Illegal tire tracks mar Death Valley dry lake famous for mysterious moving rocks

Review Journal ^ | September 21, 2016

[Jack Black]

The average annual precipitation in Death Valley is 2.36 inches https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley#Climate

None the less, the playa regularly turns into a lake. Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on it:

The playa is in the small Racetrack Valley endorheic basin between the Cottonwood Mountains on the east and Nelson Range to the west. During periods of heavy rain, water washes down from the Racetrack mountain area[1] draining into the playa, forming a shallow, short-lived endorheic lake. Under the hot desert sun, the thin veneer of water quickly evaporates leaving behind a surface layer of soft slick mud. As the mud dries, it shrinks and cracks into a mosaic pattern of interlocking polygons.

So, I still say the odds are very good that the "damage" of tire tracks will be gone by next spring.

Which does not excuse people being jerks in the wilderness. If it's posted, keep off.

But, one also must understand that Obama & Clinton are adding millions and millions of acres to National Monuments and then setting them "off limits" to motorized travel, essentially closing vast tracts of the West to citizens that have been open for, in most cases, over 100 years.

I'm not speculating about this. Roads that my friends parents took them on sunday picknicks on in our nearby National Forest have been blockcaded. Not one or two, but dozens. Any landslide or tree blockage is frequently left in place, to deny users access.

[Jack Black]

It's a playa. A very specific type of desert lake found in the Western USA. I've spent about 3 months on and around one over the last 15 years. What's your experience with them?

Oh, yeah, I thought so.

I've posted the Wikipedia article about this specific place, above. Try reading it. You might learn something.

You are simply wrong. But authoritative! Ignorant know-it-all syndrome on FR hasn't changed in the last five years, but it's not gotten much worse either. Thankfully.