These "sailing stones" move across the dry mud bed about once every two or three years, leaving distinct tracks. According to a study cited in the questionably trustworthy source of Wikipedia, the stones move when thin sheets of ice melt during light wind. This one was so special that a photographer and friends were guarding it to photograph at sunset, but thanks to Taffy's diplomatic negotiations, we were able to take turns squeezing around it to capture it as well. It took 27 miles of driving in four-wheel-drive jeeps on washboard dirt roads to get there . . . good thing Taffy's a great driver!
I'm working on processing a version that includes the sunset and the colors in the clouds but I'm so new to LR that it requires more skill than I currently have. Will work on it and use it as a challenge, though.
Oh, there are some wonderful textures and lines in your shot! The trail which the rock left behind is so cool, as are the cobblestone lines of the ground. I envy you both this trip! :)
This is fabulous! But, um, I don't think you guys really had to drive yourselves over there??? I would have loved to see this part of Death Valley but we did not have the special jeeps or the driving skills!
@kerrynz - It IS a moving rock, but very seldom, only about once every two or three years! @888rachel -- when there are thin sheets of ice and wind.
It's really rather surreal as a place. The rocks are completely "loose" in that you could pick them up and move them around, and unfortunately, some people have done just that and the rocks are not where nature put them, but clearly placed elsewhere by humans.
@khrunner@julzmaioro -- you are both so right -- science fiction, mysteries unsolved, all that describes what seems unexplainable, but GPS and cameras have recorded the movements.
@peterdegraaff -- thanks for noticing it was the SAME rock as your photo, and I left you a comment on that photo because it's so wonderfully different. from mine.
@jyokota thank you. There is another photo on the next day in that album looking the other way. An extraordinary place. I still have colour photos yet to be developed
sounds like the same mysteries and crop circles... great shot..
@888rachel -- when there are thin sheets of ice and wind.
It's really rather surreal as a place. The rocks are completely "loose" in that you could pick them up and move them around, and unfortunately, some people have done just that and the rocks are not where nature put them, but clearly placed elsewhere by humans.
Thank you all for your comments and for following this series. We were only on our trip for five days, but I'm taking time to process only a few photos a day and learn LR, a big commitment! If you ever have a chance to go, most of the places are quite accessible. You fly into Las Vegas, rent a car and drive about three hours, and almost all of our photos were taken in places that are easy to get to within the park. This one place, though, Racetrack Playa, requires renting special jeeps.