In March of this same year, I was in quest of one of the illustrious grails in Death Valley National Park. To successfully transcend the torturous washboard and gravel Racetrack Valley road with the end-goal of visiting the strange and mysterious Racetrack Playa and the “sliding rocks”. But, being older and more calculating in my risks, two miles into the Racetrack Valley road I turned around and penned my failure HERE.
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt./ Shakespeare
Not to be denied, and with the investment of new tires and shocks for my 2002 Subaru, the timing was right over Thanksgiving to head back out to the real desert and conquer the beast of a drive. Good adventure planning usually will include other “tasks” and so my agenda was simple and destined for success:
- Visit the Angel Ladies Brothel outside Beatty
- Visit the International Car Forest outside Goldfield
- Visit the Ghost Town of Rhyolite
- Visit The Goldwell Open Air Museum
- Enter Death Valley National Park via Titus Canyon
- Conquer the Racetrack Highway and visit the Teakettle Junction, the Racetrack Playa and the Sliding Rocks
- Make it home in one piece with no new auto repairs!
- Have a ton o’ fun and meet new people!
NORTH TO GOLDFIELD
Amargosa Valley is barely a blip on the map except for sand rail enthusiasts heading out to the dunes, and for most Las Vegas folks the first chance to take a leak after the morning coffee. I did have on my hit list to grab some shots of the “Alien Cathouse” for historic value but as I quickly found out it was just another one of Dennis Hof’s brothels. The Right Wing GOP could learn alot of this guy but, still not really within my interest level. But, his gas station was loaded with swag stuff for sale.
Next stop was to visit the historic Angel Ladies Brothel. Prior to the 1970s, the brothel had been known variously as Circle C Ranch and Vickie’s Star Ranch. In 1978 an accident during a promotional stunt on the property resulted in the crash of a twin-engined light aircraft. The wreck has been located next to the brothel’s billboard ever since, and used as a spectacle to attract customers from the road. Mack Moore attempted to sell Angel’s Ladies in 2007, but ended up taking it over again two years later as a result of foreclosure. He subsequently sold the business again in 2010, this time for $1.8 million, and continued to run it as a leaseholder. On 10 August 2014 he retired and closed the business.
Still heading north on Interstate 95, another 70 miles gets me to the International Car Forest. This is probably something you would not go out of your way to visit and you would also probably not even notice it as you pass through Goldfield, but, as a photographer, you could creatively spend a half day hear having fun. This massive art installation is the brainchild of Chad Sorg who eventually became President of the Goldfield Chamber of Commerce. Sorg was employed by the Nevada Art Council as an art delivery van driver to distribute work to exhibits around Nevada. In those travels, Sorg met Mark Rippie who as a Goldfield resident had already started planting cars in the desert. Rippie recruited Sorg as an artist to paint the roofs of the cars and promote the car forest.
Goldfield started as a town in 1902 due to a large discovery of gold in the area. In the span of six years it had grown from two miners to over 20,000 people. It started to slow down in 1910 when the cost of mining rose and finally got whipped out in 1923 by a tragic flood. Now after years of economic hardships Goldfield is now most known for its “haunted” Goldfield Hotel.
Sorg and Rippie’s solution to this is the Car Forest. A sideshow attraction to bring positive attention to the town. With an artist being the President of Chamber of Commerce it makes sense to use an art project to promote economic growth in the town. [CREDITS for some of the historical reference: Nick Rattigan]
RHYOLITE GHOST TOWN
I am a big fan of shooting Ghost towns and old mining towns. Mostly for the “texture” and the understanding the true sense of adventure that was required to forge out West in the early 1900’s.
Rhyolite is just outside Beatty, Nevada to the west and named for the igneous rock and smack dab in the middle of the Bullfrong Hills. The Bullfrog Hills are at the western edge of the southwestern Nevada volcanic field. Extensionally faulted volcanic rocks, ranging in age from about 13.3 million years to about 7.6 million years, overlie the region’s Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. The prevailing rocks, which contain the ore deposits, are a series of rhyolitic lava flows that built to a combined thickness of about 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above the more ancient rock.
Industrialist Charles M. Schwab (no, not of the stock brokerage fame) bought the Montgomery Shoshone Mine in 1906 and invested heavily in infrastructure, including piped water, electric lines and railroad transportation, that served the town as well as the mine. By 1907, Rhyolite had electric lights, water mains, telephones, newspapers, a hospital, a school, an opera house, and a stock exchange. Published estimates of the town’s peak population vary widely, but scholarly sources generally place it in a range between 3,500 and 5,000 in 1907–08.
