Stowaway
After a relaxing morning at the Lost Burro Mine, Mike and I headed out to the Racetrack. The goal of the day was to photograph the mysterious Sailing Rocks at sunset. We decided to explore the Ubehebe Mine on the way to the Racetrack.
The Ubehebe Mine was a lead mine discovered in 1906. It ran until 1916. There was still a couple of foundations, some track, a couple of old vehicles and remains of the tramway high on the hill.
After a few miles we were at the Grandstand. the rock formations in the middle of the playa were very intriguing. What wasn't so intriguing were the tire marks on the playa. Apparently some jackasses decided to drive out there there when the playa was wet. Those tracks are going to be there for years and years.
Continue past the Grandstand about two miles to the west end. That is where the sailing rocks are. If you walk out on the playa for about a half mile you will start to stumble upon them.
So we got there about lunch time so I figured I would eat my sandwich and drink a beer. Now mind you, when I go camping I don't take anything that involves cooking. I'm not there to cook. If it involves more than heating up water it is staying home. With that being said, my camping staples are oatmeal, instant coffee, a loaf of bread and some freeze dried stuff for dinner. I have been known to throw in an MRE once in a while. What tops all of that off is a jar of Goober . Now for those that are not familiar what goober is, it is peanut butter and jelly in a striped pattern in a jar together. In my opinion, this stuff is the shit. I don't care what you people say. It is sheer bliss and good childhood memories all rolled up into one jar. Now throw a beer in the mix and the meal is complete! So I grab the loaf of bread from the box on the back seat of the pickup and notice that some of the plastic is bitten through. The following conversation commences:
Me: WTF?
Mike: Don't worry about it. Your pack rubbed the plastic there.
Me: OK, what's this then (I point to another "rub spot")?
Mike: Your pack.
Me: Not buying it. Why are there chew marks on my bread? I think you let a mouse into the pickup back at the Lost Burro Mine. Great. A whole jar of Goober and no bread.
At this point we knew we had a stowaway with us. We searched and searched and couldn't find him, so we figured that a mouse had gotten into the bread when Mike had taken everything out at the Lost Burro to clean the front of the pickup out.
So I got over my Gooberless lunch and started preparing for sunset on the playa. I went out and scoped out my rocks. As the time neared I started marking the rocks that I wanted to photograph at sunset. I set my pack at one and my camera and tripod at another. Mike had also set some markers out there. Not many though, he seemed pretty fond of these three particular rocks that were grouped together. It was looking like we were going to have the place to ourselves. Ahhh yes! Lo and behold about 30 minutes before sunset, up rolls about 7 jeeps. It would seem that someone was having a photography workshop. I have never seen so many rude people. Stand in your shot, move your things and then point you to another rock so they can have yours. It would have been so easy to get up in their faces but I refrained. I went back over to Mike and we shared his rocks. About 10 minutes later a gentleman came walking up. Thinking that he was part of the workshop, I thought it was pretty brazen for him to be approaching us. Turns out that he wasn't part of the workshop so we let him stay and share our rocks. Seems he was from Australia. Super nice guy. He was going to stay out there until it got darker so he could do some star shots.
After we got our shots we headed to a campground not far from the playa.
DIRECTIONS:
From the Furnace Creek Visitor Center (Table 1, Site 0712), drive north on Highway 190 for 17.4 miles to Scotty's Castle Road (Site 0763). Turn right onto Scotty's Castle Road and drive north for about 33 miles to the Grapevine Entrance Station, which is a toll booth in the middle of the road (with water and restrooms at the nearby ranger station). Continue north for 0.2 miles to Ubehebe Crater Road (Site 0754). Turn left (west) onto Ubehebe Crater Road and drive northwest for 5.7 miles to Racetrack Road (Site 0756), which cuts off to the right (west) just before the Ubehebe Crater parking area. This is the start of the Racetrack Road.
After about 20 miles you will reach Teakettle Junction which means you are about 6 miles from the Racetrack, and is also the place you turn off to get to Lost Burro Mine. About a mile later you should start to see the Playa in the distance as it stands out from the other terrain like a sore thumb. You also will immediately notice the Grandstand which is the black rocks jutting out of the dry lake bed.
CAMPGROUND INFORMATION
Homestake Dry Camp, about 2.5 miles south of Racetrack Playa. Drive straight south past the playa; don't turn right at an unmarked intersection. The main road ends in a big loop at Homestake with four campsites. The only amenity is an outhouse. Now don't get all excited like I did and think you have the luxury of a pit toilet. No. We are talking a porta potty that is so beat up that you question it's integrity while you are using it. Anyway, it serves it's purpose if you are a brave soul!