11 years of Burning Man mutant vehicles

Large sheep mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — The massive beast wandered across the Playa at Burning Man, coming straight for me. I quickly got out of its way, but not before I snapped a photo. Wildlife photographers have to take chances! And there is lots of wild life at Burning Man.

As noted in my last post, I’ve been sorting through and categorizing my Burning Man photos from the 11 years I have attended the event: 2004-5-6-7-9-10-12-13-14-15 and 17. I’ve created 15 categories and will do posts on several of my favorites from each category over the next several weeks.

The bigger tribes (groups) at Burning Man often create large mutant vehicles to transport their members around. Many of these come in the form of large animals— like really big animals.

The gargantuan fellow I dodged looked even scarier from the side.

I caught up with it at night a few days later at a burn and discovered it had laser eyes, which was even more disturbing. When I was processing photos for this post, however, I noted that the license plate on the front said Wool. The mutant was a sheep. It changed my whole perspective. Who worries about sheep! Going back to the top photo, I saw a friendly animal looking at me.

And why worry about a sheep when there are rhinos and lions and hippos and angry unicorns about! Oh my! Following are my photos of the large mutant animals I have found wandering the Playa during the day and at night. Enjoy.

Head shot of large mutant rhino vehicle at Burning Man. — This rhino is one of my all time favorite mutant vehicles in the Black Rock Desert.

Large rhino mutant vehicle crosses the Playa at Burning Man. — Here it is out wandering across the Playa.

Head of large mutant lion at Burning Man. — Here we have the king of lions. Note the Burning Man symbol cut outs on its cheek. Burning Man is ok! I guess.

Lion mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — A look at the full lion. My friend, Tom Lovering provides perspective by relaxing on the lion’s tongue! Is he about to become fast food?

Another favorite of mine: a mammoth. This fellow was on a potty break. Its passengers had all climbed off to use the port-a-potties.

Rooster mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — You could crow home about this fellow.

Rooster mutant vehicle at night at Burning Man. — Even more so at night.

Warthog mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — Your friendly, local neighborhood warthog.

Sideview of warthog mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — And a side view.

Large mutant vehicle unicorn at Burning Man. — Judging from this unicorn’s face, it had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed.

Large mutant vehicle unicorn at night at Burning Man. — It was still scowling at night.

Elegant unicorn Mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — A more elegant unicorn.

Cheshire Cat mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — The Cheshire Cat. Alice would be pleased. She would probably be enamored with Burning Man as well. I always feel like I am in Wonderland. And I am pretty sure that I have seen the Mad Hatter there.

Large white cat mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — And another cat. A very large white one. At least I think it’s a cat.

Blue hippo mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — Here’s another animal I am not 100% sure about, but I think it is a hippo.

Hippo mutant vehicle aT Burning Man. — Looking a bit more hippo-ish.

Hippo mutant vehicle at Burning Man at night. — There’s no question here. The hippo even came labeled: Hippo Love.

Large canary mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — One very large canary. I’ll bet it would be good at tweeting. Watch out Donald. You may have competition. (Peggy thinks it’s a rubber ducky.)

Horsecars mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — No cart before the horse here. The horse is part of the cart.

Close up of mutant vehicle horsecart at Burning Man. — The horsecart’s head.

Large elephant mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — A large elephant apparently having fun with a truck.

Wild thing mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — Burning Man is where the Wild Things are. Yum!

An armadillo mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — Folks from the South will recognize this Armadillo mutant vehicle.

Cockeyed frog mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — And I will conclude today’s post with another favorite of mine, a cockeyed frog. I think the tongue is made to shoot out flames. Apparently the frog likes to cook its bugs before it eats them!

NEXT POST: A PCT post if I have the time to put it together. A post on smaller animal mutant vehicles if not. It’s ready to go.

Burning Man green dragon mutant vehicle. — A green dragon waits patiently while its passengers climb off to admire a 30 foot high sculpture on the Playa at Burning Man.

I’ve been sorting through and categorizing my Burning Man photos, all 11 years’ worth including 2004-5-6-7-9-10-12-13-14-15 and 17. As you might imagine, there are several thousand pictures. I’ve created 15 categories and will do posts on several of my favorites from each category over the next few weeks. My plan is to use Mondays and Wednesdays for my Burning Man posts and Fridays for my Pacific Crest Trail posts. Expect a few other subjects on Fridays as Peggy and I wander.

I debated with myself over how to kick the series off. Frankly, starting anywhere works when focusing in on the creativity of this annual event in the remote Nevada desert. Art is everywhere. Appreciating and enjoying it is the primary reason I have returned to Black Rock City again and again. Of course, people go to the event for many other reasons as well, such as dancing and drinking to the rolling thunder of heavy metal into the wee hours of the morning. They also go to see and be seen, to dress up in elaborate costumes, to attend lectures, to escape from their everyday worlds, and to participate in and contribute to Burning Man’s unique culture. The latter is central to the event. I consider photographing the art and sharing it with you as part of my contribution.

One of the most creative endeavors at Burning Man is the building of mutant vehicles, which is undertaken by both individuals and groups, or tribes as they are sometimes called out on the Playa. They are three ways to get around at Burning Man: to walk, to bike (which most do) or to travel in radically altered vehicles— i.e. mutants. Normal cars, vans, trucks, etc. must be parked. Mutant vehicles come in a variety of forms from bugs, to animals, to ships, to you name it. Today I am going to focus on dragons, most of whom breathe fire! Now, back to the green dragon featured at the top of the post.