https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_stones
The stones are located in a dry bed known as the "Racetrack". Getting out there requires a high clearance vehicle and possibly 4wd. This use case exceeded the design requirements of our Honda Accord so I rented a Jeep Wrangler. With a Jeep, it became clear I could take the much rougher back route to the "Racetrack" over Lippincott Pass. The terrain is rugged and rocky on the pass. Vegetation is sparse. You climb from basically sea level to 3800-4000 ft.
I thought I'd take some photos of the local cactus and share them with the group. There are fairly limited species in this region of Death Valley. I tried to make my best attempt at identifications based on what is known to live in the region, but please correct me if there are issues. Perhaps this isn't that "exotic" to many, but I was very impressed what manages to live out here, in a desert that gets ~2 inches of rain and >130 days of 100+°F heat a year! This desert made my local areas in Arizona seem tropical by comparison!
Getting to the Pass, you cross through a Joshua Tree forest that is pretty incredible. There were some of the largest Yucca brevifolia I've personally seen.
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_112004.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_112007.jpg)
Climbing the pass:
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_122315.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_122327.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_123259.jpg)
Some of the cactus I spotted along the way:
Echinocereus engelmannii
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_124405.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_124424.jpg)
Believe it or not, very much still alive.
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_122701.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_122654.jpg)
Sclerocactus johnsonii (Mojave Pineapple)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_123353.jpg)
Echinocactus polycephalus (Cottontop Barrel)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_123235.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_123244.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_124442.jpg)
Opuntia basilaris (Beaver Tail)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_123839.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_123910.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_123858.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_121259.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_121238.jpg)
I never found out what this was, but it was odd looking:
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_121818.jpg)
At the top of the pass the Sclerocactus and Echinocactus were everywhere. They were most common on the non-north facing slopes.
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_125204.jpg)
Can you spot them all?
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_124502.jpg)
We made it finally to the "Racetrack".
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_131955.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_132342.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_132436.jpg)
![Image](http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/kpluiten/Plants/Death%20Valley/IMG_20160210_132708.jpg)