I recently revisited a spot in Death Valley which I first photographed 7 years ago.  The place, called the "Race Track," is located 27 miles from the nearest paved road.  To get there you have to drive down a narrow dirt road so bad that 20 MPH seems like we were traveling at breakneck speed!  The Race Track is a oval-shaped dry lake about 3 or 4 miles long and a mile wide.  At its Eastern end is an outcropping of rocks that really look like a grandstand. The most photographed part of the dry lake bed, though, is at the western end.  This first shot is taken from there looking towards the East.



 

But the interesting subject of the racetrack is not this flat expanse ... it is what's sitting on it! 




Yes, the subjects of today's post are rocks!  At the western end, the Racetrack is bordered on the South by a mountain ridge, and the rocks on that ridge upon occasion fall down onto the track. 



So far, so good; nothing unusual.  But then when you look at the image below, the story begins to unfold. 

The rock in the foreground appears to have made a trail as it moved from a distance of about 100 feet away!  And, here, is the view of the very same rock and its track at eye level:



What forces moved this rock (and the others situated on the lake bed)?  The surface of the lake bed is pretty interesting all by itself ... it looks like someone came in and layed down tile!  The tracks remain for long periods of time as there is little in the way of precipitation or other forces that would remove them.

The next images shows a crazy pattern of tracks, and the "tiled" lake bed:




One theory is that when the lake bed gets very slippery with rainfall dramatically lowering the coefficient of friction so the rocks can slide across the bed powered by wind!


My own personal theory is that aliens come down at night from nearby mountains and use the rocks as a kind of bocci ball for a game!


I took this shot looking back into the setting sun to highlight the track:




And finally a portrait of four of us taking a final look back before we departed for that horrible ride back to our lodging!



My second visit to this place was just as interesting the first, and the mystery still remains ... How do those rocks move?


Adam

P.S.  I was  just reminded that Area 51 isn't very far away!  :)