Hippies, Faeries, and Hoboes at the 20th Rainbow Gathering

GREEN MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST, VERMONT: A young backpacker with short hair and jeans stands on a rock surveying the riot of color and scruff around him: tents draped with scarves, bands of face-painted kids, verdant hills, hairy people hanging around waiting for cookies. "It's my first Gathering," he says, taking in the scene. "I'm being pulled in so many directions. I guess I'll go where my karma takes me." He smiles and wanders off. In most of America, language that...