Death Valley #2 - Golden Canyon, Badwater Basin & Artist's Palette

GET-YUR-MOTOR-RUNNIN'  ROAD TRIP

(Astoria - Santa Fe - Death Valley - Astoria)

Death Valley National Park, CA

November 9, 2013  (Day 26 of 44)

Miles Today: 69 / Trip Miles: 3,090

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Photos:
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All photos © 2014 Leon Jackson. All Rights Reserved. 

Golden Canyon:
Golden Canyon is a gorge that cuts into brightly colored sandstone rock. The sides of the canyon are made up of red mudstone and colorful mosaic conglomerates. Occasional broken pavement is a reminder that there was once a road through this canyon until a rainstorm washed it out. In February 1976, a four-day storm dropped 2.3 inches of rain at Furnace Creek. The average annual precipitation in Death Valley is 2.4 inches. On the last day of the storm, a violent downpour caused a surge of water, mud, and rock to flow through narrow Golden Canyon, and washed away the pavement. Several small canyons break off from the main canyon. We hiked in about 1.7 miles (one-way), and headed-out when the trail narrowed to a few feet wide, and going further required climbing over, and between, rock formations. Up to that point the trail was an easy walk with a slight elevation gain. A trail from Golden Canyon leads to Zabriskie Point where we visited yesterday. The gravel road to the Golden Canyon trailhead is dusty, rutted and rough. (Rating A-)

Red Cathedral

Steep cliffs of Red Cathedral viewed from the Golden Canyon trail.

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Golden Canyon

Hikers enjoy the view of the Black Mountains from Golden Canyon. Mary is the hiker on the left.

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Badwater Basin:
Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America, at 282 feet below sea level. