Some Solitude

One of my favorite places in the world is Death Valley. With all that geology going on there are still places you can go and find no one there. I spent 3 days camping up by the racetrack last spring, and saw one other person (for about 30 minutes) the entire time.

The racetrack is an interesting place. If you haven't heard about it, it's the place where rocks weighing hundreds of pounds tumble down from a cliff face and move, presumably of their own volition and desire, leaving tracks behind them. See my picture below:



Of course, with as much mystery as people discuss the racetrack, there doesn't seem to be much of a mystery to me. It's obvious (particularly once you're there) that when it rains, the water turns the lakebed into a slip and slide, and the winds through the valley are what move the rocks, blowing at 50 to 60 mph as they do. Hell, there's even rocks there that have a 'bow wake' in front of them, of dried mud.

Still, I don't want to take away all of the mystery of this wonderful place, so I will tell you a secret. At night, when you're camping under the stars, you can see the lights of spaceships twinkling in the distance. Probably over Area 51.