Death Valley: Land Of Extremes Part Six

Filed in archive on March 10, 2007

Getting low to the ground I observed the way the curves of the boulder paths could change directions so suddenly and abruptly. However, with further study I found that these trails have never been witnessed in person. A few hardy scientists were once burdened with the task of measuring the boulders' movements. They discovered lines in the mud ranging from short creepings all the way up to relatively modest slides.




The bizarre movement of these galavanting rocks is simply due to the natural environment of the high desert. The peaks encircling this special place can be subjected to heavy precipitation, during these times of intense rainfall the lake bottom tries to revert to its former self by becoming a mud plain. This is when this specially marked place on the map reverts to its namesake and truly becomes "The Racetrack". Boulders that have sheared off and rolled down to the lake bottom are then picked up by high winds, leaving the trails for us to ponder.

Out there on the dried-up lake bed it was hard to conceive of conditions that would allow this phenomenal occurrence to take place. The sky was not clear, there were low-lying mats of white across the entire horizon, but the air was filled with a stillness that lacked animosity. Our disbelief in the power of the natural world and her ability to shake things up would be our undoing. Little did we know on this gorgeous morning walking on the djlgdlk that we would be forced into a premature departure from death valley National Park - the old fashioned way - by weather.

ER Harris