People coming from the south will only feel the increased traffic, however those coming from the north will need to drive an extra hour to get to the festival. Trust me, look at the maps now and get your self figured out. You do not want to arrive at those detour signs at 3:00 am and then have to take an extra hour around to get there.
We come from up in Missouri so we will need to change our route to go through Joplin and then drop down and around through Arkansas. While this sounds like a pain in the butt, and it is, it is better than falling off a mountain to your demise.
The NORTH GATE WILL BE CLOSED. Do not go to the North Gate. Everyone will have to be processed through the South Gates.
Now lets add Mother Natures second trick to the bag. Riverside is somewhat flooded with standing water as the river rises and falls. This flooding is supposed to recede before the festival, however it will leave conditions less than stellar for the poor schmoes that will be camping at riverside. If I was camping at riverside I would be bringing a couple of bails of straw or hay to help shore up my campsite before I pitched any tents.
The end all is that Mud boots are not just a thought. Mud boots are a requirement for this years Wakarusa. The actual weather reports are actually looking decent. Hopefully that will pan out and we will not miss a bunch of music like 2013. Yet, remember when you play in the mountains you never know what to expect, so plan for it all.
People forget that the Ozarks are mountains. They think of the region as lake of the Ozarks and branson with it's lake front fun and off off Broadway shows. Yet, these are old mountains that have had their tops weathered off over millions of years of crazy weather. However, they are still mountains, and with that comes the potential for weather to go a little crazy.
They are thought to have been created when south American collided with North America millions of years ago. There is records of original inhabitants of the areas going back 7000 years, and the first European explorers are recorded in the area in the 1540's. The geography shows a period of 1200 year where droughts ravaged the area and then times of deep forestation, as it is now. The original inhabitants lived in caves and moved on during the drought stage looking for more hospitable territories.
Wakarusa is on top of a mountain in the Boston Mountain Range, which is the largest of the Ozark mountains. The mountains can range up to 2000 feet high. This means that walking down, or up from riverside is no easy walk. It is 3 miles of windy steep narrow roads that you don't really want to do unless you have no other options. Think before you scoff at the bus line up and try to do it on foot. Wakarusa provides a bus option that can be found near the road. Just follow the line of people with pool noodles and towels, they are probably headed down there for a swim.
The last thing I am going to mention is timing. While we know all traffic needs to go through the south gate and that the festival folks are working to add more lines to the south entrance, the check in is going to be less than stellar. The trick is going to be timing it. Let me tell you, people are going to be coming down early to get in line. They will spend 10 maybe even 15 hours in line waiting for the gates to open. I don't know that this is such a good idea.
Maybe coming a little later after the first push of the gates has had a chance to empty out might be a better choice. I know it is hard to wait. I know it is all excitement and joy. Just know yourself and how much patience you really have and then plan your timing. Know that it is going to be a cluster so bring something to amuse yourself and chill out.
Last year in line there was a guy in an RV in front of us. His name, we learned, was Carlos. He came out of his RV dressed as a hippy soul and then disappeared. Hours went by and he did not return. The line started to move and we were stuck hostage to Carlos. Everyone just kept yelling Carlos. You could hear it go up and down the rows of cars. He eventually showed up and was changing into a nice pair of pants and shirt. He was obviously less that sober. He fumbled with his shoes and took his sweet time. At this point we had little love for Carlos. He eventually moved towards the check point. The problem was that by that point Carlos had totally pissed off security and the staff by not being in his RV for hours. He ended up getting pulled out of line and searched like a pile of kids looking for candy.
So my word to the wise is hunker down for a good wait but be on it. Don't just take off to the river and forget that you are actually in a line up. At some point it will move and the folks behind you will not be amused by your absence. Carlos!!!!!! All weekend we would scream Carlos and hear returned screams of the same.
Wakarusa is going to need every line they have to get people in so lets help it happen as quickly and efficiently as possible.
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