This is another view of the Racetrack Playa, a remote dry lakebed in Death Valley, California. It's an almost perfect oval, 3 miles long and two miles wide, accessible only by 4x4, high clearance vehicles. I'm pretty sure we were the only visitors on the day we went out there. This is the view south. The Playa is one of the flattest natural surfaces on Earth, this north end being 2 inches higher than the south end, 3 miles away. The only non-flat surace being the rock formation directly in from of me, called the Grandstand.
32mm, f/2.8, 1/250, iso100
Tags: Racetrack Playa Playa Death Valley Grandstand Creative Commons 2018
A couple of the famous sliding stones on the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley. It was only a few years ago that the mystery of how these stones move was solved, check here, if you're interested.
The real adventure was the off-road trip out there, about 25 miles each way, which is 3 hours each way of very rough track, and in parts, no road, just driving up a dry arroyo. We seemed to spend as much time on 3 wheels as 4, expected the inevitable breakdown or flat tire, but we were lucky. We saw nobody else all day, and it was 124 F (51 C). In short, it was epic.
No wonder the mystery was so enduring, nobody ever got to witness the phenomenon happening.
Tags: Creative Commons 2018
The infamous sliding rocks of Death Valley. How they move, nobody knows!
Tags: Sliding rocks Racetrack Playa Death Valley Public Creative Commons
A colorful landmark in Death Valley, California. Each kettle is either dedicated or signed.
Tags: Death Valley Teakettle Junction Public Creative Commons
We found this Joshua tree (and several thousand others) in an around Death Valley. Ever since a group of Irish rock musicians stopped their car, and took a picture by one, I've been fascinated by and been bono'ing up on this oversized Yucca plant. Almost all my pictures were of me with my ski hat on, doing my best Edge impersonation (not terribly good), so I almost didn't take a picture of the "tree" on its own at all. The Joshua tree ended up getting named after U2's album of course, instantly becoming less Yucca and more (like all celebs, fake) tree.
This one was about 10 foot tall, and I've read they have a shallow root system (just like me) so tend to topple easily in storms.
PS - And yes, I know it wasn't named after the album.
Tags: Joshua Tree Yucca Death Valley Desert Yucca brevifolia Creative Commons 2018