The nation's largest counterculture convention is under way. Clothes may be optional. Pot may be prevalent. But please, don't swim in the reservoir.
About 10,000 people had arrived for the 21st annual Rainbow Family of Living Light gathering by Thursday. Another 10,000 were expected by the weekend, Forest Service officials said.Each year, the gathering culminates with a prayer for peace on July 4, which the loose-knit band calls Interdependence Day. Thousands of people hold hands in a giant circle.
John Tarleton, a fruit picker, hitchhiked for four days from Houston to attend. He said he came to meet intriguing people and to "step totally out of the violent, inquisitive feeling" of mainstream society.
"People think it's just a bunch of naked hippies," he said. "But it's a highly organized affair."
Accessible only by dirt roads, the campsite in western Colorado's Gunnison National Forest is 20 miles north of Paonia.
Rainbow Family security meet travelers about six miles from the campsite, directing them to a grass parking lot.
Near the lot, people board rented trucks and pickups, which shuttle them to a small reservoir at the foot of a crescent of 11,000-foot peaks. Greeters at a welcome tent give an orientation speech, then direct the new arrivals to the campsite in meadows west of the reservoir.
"This works as a consensual anarchy," said Barry Adams, of Missoula, Mont., an organizer of the first Rainbow gathering in 1972. "This is not chaos. Chaos is abuse."
Among the rules: No swimming or bathing in the reservoir. Use the latrines, watch your campfire, and, women, don't camp alone.
"This is the real world here," said Adams. "It's not Nirvana, it's not heaven. It is paradise on Earth."
Volunteers staff the various facilities, including communal kitchens with names such as Quit Yer Bitchen Kitchen, Lovin' Ovens and Inn Decision.
Collections are taken to pay for food, gasoline and medical supplies.