The Burning Man choice: a ‘harrowing’ hike or sticking it out in the mud

In the face of unprecedented downpours, unsafe roads and growing concerns over the integrity of the toilet facilities, close to 80,000 people gathered at the Burning Man festival were left with the same binary choice over the weekend: an uncertain escape through muddy, bogged-in roads, or hunker down and keep the party going.

Celebrity DJ Diplo was among the many who chose to make a hasty exit.

After a six-mile walk through the mud with his thumb out, the musician said that a fan picked up him and comedian Chris Rock, stowing the two in the back of his pickup truck as they fled.

Thousands more remain at the Nevada campsite where a months worth of rain has fallen in just three days. The wet weather has turned the annual arts and music festival into a sea of mud.

Authorities have ordered people to shelter in place, but that order came after many had already begun the attempts to drive or walk to the nearest highway, about 8km away, where organisers had previously said shuttle buses would be available from.

Former Obama administration official and supreme court lawyer Neal Katyal was among those who made the journey.

“It was an incredibly harrowing 6 mile hike at midnight through heavy and slippery mud,” he said on Twitter, accompanied by pictures of his experience.

Katyal said that conditions remained very wet making it difficult for vehicles to operate and warned people not to make the hike out of Burning Man unless they were in good shape and part of a group.

“Talk your friends out of the hike unless you really think they can do it safely. There are treacherous places where it is worse than walking on ice,” he said.

US journalist Lee Fang said he had observed a number of vehicles that had attempted to leave, but become stuck.

“I just walked by about 30 various RVs and cars that can’t move,” he wrote on Twitter.

Officials announced on Sunday that one person had died at the event. Few other details were provided and an investigation is under way.

Thousands of others remain stuck at the camp, having come prepared for the dry, dust-heavy heat of the desert. Katyal said that conditions in the wet and muddy camp remained fine, with a lot of food and water that people were generously sharing.

A person walks in the mud at the Burning Man festival. Photograph: Diana Jensen/EPA

Despite the weather, many other revellers continued to party, with videos posted to social media showed costumed festival-goers sliding through the sticky mess, most of them covered from head to toe in mud.

“When you get pushed to extremes, that’s when the most fun happens,” said Brian Fraoli, 45, a veteran “burner” who works in finance in New York.

Fraoli told Reuters that he had tried to drag his luggage through the mud and escape, but gave up and decided to relax and enjoy the experience. “Overall it was an amazing week and next time we will be more prepared,” he said.

Rebecca Barger, a photographer from Philadelphia, told the Associated Press she was determined to stick it out through to the end, but that one of the biggest concerns has been the lack of toilet options, since the trucks that normally arrive to clean out the portable toilets multiple times a day haven’t been able to reach the site since Friday’s rainstorm.

There were some reports trucks had resumed cleaning on Sunday.

Burning Man attracts tens of thousands to the Nevada desert every year, with the promise of being part of a temporary community of like-minded arts and music lovers.

A Burning Man participant makes their way through the mud in Black Rock City. Photograph: Usa Today/Reuters

In recent years its popularity has grown as celebrities and social media influencers joined the crowds gathering in the desert, with a minimum ticket price of $575.

The festival is run on a “gift economy” philosophy, with goods and services bartered or provided without the expectation of receiving anything in return.

It’s an ethos that fungi-expert Paul Stamets says was on fulls display on Sunday.

“More rain showers on the horizon,” he warned, but added that it was a “great community of people who are not only self-reliant, but who also are generous in helping others.”

“This is not as difficult as it may appear, but certainly not for the faint of heart. I am so impressed with the skill sets that people have which contribute to the wellbeing of each other.”

The festival gets its name from the burning of a large wooden structure called “The Man” on the second-to-last night. Organisers were planning to attempt to light the fire on Sunday night, even though more rain was forecast.

“Everyone here seems in really good spirits,” said Paul Reder, who has been going to the event for 22 years, adding that people were sharing food and water. “There’s a general sense that this is going to end soon, the gates will open and we’ll all be on our way home.”

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report