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake struck fear in investors and the mine was closed in 1911. By 1920 the population had gone from 3,500+ to ZERO. For as many ghost towns that I have visted, Rhyolite was well preserved and you could genuinely get a sense that this was a boomtown back in the day.
As I came up to the end of the road, I met a couple of adventure riders. I no longer ride but I had some great times riding in Alaska and struck up a conversation with these kats from Oakland. I always enjoy shooting motorcycles in the backcountry and Jerome and Tristan were heading out through Titus Canyon so I hoped to get some shots of them kicking up some dirt!
As you depart Rhyolite, you stop by the Goldwell Open Air Museum. I really love these installations way out in the boonies. Fun stuff to shoot!
The Goldwell Open Air Museum is a nonprofit museum was organized in 2000 after the death of Albert Szukalski, the Belgian artist who created the site’s first sculptures in 1984 near the abandoned railway station in Rhyolite. The sculpture, The Last Supper, consists of ghostly life-sized forms arranged as in the painting The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. Szukalski molded his shapes by draping plaster-soaked burlap over live models until the plaster dried enough to stand on its own. In the same year, using the same techniques, Szukalski also created Ghost Rider, a plaster figure preparing to mount a bicycle.
Between then and 2007, other artists, including three other Belgians, added new works to the project. In 1989, Szukalski created Desert Flower, an assemblage of chrome car parts found in the desert. In the 1990s, Hugo Heyrman added Lady Desert: The Venus of Nevada, a cinder block sculpture in part based on the idea of the pixel. Fred Bervoets, in Tribute to Shorty Harris, celebrated one of the prospectors whose mining discovery of 1904 led to a gold rush. Dre Peters created Icara a hand-carved female version of Icarus, the boy in Greek mythology who flew too close to the sun. David Spicer fashioned Chained to the Earth out of rhyolite from a nearby quarry. Other works at the site include Sofie Siegmann’s Sit Here!, a couch created in 2000 for the Lied Discovery Children’s Museum in Las Vegas and restored and moved to Goldwell in 2007. In 2006, Eames Demetrios added a plaque, Rhyolite’s District of Shadows.
The museum is a member of Alliance of Artists Communities. In 2008, the New York State Artist Workspace Consortium selected it for a mentorship project. The Red Barn is the site of an arts festival, Albert’s Tarantella, held each year in October.
TITUS CANYON
In March I had hiked the slot canyons that finish the one-way drive from Rhyolite into Death Valley National Park. I was not sure how “treacherous” the drive was going to be but, it really was alot of fun. I could easily see myself bringing friends into Death Valley from this route via Beatty. Here is a dizzying time-lapse video of the drive.
Titan Canyon
From Highway 374 the one-way road heads west across the Amargosa Valley and climbs into the Grapevine Mountains. At White Pass it enters upper Titanothere Canyon. Colorful rock deposits along this section contain fossil beds 30-35 million years old. The fossil skull of a huge, rhino-like titanothere was found here in 1933.
Titanothere Canyon Hike: Those wanting to explore the remote lower reaches of Titanothere Canyon may park where the road crosses the second fork of the drainage. Lostman Spring is a good goal about 4.5 miles down-canyon.
Red Pass (5250’elev.)
The highest point on the road is this divide between Titanothere and Titus Canyons. Stop to enjoy the grand view in both directions.
Thimble Peak Hike: This 6381′ peak is the most prominent in the southern end of the Grapevine Mountains. Although not visible from Red Pass, it provides the easiest access. From the left bank of the road-cut, make your way south along rounded ridges. Thimble Peak soon comes into view across a saddle. Climb the north face to the summit.
Leadfield
The ghost town of Leadfield “boomed” for less than a year in 1926-27 because the lead deposits bottomed out quickly. All that is left today are a few shacks and a number of mines. Many of the mines are open, but enter at your own risk. Loose rocks, rotten timbers, unexpected vertical shafts, and animals seeking shelter are potential hazards.
Entering Titus Canyon
Just below Leadfield, the road enters the main fork of Titus Canyon. Limestone cliffs rise high above the broad wash; their folded layers reveal the work of great mountain building forces. Rugged, steep slopes provide habitats for bighorn sheep, cacti, and hanging gardens of rare plants.
