I've got a fellow Alaskan making his first trip to Sasquatch this year and he was asking for some tips. I sent him this email to try and summarize as much as possible. Let me know if I forgot anything. He is also planning on taking an RV, so many of my suggestions are tailored to that aspect. I haven't rolled Mase style for a few years, so let me know if there are some additional tips for RV's. I guess I could just read the RV thread, but then I would be stuck contemplating why there wasn't a myspace movie.
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There are a few different campgrounds to choose from:
Wild Horse is a campground where all the old and pregnant people camp where they can sit around and complain about kids nowadays and go to bed at 9:00. Some of the board members love it, but you have to pay extra for it and it is miles from the gorge. They have a shuttle that takes people to Wild Horse after the music ends, but there is always a huge line of people waiting for it. Also, if you want to party at the main campground at the end of the night, you can pretty much guarantee you'll have to walk back to Wild Horse in the dark (Weenie!!).
Premier Camping is kind of like Wild Horse but it is actually in the Gorge campground. They have a section fenced off and you need to be wearing a premier wristband to get in. It's a lot quieter, and I think they have some kind of noise curfew (although it is literally right next to general, so if you are on the edge of premier, it could still be pretty noisy). You can easily walk between premier and general. I usually know a large number of people at the festival, and during the day we kind of bounce from campsite to campsite. When some people end up camping in premier, we never end up seeing them because they actually have to leave premier and find everyone. They also can't be like, "Hey, lets go back to my campsite and do some blow" since only premier campers are allowed past the checkpoint. I think they have a few more showers than general, but I have never showered there.
Terrace and VIP camping - No.
District 9 Camping (aka general camping). Without a doubt I would recommend general camping, especially for your first Sasquatch. A lot of people complain about the noise and how it is too hard to sleep, but that's a bunch of BS. After a full day of standing/sitting in the sun and drinking, I find it pretty impossible not to sleep. Noise also shouldn't be an issue for you if you guys are getting RV's. Price of general camping is included in the ticket, so there is no extra cost. RV's park alongside cars, but they will usually give the RV's a lot more space than cars. If you are taking multiple vehicles, just make sure you enter together and stay together and you should have no problem. If someone is arriving late, you can probably direct them to your campsite to park, but you need to sacrifice some space.
Other random thoughts:
Lock up your shit. I always hear about people getting shit stolen from their tent and I don't understand it (I'm talking to you Daver).
It gets cold at night, sometimes really cold. I usually end up sleeping in fleece pants and a sweatshirt inside my sleeping bag. You'll want to bring a sweatshirt into the venue, which is a pain in the ass during the day, but it's necessary. Lots of people bring in backpacks, but I hate standing in crowds with backpacks so I never have brought one in. I usually just wear cargo shorts to hold my water and whiskey and throw my sweatshirt over my shoulder. Bring an extra pair of pants in case you need to lend them to a 17 year old.
It gets hot in the morning. It is pretty much impossible to sleep in when it's 100 degrees inside your tent. Those same fleece pants and sweatshirt that I just mentioned need to be shed around 7:00 am. Make sure you are wearing something under it, because within the next hour you'll need to open up your tent to the world to get some fresh air circulating. The last thing you want is the entire gorge walking past your tent and seeing you in spandex undies spooning a camping chair. I've never slept in an RV there, but I imagine it's much better.
Backpacks are searched on entry to the venue. The severity of the search depends on the asshole doing the searching and how long it's been since he got laid. Sometimes they have you open it and they just peek in, and sometimes they pull everything out. I've even had people rifle through my packs of cigarettes and open my cans of chew.
No outside alcohol or beer allowed, but many people have poured vodka ---Censored - No secrets will be revealed--- and gotten it in that way (all water bottles must be sealed). I usually just put a pint of whiskey in my ---Censored--- (asshole). They found it once, but that dude was a dick and grabbed my ass and ---Censored---. I just had to dump it.
