Whatch Yah Dune?

After photos at the Salt Flats, Ethan wanted to head up to this place called the Racetrack. It’s an area where wind has blown rocks across mud flats, so it looks like the rocks are moving. The photos of the place looked amazing and I was getting excited to see it. The park rangers warned us on more then one occasion that it is a very rough road, and you need high clearance on your vehicle to get there. Ethan decided the VW van could make it.

About 5 miles down the 27 mile road we heard a bang, then eventually a part dragging. After stopping we discovered that the washboard road had caused the shock to overheat and explode (Check out Ethan’s blog for photos). After some laughing and cursing, we turned around to head back, only to have the other shock blow up as well.

At this point we decided to get out of there and head for the place to camp. The next morning before we headed in to town to hopefully fix the van, we stopped by some sand dunes for sunrise. This turned out to be one of the best photo opportunities of the trip so far. The light on the dunes was amazing, and the setting moon provided some outstanding photos. In the one below, Ethan took off up this large dune. Though he was moving fast to begin with, He quickly slowed down and crawled to the top.