Ubehebe Crater (Death Valley National Park, California)

My friends, Brent and Nick, and I had long heard of the sailing stones of Death Valley. After talking to the rangers on my last visit to the park and learning that winter is the ideal time to adventure in Death Valley, we decided to do some camping and explore some of the wonders the park has to offer.

Our adventure started with Ubehebe Crater, a large volcanic crater at the northern end of the park. Upon walking to the edge of the giant hole in the ground, I was amazed by the scale. I'm just guessing here, but the crater is probably 3/4 of a mile across and 600ft deep. The entire area surrounding the crater is covered with black volcanic ash, which adds a distinct character to this part of the desert.

After gazing in and taking a few pictures, we decided to descend into Hades and check out the bottom of the crater. A fairly well defined path leads down the gravel-covered side of the inner cone. The trip down seemed to take no effort at all and was much more akin to snow-shoeing downhill than anything else I can compare it to. The only challenge was to ensure we didn’t' fall flat on our faces and glide the rest of the way down. After a few dusty minutes, we reached the bottom and found ourselves surrounded by the inner cone. It's massive. The ground here is . . . well . . . a little bizarre. It's a dry red mud that has cracked open into large palm-sized flakes, but then has much smaller flakes on top of each of the large flakes. It really is interesting to look at the crack patterns.

We spent a few minutes exploring the bottom and then decided to make our way back to the rim. Obviously, going up was not nearly as easy as going down. Climbing back up the loose gravel at this grade and for this duration is quite the test of endurance. Along they way, my throat starts to feel as if it has a covering of dust all around it. I cough and hack my way back to the rim, and then once again marvel at nature's beauty in this valley of death.

Racetrack Playa (Death Valley National Park, California)

The main focus of our trip was the Racetrack Playa, which is a remote valley in the northwestern wilderness of Death Valley. It is famous for the sailing stones, which I had heard stories and reports about for a few years. On the muddy expanse of playa, rocks (in some cases large rocks) apparently move all by themselves, leaving a trail etched in the surface. Sometimes the paths are straight. Sometimes the paths curve. And sometimes, the paths take sharp turns or even double back on themselves. I had always wanted to see this natural wonder and today is the day.
 
Nick had been told on his visit to the park a couple of years ago that it was necessary to have a 4x4 vehicle with special tires to reach the Racetrack Playa. However, upon talking to rangers and reading some articles on the Internet, we believed the trip could be made in my Jeep Wrangler, which has some heavy-duty tires on it. Passing Ubehebe Crater, we turned down the gravel road towards the Racetrack, expecting it to be a rough and hazardous ride. To the contrary, it wasn’t' bad at all, and didn't even really require a 4x4. The trip is about 29 miles from the crater and traverses some amazing vistas of the park. We pass numerous joshua trees and other vegetation on our way.
 
Finally, we see the vast Racetrack Playa in the distance, with the "Grandstand" at the northern end. We make our way to a makeshift parking lot to find numerous other adventure seekers already here. We get out and start walking out towards the Grandstand, which is a rocky island in the middle of the dry muddy sea. Along the way, we are amazed at how smooth and lifeless the playa is. I have been to the Black Rock Desert before in Northern Nevada, but the playa there wasn't nearly as smooth as this. This almost seems polished when running ones fingers over it. We reach the Grandstand and begin climbing around exploring. Eventually, we find a few stones around the Grandstand that have some faint trails behind them. It is pretty amazing to ponder how this could have happened.
 

After a while, we decide to head down to the southern end of the playa, near where we are planning to camp. Again, we find a makeshift parking lot and begin exploring this end of the playa. While there is nothing at this end like the Grandstand formation, the sailing stones are far more numerous here. We begin seeing them about a 1/2 mile from the parking lot. Each one we find is surpassed in splendor by the next. The variety of trails and rock sizes is amazing. Finally, we make our way to a rock face on the southeast corner, which seems to be the source of many of the rocks scattered about the playa. As we approach the frequency and density of the sailing stones increases rapidly. There are hundreds of them here, most with a unique trail of some kind.
 
As the sun begins to go down in the west, we decide to make camp. Heading another 1/4 mile or so south of the playa, we come across the primitive campground we had been told of. We erect our tents and prepare some dinner over our camp stoves. Night falls quickly out here in the remote desert, as does the temperature. We go to bed with intentions of rising early and seeing the sunrise over the playa.
 
I awaken a bit before my friends and decide to get out and make some coffee over my camp stove. Wow!!! It's cold out here. I'd guess the temperature is only about 20 degrees at this early hour of 5 AM. As I hear my friends beginning to rustle in their respective tents, I begin packing my gear.
By 6 AM, we are packed back at the Grandstand parking lot. Sunrise is still about 30 minutes away, and with the unobstructed wind here on the northern end of the playa, it is damn cold! We explore the area and prepare for the sun. As it breaks over the mountain, we are able to capture some very cool pictures of the Grandstand, the playa, and of course, the sailing stones. Our time well spent, we decide to head on back to civilization.