(*) My guess is that this is where the myth of the super-corrosive playa dust came from. It is, as I've said before, unwise to go barefoot on the Playa. Many of the nearly naked people running behind the water truck, will be doing so with shoes on. Getting shoes wet is a good, quick way of destroying them, especially when one is dragging a few pounds of a clay-like substance on each shoe. Again, the damage has a simple mechanical cause, instead of the chemical one that has been alleged. [ return ]