Lakes Letter – June 13th, 2022

LAKES LETTER || WhatWhereWhen and Map for 2022 | Ticket Transfer Deadline | Before You Leave for Lucky Lake… | After You Arrive | Packing Dos and Don’ts

WhatWhereWhen and Map for 2022

We’re pleased to give you the PRINT WhatWhereWhen for Lakes of Fire 2022! Weighing in at 84 pages, this is perhaps the largest WWW we’ve ever produced. Thank you to everyone who put in the time to bring a theme camp, finish an art project, tool up a mutant vehicle or prepare a music set and plan an event to share with everyone. It’s because of you that we have so much to share.

If you only want the map, here is the full-color version and a printable grayscale version. Big thanks to Mare Mare and the Placement Team for this year’s gorgeous map!

And last but not least: we are delighted to give you the digital, mobile WhatWhereWhen at 2022.lakesoffire.org. The digital edition has a full events list, art projects, mutant vehicles, and theme camps. Favorite the events that catch your eye and view them on your agenda. Your phone will have a “Save to Home Screen” or similar option – this will make an icon that launches the app directly and full-screen. Thanks a million to the Info_Bot volunteers who made this happen! Aztpod on UX design, Meph on app infrastructure, Sean on the data platform, and the whole ‘Bot team on their feedback.

Ticket Transfer Deadline

The last week of transfers is upon us! A few reminders:

• Receive ticket first, then send payment. We can reverse a transfer, but not a payment to a scammer.
• If you are using the Facebook LOF Ticket Info & Exchange group: once your ticket is sold, or your need for a ticket is satisfied, please update your post and close comments. We want to keep the active offers/requests up top of the bookface feed.
• Transfers end Friday June 17, at 11:59pm Central.

Good luck everyone!

Before You Leave for Lucky Lake…

• Be familiar with the Gate Check-In process, and remember: Lakes of Fire is a no re-entry event.
• Be ready with your COVID vaxx card or recent test result; see our COVID safety policy.
• Have your government ID.
• Are you volunteering? Will you need to use a radio on your shift? Sign the radio waiver
• Are you bringing a phone? Assume you will lose it. Point of advice: set your lock screen to a picture with your NAME, your CAMP, and a friend’s contact information. You won’t regret it! (May want to turn on “Share My Location” with said friend, while you’re at it.)
• Don’t plan on getting any deliveries. We are serious about admitting only ticketed participants past Gate, and about being a no re-entry event. Delivery people don’t get in, Gate volunteers don’t deliver packages to the Lake, and stepping out to accept the delivery yourself means exiting the entire event.

After You Arrive

What are some things that you can do after you get through Gate, especially if you need assistance?

• After you are finished unloading, park in the lot outside and plan to leave your vehicle there (unless you have registered your vehicle with the Department of Mutant Vehicles).
• If you’re an artist, check in with ArtHub at Nexus. They are prepared to give you logistical support.
• If you haven’t volunteered for a shift yet, check in with Info_Bot at Nexus and ask if there are any shifts open. You will get a guaranteed volunteer ticket offer if you step up for 8 hours, but you definitely won’t get that if you don’t sign up and/or you flake out on your shift.
• If you do have a volunteer shift, check in with Volunteers at Nexus to make sure you have the right meeting place and time. Ask any questions you have. The Volunteer Dream Team is here to help the helpers.

Packing Do’s and Don’ts

DO Pack

We’ve got some pro-tips for you first-timers. This is not an exhaustive list – notably missing are things like “clothes for all weather and temperature”, “food”, and “lighting”. (But to touch on each of those briefly: you won’t regret overpacking clothes, you will regret overpacking food, and the more light you can wear at night, the more stylish you look. Visible is sexy.)

So besides what you’re already packing, here are some gifts to yourself and to others:

• Cash for ice and firewood. Firewood is $5/bundle, ice is $3/bag. These are for sale by the Nexus. The price for ice may be higher, so have some singles and be ready to pay a couple extra bucks.
• Lanyards. If you’re a volunteer and you have a lanyard from another event, bring it for the laminate you get on shift! Help us keep down on waste and expense.
• Canned food for the Greeters Food Drive. All foods go to the Trinity Community Pantry in New Era Michigan, a food bank that helps the community that has one of the highest rates of hunger in the state.
• Ingredients list for your food gifts. Save someone the use of an epi-pen! Make note of things like dairy, eggs, nuts, shellfish, nightshades/peppers, MSG, etc, etc.
• A gray water system. Don’t let it scare you – “gray water system” can be as simple as “a bucket with a lid and panythose over the top.” You pour your waste water (from cooking, brushing teeth, making coffee, etc) into the bucket, and the panythose will catch the solids. When you pack up camp, put the lid on the bucket and take the whole thing out with you. Trash the pantyhose and flush the water at home – the service stations outside of Lucky Lake do not want you to dump your gray water on their turf.
• A MOOP bag. Keep a small, durable bag on your person as you walk around Lucky Lake to stash your occasional bits of plastic and litter. Lakes of Fire is a Leave No Trace, “pack in/pack out” event, and having a MOOP bag on your person is the easiest way to do your part.
• Earplugs. If loud music bothers you, having good earplugs will extend your wandering range at night, and will make the music camps more fun/less devastating for you. Bonus perk: better sleep.
• Electrolytes. Stay hydrated.
• A thin plastic drop sheet for your bed. Crazy, right? If you put this over your bed before you head out for the day (or night), it will keep your bedding from getting damp. The drop cloth stops your sheets from wicking up the humid air, so that when you are ready to crawl in for sleep, you’ll be nice and dry. (It’s also insurance against a roof leak in your tent if it rains.)
• A set of fresh, dry clothes to wear on Sunday for your exodus from Lucky Lake! No matter how you feel when you get in the car to go, cozy Exodus clothes are a big gift to yourself.

Do NOT Pack

There are some things that just aren’t worth it to bring.

• Alcohol. We have reports of alcohol being seized during pull-over checks by police – it’s an old law in Michigan still being enforced. Buy your booze in-state!
• Trampolines. Yes they are fun, no they aren’t allowed; we are forbidden by our event insurance.
• Besides trampolines, avoid the forbidden items as detailed on our Gate Department/entry procedure page: Fireworks, weapons, glass, illegal substances, handheld lasers, and pets (Please see our Service Animal policy under our ADA Liaison page for service animal exceptions).