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vehicles was to be a minor problem.
Moving eight cans of fuel, 20 gallons
of water, food, firewood, shelter,
sleeping bags, and a couple of ice
chests for liquid refreshments the 64
miles took three and one-half hours.
Several stops had to be made to reload
and retie the pile of supplies. It was
well worth all the effort as the hot
pools are super, the camping is free
and the area is a scooter rider's delight.
Each day of the trip we were lucky
and treated to a nice surprise. Everyday the jet jockeys from China Lake
Naval Air Station put on a show for
us. Mock dog fights, super low level
strafing runs and just plain fancy f] ying was enjoyed by all and it was also
free. The visit from Janet and her
girlfriend from Fresno at Margarita
time while in the hot pool was interesting!! One young rider got sunburned eyeballs looking at the scenery.
The trip to the Racetrack can be
. made several ways. It can be visited
on the way in, on the way out, or a
backtrack of about 40 miles from the
campsite. If the weather is good, who
cares about a little extra riding. The
"bypass" is located 10.3 miles from
the Hunter Mountain/Grapevine
Canyon j unction. The road goes east,
arrow straight, so it is easy to spot. Its
not bad for the first several miles but
once the first sharp turn is made the
going gets rougher. From the base of
the moutain its all uphill until the
summit, then a slight decent, a left
turn and the "racetrack" comes into
view.
Once there we set out on foot to
find the source of the famous sliding
rocks. Its a no-no to use vehicles on
the dry lake bed. After a short hikt we
found their birthplace in the southeast corner of the lake. The rocks,
mostly limestone, tumble down the
cliff and roll out onto the lake bed.
From there they start their unusual
gyrations.
The rocks have been mentioned by
explorers and prospectors as early as
1900, but were not studied until 1950.
Most of the rocks are in the 20- to
50-pound class but some as large as
200 to 600 pounds have been noted.
Movement by some of the sliders has
been charted and a big one once cut a
furrow 220 feet long. Smaller rocks
have slid 800 feet with right angle
jogs and even complete loops.
Experts believe wind is the most
probable explanation. They claim a
100 mph blow would be enough to
move most of them over a slick wet
surface. As dryas it seems, it does rain
here. Accounts of the fierce wind
have been published but on my three
trips here, there has been no wind at
all. In fact the dust from the bikes just
hung in the air. I will say that the
wind at Ubehebe Crater 20 miles up
the road does blow. On one trip it was
a real effort just to stand on the crater
rim and not get blown into Nevada.
There is one interesting story about
the rocks. One visitor took a rock
home (this is a no-no) and placed it in
his back yard. Weeks later he wrote a
nasty letter to the rangers in Death
Valley complaining that it had not
moved and he now believed the whole
sliding rock thing was a hoax.
We did the ride the long way, covering some 78 odd miles and all riders
and bikes made it without incident.
One bike did receive a couple of bent
spokes from being dropped on a
unsoft rock.
Back at camp we made ready for
the next day's ride. By the campfire I
passed on a few tidbits regarding the
valley's history. Saline Valley has
been passed over by most seekers of
mineral-wealth. A few talc mines are
now back in operation after years of
idleness. The Saline Valley Salt Works
is nothing now but a faint memory.
It~ ruins, unfortunately can hardly be
,found: AIdW of the "ram'towers that
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PARKER 400-SAN FELIPE 2S0-BAJA SOO-BAJA 1000
1982 SCORE Open Class 22 Points Championship
BILL HOLMES
DAVE CHASE
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