The weather was improved this morning so we decided to do a little more exploring before leaving the valley. First on our agenda was the Race Track, a dried mud pan where large boulders move across the surface of the pan under the influence of some force that is not understood. However this objective was abandoned when we realized that it would require 50 miles of very rough road. We consoled ourselves with a visit to the Ubehebe Crater (formed about 2000 years ago by a steam explosion resulting from hot magma interacting with ground water) before heading onto Scotty's Castle.

Scotty's Castle is an elaborate and large Spanish style ranch built in the 1920-30s. It is situated in a small oasis complete with a very impressive stand of palm trees. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the establishment is that Scotty was never the owner.

Once out of Death Valley and into Nevada we followed highway 95 north through magnificent wide valleys and distant mountains. The weather cooled and snow became more evident; it seemed we had finally caught up with winter.

Just south of Hawthorne, NV (our intended destination for the night) we passed through a valley seemingly filled with mounds of earth topped with metal chimneys or air ducts. We could not conceive of what they where, but later we read on the internet that they comprise a military ammunition storage depot. The depot covers over 200 square miles and there are over 2400 storage bunkers.

Another perplexing feature of Hawthorn was the sign pointing to the Naval Underwater Warfare Center - why would one put a naval facility in Nevada ??

We spent a relaxed night parked with 20+ trucks on a dirt lot near a gas station.