Horacio and Freddy found us right when we were about to seize the day. What a coincidence! They were renting a tent cabin in the same campground. We decided to hang out together for the rest of the day. Freddy really wanted to see the racetrack and we had in mind to check out the big crater. So we headed out 46 miles north toward Scotty's castle. The road to the castle has been closed since 2016 due to floods.
We drove up to the crater's rim. From the edge we could see the massive walls and the crater's floor.
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| Bighorn Sheep along the road to the crater |
We exited the crater's loop and headed down on Racetrack road. This is a gruelling 25 miles of bumpy dirt road.
The views were incredible. Tall mountains flanked large valleys covered in creosote bush. After about 15 miles the bush gave way to a Joshua trees forest several miles long.
5 miles before the racetrack, we approached the teakettle intersection.
The road toward mount Hunter could take us back to Panamint springs and it would be a nice shortcut, but a tour guide told us that the road is very narrow and treacherous and our truck would not make it through.
We proceeded straight toward the racetrack. After more miles of bolders and holes, we arrived at the racetrack playa.
This is a very flat area covered in mud that at times can be either wet or dried up and cracked in honey comb patterns. This area is so flat that the difference in level is at the most two inches. The name racetrack is due to the rocks that leave tracks as they move on the mud surface. Is it magical? Not really. When the mud is wet from the rain, it freezes, encasing the rocks. If the wind blows, the rocks slide because they are sitting on a slab of ice. Fascinating!
We couldn't get enough. I took so many photos. Here's a small sample.
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| clothes iron |
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| turn |
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| race |
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