Along the remote Racetrack Playa in Death valley, California, stones sometimes gouge out prominent trails in the desert floor, as if they had been migrating. For years curiosity mounted about why the stones moved. One explanation was that strong winds during the occasional rainstorms would drag the rough stones over ground softened by rain. When the desert dried out, the trails behind the stones were hard-baked in place. According to measurements, the coefficient of kinetic friction between the stones and the wet playa ground is about 0.80. What horizontal force is needed on a 25 kg stone (a typical mass) to maintain the stone's motion once a gust has started it moving