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Our 3 Mystery Hours At The Racetrack Valley
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Our 3 Mystery Hours At The Racetrack Valley

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One day I attended a lecture of the world class photographer Michael Melford from the National Geographic Magazine and became inspired by him to visit the Racetrack Valley (Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, California, U.S.). He was telling us funny stories about his multiple tries to capture those sailing stones. It was mission impossible to catch them moving.

While we where traveling around the USA, I put it on our agenda. I confess it was challenging to get there, but it was 100 percent worth visiting it. We spent about 3 hours in calm and mystery, just two of us and our Maltese bichon. No tourists, no locals – nothing. It was something special…

Just a few words about this place: The sailing stones are a geological phenomenon found in the Racetrack. The tracks have been observed and studied since the early 1900s, yet until 2014 no one had ever seen the stones in motion. In August, 2014, researchers observed rock movements using GPS and time-lapse photography. So rocks move when ice sheets are just a few millimeters thick start to melt during periods of light wind.

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    It looks like a scenic dry lake

    It is forbidden to touch or move stones

    That is why this place is called Racetrack!

    Calm and peace troubles us a little bit

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    The surface is covered with small but firm hexagonal mud crack polygons

    No vegetation just some dried plants

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    Stones are very heavy and big

    What a strong power is our nature

    Who is the next leader?

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    Diana Garbacauskiene

    Diana Garbacauskiene

    Author, Community member

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    Diana Garbacauskiene

    Diana Garbacauskiene

    Author, Community member

    Photographer

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    helena_trentor
    Community Member
    9 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nice shots, you manage to capture some of the feeling from the place. I was there with a few years back and it is very cool!

    helena_trentor
    Community Member
    9 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nice shots, you manage to capture some of the feeling from the place. I was there with a few years back and it is very cool!

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