Deep inside the Valley of Death, there is a place call Racetrack Playa where 700 plus lbs rocks roving across its flat clay surface by the natural power. During the raining seasons, water flowed down from the surrounding mountain tops and collected on the playa and created a temporary lake with only few inches of water. Under unforgiving Death Valley sun and its low humidity, this small lake dries up quickly leaving a perfectly flat soft muddy surface. As the mud bed dries up, the perfectly flat muddy surface shrinks and cracks into coarse interlocking mud tiles. On the flat surface of drying mud bed, there are countless boulders that tumbled down from the near by mountains. These boulders are found in all different sizes and shapes. Some are large, some are small, some are rounded, and some are almost perfect square. These rocks roved on the slippery drying mud bed and left various tracks that could be hundred of meters long. This phenomenon was first discovered back in the 1900s. It was believed at first that the roving rocks were caused by the interaction of the magnetic field between the rocks and the ground. However, the recent studies have shown that the rocks are more likely to be moved by the gusty wind on the playa during an extremely cold night while the ice sheet is forming on the muddy playa surface. Each rock travels a different path under the same condition almost as if they have a life of their own. Some rocks left short and deep marks while some left long and curving tracks. What is even more extraordinary about Racetrack Playa is that no one ever witness the creation of the tracks by the moving rocks much like the great mystery of the crops circles.

After spending a day in Racetrack Playa, I have noticed the strong correlation between the ：personality； of the rocks with the kind of track marks they left behind. The uniqueness of each rock reminds me of a famous Chinese story ：the Monkey King；. Monkey King was initially a huge rock sitting on the top of a mountain. After years of nourishment from the sun and the rain this huge rock gradually gaining life, just like a hatching process. A naughty monkey made of solid rock broke free from the mother rock. Similar to the story of Monkey King, Rocky broke free from its mother rock on a small rocky mountain located north of Racetrack Playa. Just like other rocks on Racetrack Playa, Rocky enjoy the dry desert sun which gave birth to him and enjoy sailing on the slippery mudding lake during a cold night. What Rocky likes the most about Racetrack playa the most it is its isolation and quietness. Racetrack Playa is so remote, dry, lifeless, and quiet, only small animals live there. Rocky never thinks about his life, all he does is sunbath all day long and wait for that huge rain storm to give him the chance to sail over the muddy sea. One day, a visitor came and was amazed by the track marks created by Rocky and Rocky・s friends and family. This visitor cannot help himself follow the wonderful track marks on the endless mud bed of Racetrack Playa. Without doing research before coming into Racetrack Playa, this visitor thought the moving of rocks is done by miracle power. Thinking the natural・s miracle power lies within these moving rocks, this visitor wants a piece of miracle and ignores the sign that tells the visitors not to move the rocks. This visitor went back to his car and take out a black cloth and getting ready to hijack a rock home. The visitor quickly notice Rocky because his playful personality. This visitor put a black cloth over Rocky・s head and took him back to San Diego. Rocky did not know what happened at first, he just felt the night suddenly came and he just somehow levitated out of his sitting area. Once arrived in San Diego, this visitor put Rocky in the middle his backyard in hope that Rocky would move and leave some miraculous track mark in which the visitor can show his friends. Sitting again on the ground, Rocky feels very uncomfortable because of the unfamiliar weather and surrounding. Rocky did not know he was moved out of place, he still tries to live his normal life. However, doesn・t matter how long Rocky sunbath under the San Diego sun, he could not get as warm as he used to. In additional to the lower temperature, Rocky is surrounded by trees not mountains. Rocky have never seen a tree in his life so he does not know what to expect next. Birds from nearby trees enjoy resting on Rocky and leave many bird stains behind. This is one thing Rocky hates the most. When he was in Racetrack Playa, occasionally some crows would come from the mountains and left disgusting bird stains on Rocky. As a result, Rocky would try to avoid these birds whenever he can. Now, Rocky is surrounded by bird nests. His camouflage does not help to keep the birds stay away from him; instead, he is now the resting place for birds. When spring time came, weeds and beautiful flowers start growing around Rocky. These new plants attract rabbits and countless insects to live underneath Rocky. These rabbits would feed on the flowers and plants grown around Rocky and as these rabbits feed, they also leave behind a track of rabbit waste. Rocky never felt so dirty in his life but he cannot do a thing about it. Rocky finally realized the fact that he is not in Racetrack anymore. One day after a heavy rain, the ground became nice and smooth just like Racetrack Playa. Rocky waits and waits for that gusty wind to take him back to his worry free life. But, winds in San Diego never get strong enough to move the Rock. Rocky is trapped, maybe forever.

Years after years, this visitor starting read about Racetrack Playa and felt he did an unwise thing to move Rocky from its birth place. He decided to take Rocky back to Racetrack Playa. After years of torturing, Rocky has long given up hopes and fell into a deep coma. After a long drive, this visitor took Rocky back to Racetrack Playa. This visitor put Rocky where he found Rocky and left. One storming night, the rain from the near by mountain collected on the muddy bed where rocky was sitting and washed Rocky complete clean. After few days later, during a cold windy night, Rocky regain its senses and started to move again. Rocky hadn・t felt this free for years and decided to stretch its legs. Rocky ran long and hard leaving a long and curing mark on the muddy bed of Racetrack Playa. From that day on, Rocky cherishes his everyday life and even gave birth to many baby Rockys.