Hydrate or die. Bring lots of water to the Gorge and enough bottles to bring in at least 2 into the venue a day. You can refill your bottles inside at the bathroom stations, but it is a huge pain in the ass, so it's best to have two bottles with you so you are not always standing in line to get water. They sell water in the venue, but it's expensive and they take the cap so you can't throw a full bottle at Perry Farrell. Then you end up having to hold the water all day like an asshole.
Bring twice as many cigarettes as you think you will need. I don't smoke, but I do at Sasquatch, and I usually go through about a pack a day. Bring twice as much beer as you think you will need. Beer goes quick, and they sell out at the general store in a heartbeat. Bring three times as many lighters as you think you'll need. I am the worst with lighters. I lost 4 in one night and no one would give me one the rest of the weekend due to my horrendous track record. I tried telling them that I had just found a lighter sized hole in my pocket, but the damage was already done.
We usually bring one of those small camping barbecues for cooking hot dogs, but there is enough food for sale at the campground to survive the whole trip. If you cook hot dogs, plan on giving them at least an hour to cook so you can piss off everyone waiting for food. Our grocery list usually consists only of water, hot dogs, buns, mustard, BBQ sauce, chips, baby wipes, propane bottles, and red bull.
Baby wipes. Remember I said I don't shower there, but that doesn't mean I'm filthy.
Speaking of baby products. Baby powder. Living in Arizona now, you should be getting used to the heat, but if I forget baby powder, I end up walking around all day with a wide stance trying to prevent my thighs and cheeks from touching each other.
The general store sells ice, but it is kind of a walk depending on where you are camped. We usually freeze a bunch of water bottles prior to leaving and use them to keep our cooler cold. If you have an RV you should have a fridge and freezer, so you can probably get away with only needing enough ice for beer.
They allow re-entry, but it's about an hour walk round trip to the campground and back.
Sunscreen is your friend, but I guess it's always been your friend (dude is a ginger).
If you're taking an RV, only use the shitter to shit. You will fill it up the first day if you are all pissing in it, and then you'll be relegated to the honey buckets with the rest of the commoners.
I usually start up the car once a day to charge cell phones. You can do it without starting the car, but I would rather waste some gas than have to jump a vehicle at the end of the festival.
Flashlights and headlamps come in handy. Especially when it's too dark to tell which honey buckets are in use and which aren't.
Hammers also come in handy.
Stake your shit down. I imagine if you're doing an RV then you won't have tents, but if you bring a canopy, you'll need to make sure it doesn't get swept away by one of the numerous wind storms the rip through the campground. It's not Sasquatch until you see someone's tent flying around a couple hundred feet in the air. Also, take the cover off the canopy when you leave it, 25% of canopies in the campground end up destroyed by the wind.
No binge drinking devices allowed. If you bring a beer bong, don't let security see it or they'll take it. Don't leave it on the ground at the end of the night, because each morning I see security walking around with a bunch of beer bongs in their arms.
Buy tickets early. They sold out quickly last year and they were extremely hard to find afterwards.
Cell service sucks at the Gorge. It's usually a good idea to have an area to meet inside the venue if/when you get separated. ---Censored--- and I usually do our own thing, but we always end up running into each other because we always stand in the same general area at each stage. Plus we are giants in a crowd of small hipsters.
If you are planning on trying to get into the pit for your favorite band, make sure you go to the bathroom first. Depending on the band, it could take a long time to get in (usually only for headliners) and it would suck to spend all that time waiting just to have to leave to go to the bathroom. And it is not okay to urinate on the ground during Foo Dr. Garbanzohters. Shit
spbelt (spl atters - fucking
s) and I will inevitably be standing directly behind you in sandals wondering why it started raining on my feet.
Print a schedule. Javier is the only person that knows where the schedules are located and he's far too busy running shit to be bothered.
TL;DR - Don't blame you.