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Video: At Death Valley’s Racetrack, eerie rocks, rare water

This dry lake bed is toward the north end of Death Valley National Park

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Twenty-seven miles from the nearest blacktop, toward the north end of Death Valley National Park, lies the Racetrack.

As this video shows, it’s an old lake bed, mostly dry now, and increasingly famous for the rocks that leaves spooky tracks as they scoot, millimeter by millimeter, across the flats.

What makes the rocks move? Researchers say it’s a combination of surface ice and wind -- but it only happens occasionally.

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Anyway, it’s an eerie place and you can get there via Racetrack Valley Road, which begins at Ubehebe Crater, just a couple of miles from Scotty’s Castle. I was there in December, just after a rare rain.

“A Minute Away” is a video series in which nothing much happens -- except you see the world, and hear it, and get a respite from workaday life. We’ve covered Machu Picchu, Red Square, the Yucatan, the Alamo, an Alaska float plane and the reading room of the New York Public Library, among other place. We add a new minute just about every week. So if you’d prefer a full hour away, we’ve got more than enough here for you…

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