Exodus begins from Burning Man after 70,000 trapped in desert mud

The organizers of Burning Man, the annual countercultural festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, opened the gates Monday afternoon to allow attendees to leave after an inch of rain over the weekend caused a muddy mess that had made travel out fraught with risk. There was a line of RVs and cars over a mile long as the exodus began, though many of the more than 70,000 festival goers opted to stay for the delayed ceremonial burning of "the Man" Monday night.

Some partygoers described a harrowing few days of muddy chaos while others said the mud added a memorable festive layer that epitomized Burning Man's ethos of radical communal self-sufficiency. One attendee in his 40s died, but Burning Man organizers said the death wasn't related to the weather. The festival will continue until a wooden temple structure is torched on Tuesday night.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.