People driving very fast down the highway too. I'm just glad we made it out of there safe.

[SunnySpirit212]

We left Sunday 10pm (after the Temple burn). It took us a little over 2 hours. We were lucky, our camp was at 5:15 & H, already close to the exit. I have to say, I was expecting worse.

[MacGlenver]

Left Sunday from 7:15 & F at 6pm after packing all day. No line until the last tiny stretch of exodus road. No pulsing to report. We were on pavement after about 50 mins. Got stuck in a little traffic backup prior to Gerlach, which took another 30-45 mins. Had a cop jump out in front of me as I was reaching the edge of Gerlach and pulled over the car in front of me (couldn't figure out why -- we were all going very slow).

Straight shot at 70mph to the highway, and smooth sailing to Reno. Slept there over night, then headed to San Fran around noon the next day. One of our two cars broke down in Reno after lunch & we had it towed all the way to San Fran, ugh! Didnt get to San Fran until about 7pm, thanks to crappy traffic over the pass.

[skippy3k]

We left around 2am after the man burned. I was actually surprised at the steady stream of vehicles leaving at that time. No lines (of course), but still more people than I thought for that early hour. I can also confirm the road conditions sucked that early on, especially close to the road. The only delay we experienced was once we hit pavement, we were stuck behind an RV going 10 miles under the speed limit all the way to 80. I'm all for driving safe, but sheesh.....

[Milayna]

We left about 9am Monday morning, and it took us about an hour to hit pavement, hardly any line, but yeah the road conditions were horrible so had to go verrrrrry slow.

[FIGJAM]

Left Monday at about 4pm.

I thought I saw a speed limit sign when turning onto gate road off of the pavment that said "20mph"

So after passing gate on the way out, that's how fast everyone was going.

The far left 2 lane were packed and smooth.

I had a longer wait getting through Gerlach than getting to the pavement.

[Kenny Z]

Left at 2:30pm Sunday. The radio said there was no wait for the Exodus a couple hours earlier so I figured that meant Monday would be horrible (I was wrong). But I cruised all the way out to the pavement! There was some wait traveling through Gerlach but I don't mind being on the pavement and where nobody can try to be sneaky and cut you off.

[dragonpilot]

Geez, and I thot my Exodus was fast...1 hour and 55 minutes! A new Exodus record for me...never less than 3:30 hours in the past and last year the pulse took us about 8 hours (altho it was a lot of fun).

We left camp at 8:45 AM on Monday and hit the hardball at 10:40 AM. Pulse was supposed to start at 10 AM, but we didn't really sense it...had maybe one 15 minute stop.

I don't know what was different except the rumor that there weren't as many attendees as expected this year...but still, 1:55? Amazing!

[mudpuppy000]

Left at ~1pm sunday, no stopping at all till we started to merge onto the highway. 447/80 was clear all the way to Sacramento.

[AntiM]

All day Monday the radio told us there was no wait. No way to pack our camp fast enough, so we left Tuesday. Straight out, very bumpy, very dusty. Many asshats hauling ass, which was not needed. Saw one wreck on 447, and trash, so much trash....

[Mojojita]

Big cheers for the crew (Blue Cross!!!!) who redesigned the gate road and the exodus pattern. The big sweeping turns on gate road and the increased number of lanes helped make it easy both coming in and going out. During opening, all those cars had room to be on the road, on the playa, and not stacked up on 447. This is the first year in as many as I can remember that Exodus was this easy for so many people.

[pink]

Left on Tuesday pretty much during the whiteout. I can say a LOT more people stayed until Tuesday this year. Last year 7:30 & D was empty playa with the exception of our camp, but there were plenty of people still chilling on Monday night this year. A steady stream of vehicles to the gate around noon-12:30 and down 447 Tuesday and plenty of Burners at the Sands that night. It seems the worst time to leave was right after the temple.

I heard there were only 40,000 people left for the Man burn, and my camp had greeters in it who reported a steady stream of vehicles leaving fully packed on Tuesday DURING the event-shades of 2008 when a lot of people left after the dust storm on Monday who couldn't hack it. I'm truly ok with that! We needed a 'normal' dusty year to clear the chaff.