Backwoods put on a good show this year and while the unfortunate events on Sunday evening put a little bit of a damper on the weekend I still had an amazing time. Me and my wife got in Friday afternoon without any issue and hardly any line for check in. We were directed to parking for our vehicle and told where the woods camping was located. We walked with our gear a half mile or so to find a spot which was a little difficult as much of the groomed woods area was already claimed. We ended up finding a spot tucked behind the art installations a little off the beaten path in the woods and set up camp. Once we got everything set up we walked around and got familiar with the layout of the grounds. Security at the main stage wasn’t too bad and did not usually have much of a wait. Music was great starting off with EOTO and ending in the AM with a Yheti sunrise set.
There was a nice selection of merchandise and food vendors, and we spent most of the day Saturday perusing the variety of goods available. Saturday evening was headlined by Space Jesus and Rezz and continued late into the night. Sunday we decided to make the trek to the waterfall down the mountain, the walk down wasn’t too bad and took around 30 minutes to get to the stream at the bottom of the path. We followed upstream for another 10 minutes or so to get to the falls where there was a good size 10 ft waterfall and many smaller falls. After relaxing for a few hours we decided to head back to grab some food before music started. The hike back to camp was definitely a challenge and took around an hour to make it back up the mountain. The juice was for sure worth the squeeze and I recommend all who attend an event at Mulberry Mountain experience it.
Sunday evening kicked off with Minnesota and he was dropping some heat but some pop up thunderstorms caused the stage to be shut down and all were advised to head back to camp and take cover for the storm coming through. After the storm passed through I started walking around to assess the situation. Many vendors had their booths damaged or destroyed from the winds and rain. A beautiful rainbow shone bright as the sun set behind the mountains in the distance.
Everything calmed down and we tried to head back to the Aqua Station stage, noticing that there was a lot of activity with police and ambulances arriving. We were told the stage was closed and all further music would be at the main stage. We headed to the main stage looking to get the evening reignited. Unfortunately once we got into the main stage area and the artists on stage finished, we noticed that no one else was coming on stage. Our fears were confirmed a little while later with an announcement that all music was on hold until further notice, without much of any explanation. At this time I was just thinking the storm had caused damage to the equipment and they were trying to get things going again. Eventually once I had gone to bed for the night they made an announcement that there had been an accident involving the helicopter that had been giving sight seeing tours on the grounds. We found out later that 3 beautiful souls had lost their lives with 1 additional person in critical condition fighting for his life.
“Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain