{"id":13532,"date":"2015-12-03T00:00:25","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T08:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/?p=13532"},"modified":"2015-12-12T21:01:33","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T05:01:33","slug":"december-3-2015-the-racetrack-and-northern-death-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2015\/12\/03\/december-3-2015-the-racetrack-and-northern-death-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"December 3, 2015  The Racetrack and northern Death Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13542\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9644_Racetrack\" width=\"750\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack.jpg 750w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack-195x123.jpg 195w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack-300x189.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>After lunch in Furnace Creek, Marcia and I headed north on Scottys Castle Road. \u00a0This took us through the northern portions of Death Valley. \u00a0Scotty&#8217;s Castle and the Grapevine Canyon Road were closed due to a big flood in October, but our plan was to make it to the Racetrack Valley before sunset. \u00a0Of course, every trip to the Racetrack requires a quick stop at Ubehebe Crater.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9621_Ubehebe.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13533\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9621_Ubehebe-300x176.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9621_Ubehebe\" width=\"300\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9621_Ubehebe-300x176.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9621_Ubehebe-209x123.jpg 209w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9621_Ubehebe.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9631_Ubehebe.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13534\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9631_Ubehebe-300x190.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9631_Ubehebe\" width=\"300\" height=\"190\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9631_Ubehebe-300x190.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9631_Ubehebe-193x123.jpg 193w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9631_Ubehebe.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9629_Ubehebe.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13535\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9629_Ubehebe-300x192.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9629_Ubehebe\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9629_Ubehebe-300x192.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9629_Ubehebe-191x123.jpg 191w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9629_Ubehebe.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9623_Ubehebe.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13536\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9623_Ubehebe-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9623_Ubehebe\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9623_Ubehebe-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9623_Ubehebe-184x123.jpg 184w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9623_Ubehebe.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Usually the wind is 20 to 40 mph at the edge of the crater, but it was nice and calm on this visit. \u00a0The road from Ubehebe to the Racetrack playa is about 27 miles in length, and is not paved. \u00a0You figure it might take 50 or 60 minutes, right? \u00a0Nope! \u00a0The road was not in very good condition along many sections. \u00a0Some segments were quite rocky. \u00a0The road starts off along the northwest and west side of Tin Mountain (in the Cottonwood Mountains), and it was pretty much like driving on an alluvial fan with two wheel paths to help guide you and the vehicle. \u00a0Eventually the road improved a little, as it traversed a wider part of the valley, but it was horribly wash-boarded most of the time. \u00a0Anyway, it took about 90 minutes to do the 27 miles, and we didn&#8217;t have much daylight remaining. \u00a0It would be pretty dark by about 5 p.m. \u00a0I drove my battered and totally rattled X-terra another two miles to the south end of the Racetrack, where I thought we had a better chance of seeing the moving rocks and their tracks. \u00a0And it was not difficult! \u00a0We walked onto the dry playa and found a handful with very nice tracks. \u00a0I wish we had had more daylight to enjoy the playa, especially since we were the only ones there. \u00a0After about 30 minutes we started the bumpy ride back to the north. \u00a0We stopped near the crater again to check out the very dark night sky, and I tried a 200mm shot of Andromeda Galaxy. \u00a0Not bad for an amateur!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9633_RacetrackRd.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13545\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9633_RacetrackRd-300x192.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9633_RacetrackRd\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9633_RacetrackRd-300x192.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9633_RacetrackRd-191x123.jpg 191w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9633_RacetrackRd.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9636_RacetrackRd.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13544\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9636_RacetrackRd-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9636_RacetrackRd\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9636_RacetrackRd-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9636_RacetrackRd-184x123.jpg 184w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9636_RacetrackRd.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9637_RacetrackRd.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13543\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9637_RacetrackRd-300x188.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9637_RacetrackRd\" width=\"300\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9637_RacetrackRd-300x188.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9637_RacetrackRd-195x123.jpg 195w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9637_RacetrackRd.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13542\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9644_Racetrack\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack-300x189.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack-195x123.jpg 195w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9644_Racetrack.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9650_Racetrack.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13541\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9650_Racetrack-300x196.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9650_Racetrack\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9650_Racetrack-300x196.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9650_Racetrack-188x123.jpg 188w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9650_Racetrack.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9649_Racetrack.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13540\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9649_Racetrack-196x300.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9649_Racetrack\" width=\"196\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9649_Racetrack-196x300.jpg 196w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9649_Racetrack-80x123.jpg 80w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9649_Racetrack.jpg 426w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9652_Racetrack.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13539\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9652_Racetrack-300x196.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9652_Racetrack\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9652_Racetrack-300x196.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9652_Racetrack-187x123.jpg 187w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9652_Racetrack.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9653_Racetrack.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13538\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9653_Racetrack-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9653_Racetrack\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9653_Racetrack-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9653_Racetrack-184x123.jpg 184w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9653_Racetrack.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9658_DV-Andromeda.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13537\" src=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9658_DV-Andromeda-300x162.jpg\" alt=\"151203_9658_DV-Andromeda\" width=\"300\" height=\"162\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9658_DV-Andromeda-300x162.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9658_DV-Andromeda-227x123.jpg 227w, http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/151203_9658_DV-Andromeda.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; After lunch in Furnace Creek, Marcia and I headed north on Scottys Castle Road. \u00a0This took us through the northern portions of Death Valley&#8230;.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2015\/12\/03\/december-3-2015-the-racetrack-and-northern-death-valley\/\">[Read&nbsp;More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,61,36,17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13532","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-62","7":"category-astronomy","8":"category-death-valley","9":"category-desert","10":"category-landscapes","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13532"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13549,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13532\/revisions\/13549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}