Rainbow Gathering 2010

It's been longstanding policy on this blog not to show photos of people. I like people as much as the next guy. But The Journal is meant to provide its readers with a feel for the forest, the solitude and silence.

And yet, I couldn't resist taking the better part of a free Saturday to trek out into the regions of the ANF where "The Rainbow Gathering" is taking place...just to see what's going on. The Rainbow Family are a diverse bunch of people from all over the country who get together once a year to generate positive energy for world peace

The annual gathering always takes place in one of our national forests and culminates on July 4 in a few hours of silent meditation, followed by group prayers (mantras, orisons, petitions, etc.) for peace.

This is the third time the ANF has hosted the gathering since its inception in 1972. I think that speaks well of us.

And so, while I usually go to the forest for solitude, I just couldn't resist the draw of 12,000 visitors from all over the nation camped out right here in my beloved Allegheny National Forest. I just had to go and see the event with my own eyes.

What I really wish is that I wasn't so camera shy. There were 12,000 bohemian-types milling around smoking weed and strumming guitars, and I was the only person with a camera...(and no, I wasn't smoking weed...or strumming a guitar for that matter). I would have loved to get close up photos of the "sacred belly dancers," or the nudists dancing for the sun, or the way-weird, handwritten signage all over the place. The banner in this photo reads, "Welcome to eternal life."

These several candid photos cannot capture the pulsating beat of African style drums, the chanting of the dancers, or the smells of patchouli, woodsmoke, and marijuana that filled the air. At the entrance to the 2-mile hike back toward the main clearing, pictured here, there's a bright, handwritten banner that reads "Welcome Home." It's a little misleading, since you still have to hike 3 full miles into the forest to find the clearing where the bulk of the activities take place. But the banner marks the entrance to that long homeward trail. It also marks "A Camp," the only place on the grounds where alcohol is permitted (indeed, encouraged!).

They were friendly people. Most of them greeted me warmly. Some even yelled, "Welcome home." It was a strange greeting for me because--well--I felt proud to be their host here in the ANF, the patch of woods that I regularly study, and survey, and explore. They're good folks, if a little out-of-the-ordinary. The Rainbow Gathering is like a big, old-time campmeeting for folks who understand the importance of peace. Of course, just like at the old-time campmeetings, there are a few scoundrels who follow the crowds looking to take advantage. But I'm glad the Rainbow Family includes the ANF in their circuit.

It was a pleasure to see the wilderness hills alive with tents, to hear music ringing out in forest glen, to see hundreds and hundreds of cars lining FR119, an otherwise little-used track that skirts the edges of the Hickory Creek Wilderness Area.