Upper Titus Hike: To explore the upper drainage, park where the main fork joins the road 0.7 miles below Leadfield. Hike up the gravel wash through a broad, colorful valley. A good goal is the narrow side canyon from the right at about 2.5 miles.
Klare Spring
Bighorn Sheep depend on this small water source for their survival, which makes this one of the best locations in the park to view these elusive creatures. Native Americans came to the spring to hunt the bighorn and left behind petroglyphs pecked into the rock. These ancient designs are irreplaceable, please have respect and do not vandalize them.
Canyon Narrows
The final 1.5 miles of the canyon is the most narrow. The walls squeeze down to less than 20 feet apart in some places. As the road enters the narrows it detours out of the wash and descends what is often the roughest part of the entire trip. It’s a good idea to scout this section out before driving it. From there you enter an area of shadow and echoes that is best appreciated on foot. Hikers may walk up from the parking area at the canyon mouth, easily accessible via the final two-way stretch of the road.
RACETRACK PLAYA
It was about 3pm getting through Titus Canyon and I met up with Tristan and Jerome to figure out where the base place to poach a tent site without being amongst the throngs of RV’s and mobile homes. Unfortunately, my fav Mesquite Springs campground was closed due to some previous flooding and I thought I would head toward Ubehebe Crater and see if I could find a place to crash. I had no intention of driving all the way out to the Racetrack Playa as the sun was setting but my foot stayed on the gas. It was thrilling and nerve-wracking at the same time wondering how long it will take to cover 26 miles with speeds of 5mph (extreme washboard) to 40+mph with cushy rockstone gravel flying in all directions. It was a major relief to see some car campers about two hours into the drive and I queried “how far to Teakettle Junction”? I was there. Only another 6 miles to the Racetrack Playa and about 8+ miles to the primitive Homestake Dry Camp.
Well, I only made it as far as the Racetrack Playa. Despite the sliver of moon and stars, it was really dark. Great for astrophotography but a little daunting in an area you are completely unfamiliar. Even though I was parked directly in view of “The Grandstand”, I could not see it until I walked out onto the Playa with a flashlight and walked about a half mile. There was no wind, and it was starting to cool off and the skies were magnificent. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see the Grandstand and knew I had ARRIVED!
This was only a parking area and not a camping area so I modified my base camp aspirations and decided I would just sleep in the Subie and began cooking some dinner. After dinner I headed out to grab some shots. Even though it as extremely dark at ground level, and the moon was only a sliver, I still had to adjust my shooting angle because the moon was behind me and casting shadows. (click the photo to get a realistic view of how dark it was)
My research of other blogs confirmed as I am now confirming: Sunsets and nighttime are best, early morning not so much. The long shadows of the early morning light can be fun but in the future I would like to capture the sunset lighting which would required leaving by 1pm or so from Ubehebe Crater.
Racetrack is dry for almost the entire year and has no vegetation. When dry, its surface is covered with small but firm hexagonal mud crack polygons that are typically 3 to 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm) in diameter and about an inch (2.5 cm) thick. The polygons form in sets of three mud cracks at 120° to each other. A few days after a precipitation event, small mud curls, otherwise known as “corn flakes” form on the playa surface. Absence of these indicates that wind or another object has scraped away the tiny mud curls.
Sailing Stones @ Racetrack Playa
During the bimodal rainy season (summer and especially winter) a shallow cover of water deposits a thin layer of fine mud on and between the polygons of Racetrack. Heavier winter precipitation temporarily erases them until spring when the dry conditions cause new mud cracks to form in the place of the old cracks. Sandblasting wind continually helps to round the edges of exposed polygons. Annual precipitation is 3 to 4 inches (75 to 100 mm) and ice cover can be 1 to 2.5 inches (2.5 to 6.5 cm) thick. Typically only part of the playa will flood in any given year.
The sailing stones are a geological phenomenon found in the Racetrack. Slabs of dolomite and syenite ranging from a few hundred grams to hundreds of kilograms inscribe visible tracks as they slide across the playa surface, without human or animal intervention. Instead, rocks move when ice sheets just a few millimeters thick start to melt during periods of light wind. These thin floating ice panels create an ice shove that moves the rocks at up to five meters per minute.
The 2017 documentary Principles of Curiosity explores as its central theme the story of how the sailing stones’ movement had been a mystery which came to be solved using the scientific method and critical thinking. I prefer to think that aliens are bowling here for recreation.
Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself. It is not far. It is within reach. Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know. Perhaps it is everywhere – on water and land./ Walt Whitman
