Exodus begins at Burning Man party

BLACK ROCK DESERT, Nev.

Revelers stuck in the mud for days at the Burning Man festival in Nevada finally began heading home on Sept. 4.

With the sun now shining on the colorful makeshift community of 70,000 people called Black Rock City, the roads opened in the afternoon, kicking off the official exit process known as the "Exodus."

"Exodus operations have officially begun in Black Rock City," the festival said in a statement on its website. "The driving ban has been lifted."

Festival-goers had been stranded since torrential rains, described as two to three months' worth in the space of hours, came down Friday night and Saturday, turning the venue into a quagmire.

So-called "Burners" wearing trademark outlandish outfits trudged through the thick, sticky mud with plastic bags as boots or in bare feet.

Some left on foot, hiking for hours in the middle of the night to make it to the nearest road and hitch a ride back to civilization. The closest airport is a three-hour drive away in Reno.

The festival, for which tickets cost hundreds of dollars, culminates each year with the ceremonial burning of a 12-meter effigy.