Thousands of Burning Man attendees are making their "exodus" as the counter-culture arts festival in the Nevada desert ends in a sea of drying mud instead of its famous party around a flaming effigy namesake.
Rain over the weekend turned the once hard-packed ground to mud.
One person died at the event in the Black Rock Desert, authorities said yesterday, providing few details.
An investigation is under way.
Organisers posted online this morning saying that the 8km road out was still too wet and muddy, but that they expected it to be dry enough to go through by noon local time.
The site is located about 24km from the nearest town and 185km north of Reno.
For days, some 70,000 people were ordered to stay put and conserve food and water as officials closed the roads and exits, ordering all vehicles to stay put out of fear they would get stuck in the mud and blocked traffic if they left.
But the National Weather Service forecast suggests that the rain is over.
"Yep, the rain cleared out of there," said Marc Chenard, a forecaster with the weather service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
"It'll be sunny today with temperatures in the 70s (Fahrenheit or mid 20s in Celsius)."
The weather service said the general area received 1.9cm to 3.8cm of rain since late Friday.
Some of the festivalgoers ignored the order to stay put over the weekend and attempted to walk or drive out to the nearest highway.
Others partied on in the rain.
Videos posted to social media showed costumed revellers -including a few children - sliding through the sticky mess, most of them covered from head to toe in mud.
"When you get pushed to extremes, that's when the most fun happens," said Brian Fraoli, 45, a veteran "burner" who works in finance in New York.
Mr Fraoli said he had tried to drag his luggage through the mud and escape, but gave up and decided to relax and enjoy the experience.
"Overall it was an amazing week and next time we will be more prepared," he said.
Every year Burning Man brings tens of thousands of people to the Nevada desert to dance, make art and enjoy being part of a self-sufficient, temporary community of like-minded spirits.
This year's version opened on 27 Aug and was scheduled to run through today.
It originated in 1986 as a small gathering on a San Francisco beach and is now attended by celebrities and social media influencers. A regular ticket costs $575 or €532.
The festival typically has a penultimate night send-off with the burning of a giant wooden effigy of a man, along with a fireworks show.
That has not taken place this year, although organisers earlier said it might still happen.
