Death Valley Visitors Guide - 11th Edition

16 Death Valley Vistiors Guide • 11th Edition WWWHOLIDAYINNEXPRESCOMPAHRUMP F amed naturalist John Muir once said, “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” Nature has many such temples. A place where one may visit and feel the power of the natural scene fill them with strength and renewed enthusiasm for life. Where the magic of the setting brings forth the very best in us all. Death Valley National Park is a land of extremes, oddities and mystery. Tucked away in a remote corner of this expansive wilderness lies a very special place. A place of great beauty, of great mystery and of much magic. The Racetrack Playa lies at an elevation of 3,608 feet. The Playa is a dry lake bed, about 3 miles long and 1 1/2 miles wide. The surreal setting is stunning. The exceptionally flat playa glistens creamy white in the desert sun, and is surrounded by dark, brooding and barren mountains. About 1/3 of the way down the playa, a small island of dark rock thrusts dozens of feet into the desert sky. Walking on the Playa is an experience in itself. The vastness of this landscape becomes intensified the further you walk onto this old dry lake bed. As you travel toward the southwest corner, you begin to notice the Playa has become littered with dozens of rocks. And the unusual thing about these rocks is that many of them have a distinct trail furrowed into the playa surface trailing from the rock as if to indicate the direction from which the rocks have come from. Some of these trails are straight, most are zig- zagged, many are curved and some even make 360 degree loops. These are the famous Moving Rocks of the Racetrack Playa. The Rocks have been studied by scientists for decades. No one knows for sure exactly how these rocks “move” though there is a most widely accepted (but not the only) theory. During winter rains, enough water may fall to form a shallow lake over the playa. As the water begins to evaporate, a thin layer of soft slick mud will form on the playa surface. At this high of an elevation, freezing nights and even days are not uncommon during the winter months, freezing the slippery slick mud. Like many desert basins, the winds blow often...and often they blow with exceptional velocity. Strong winds will literally push the rocks across the partially frozen and slippery mud playa. As the winds change directions, so does the course of the rocks. The power of the scene will bring the most jaded urban dweller to their knees in this holiest of nature’s temples. The stark and vast beauty combines perfectly with natures “magic” of the moving rocks. The Playa is located 27 miles north of Ubehebe Crater on a fair dirt road. Depending on recent weather, the road can be quite rough and is not recommended for ordinary passenger cars. Check with the Rangers for current road conditions before heading out. Be considerate of others and do not walk on the play if it has rained recently. Footprints will be left in the soft mud that will last until the next big rain. Walk onto the play only during dry conditions. This rock leaves its trail across the Racetrack Playa. DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK PHOTO. The Racetrack Playa and the ‘ magic ’ moving rocks