Sublime Photo - About the Homepage Image

My homepage background image is a photo taken at the "Racetrack" in Death Valley National Park, state of California, U.S.A. The rock formation seen in the photo is known as the "Grandstand" and is near the north-western end of the Racetrack.

This image is the original photo I used for the homepage before it was cropped, colorized and otherwise manipulated. It was taken in the morning, just after sunrise, with my Pentax 67II and a 45mm lens. The wideangle perspective lends an eerily unusual shape to the long early morning shadows cast by the rock.

The Racetrack is the large mud playa of an ancient lakebed in central Death Valley and it was given its name because there are many rocks that seem to "race" across the mud flats. Well... not exactly race, but these sliding rocks can leave very obvious trails across the playa and sometimes there is a whole group, all going in nearly the same direction, seemingly racing each other.

This image was taken near the southern end of the Racetrack and clearly shows how a sliding rock has left an imprint on the playa and has even pushed a small pile of mud ahead of itself! The Grandstand formation is visible way off in the distance at the top-left of the image.

The precise explanation as to how these rocks actually slide and leave a trail is still unclear, but the best theory seems to be a combination of wet or slightly icy mud flats and high winds. Winds in this area are known to be violent at times, reaching 130 km/h or more during some winter storms. It is thought that when the mud playa is at its most slippery, and the winds are really blowing, these small rocks (weighing anywhere from 1 to 8 kg) are very slowly pushed along the mud flats, leaving their characteristic indentations in the storm-softened and slippery mud.

When the playa is completely dry, as in the above photos, it is essentially rock hard - one can jump up and down and not leave any visible marks. It is fascinating to wander the mud flats and observe all the amazing tracks. At times they can be quite curved and even swerve back and forth, presumably in response to changes in wind direction.

Mike Mander, May 2004

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