Greg Jahn Photography

Racetrack Valley was one of the most fascinating and enjoyable encounters I have had with the natural landscape. Spending a few days out on these perfectly flat and big dry lakes is interesting enough in its own right, but on this playa you find many rocks with crazy patterns of tracks from when they have moved. After many decades of people studying this phenomenon, no one has yet to see a single rock move! And, as if this is not enough of a mystery, I began to notice another aspect to the mystery that I have found few people mentioning ... for some of the tracks, the rock is gone! At first I assumed this was inconsiderate and selfish people taking a rock, but I noticed that the frequency of 'missing' rocks did not change as I walked to the farthest side of the playa from where you park your car.

I had read and seen pictures of these wonderful rocks of Racetrack Valley, but it wasn't until I actually walked out and among them that I could believe it was real. I found it absolutely amazing. I spent two days photographing Racetrack, and the image you see before you is my favorite one, and ironically, the very first photograph I took.