Death Valley, March 31, 2006: Day 3

We had some excitement on Day 3. First we drove to Ubehebe Crater, part of a complex of volcanic craters. Next we went to Racetrack Playa to see the mysterious rocks that form long, winding tracks in the playa surface. On the way back from the playa, my van got a flat tire. After fixing the tire, another van started to develop engine troubles. We ended up having to abandon that van and continue the rest of the trip without it.

Ubehebe Crater
More Ubehebe
Diana talks about phreatic explosions
Diana at Ubehebe
Eve, Diana, and Kathryn at Ubehebe
On the way to Little Hebe
Eve and the volcano
Neat volcanic rocks filling in polygonal cracks
Hand for scale
More cracks
Still more
First look at Ubehebe ash deposits
More ash deposits
Fresh outcrop
Colin for scale
Still more ash deposits
And more
Teakettle Junction on the way to Racetrack Playa
Racetrack Playa and the grandstand
Polygonal cracks on Racetrack Playa
More cracks
Chasing the rocks
One of the Racetrack Playa rocks
Another angle
Ah! It's after me!!
Neat mud tracks
Small rocks make tracks
Another view
Complex tracks
Jani and a rock
Inspecting a rock
How does it move?
Big rocks can make small tracks
Diana, Veronica, and Robin follow a track
Some of the tracks are very complicated
Another view
Fixing the tire
Mechanic Diana
Mike helps out
Cross-bedding in Ubehebe surge deposits
Eric points out cross-bedding
More cross-bedding
Closer up of cross-bedding