Home»Death Valley March 2012

In March I traveled from Las Cruces NM to Death Valley. I had not been to the valley in many years and wanted to see many of the things I missed during my earlier visit.
My most memorable side trips were to Badwater, the Lost Burro Mine, and the jeep trip to the Racetrack.
Badwater Basin is noted as the lowest point in North America with an elevation of 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. Mount Whitney the highest point in the contiguous US is only 84.6 miles away. The basin was considered the lowest elevation in the western hemisphere until the discovery of Laguna del Carbon in Argentina at −344 ft (−105 m).
Fifty-three miles from the Furnace Creek Resort and within the park boundaries, Scotty's Castle stands as a tribute to friendship. In the early 1900's, Walter Scott (Death Valley Scotty) convinced Albert Johnson to grubstake his gold mining expeditions. The gold never materialized but Johnson fell in love with Death Valley and took a liking to the colorful Scotty. Johnson and his wife, Bessie, built this two-million dollar home with luxurious appointments and Scotty claimed it was his and was building it from the profits from his gold mine. Owned today by the National Park Service, daily interpretive tours are provided year round.
Approximately 30 miles from the Castle is the Racetrack Playa (dry lake bed). The playa sits at 3608 feet and is 2.8 miles long and 1.3 miles wide. The moving rocks are a geological phenomenon found at the Racetrack. The stones slowly move across the surface of the playa, leaving a track as they go, without human or animal intervention. It is said they have never been seen or filmed in motion. Racetrack stones only move once every two or three years and most tracks last for three or four years. Stones with rough bottoms leave straight striated tracks while those with smooth bottoms wander. The sailing stones are most likely moved by strong winter winds, reaching 90 mph, once it has rained enough to fill the playa with just enough water to make the clay slippery. The prevailing southwest winds across Racetrack playa blow to northeast. Most of the rock trails are parallel to this direction, lending support to this idea. But some UFOlogists are said to believe aliens from other plants are responsible for the movement of the rocks. The rocks originate from the hills at the south end of the playa. I have actually seen them roll down the rocky hills onto the playa. In past studies of the moving rocks researchers indicated an 80 pound rock was said to have moved.
Mining has been a part of Death Valley for the last 140 years when gold was discovered in CA. But the logistics of supporting mining operations in the remote location made mining profitable for only the high grade ore mines. The Billie Mine, an underground borax mine was closed in 2005. Since that time no mining operations are allowed in the park. On the way to the playa I visited the Lost Burro Mine. This gold mine operated until the mid 1970s.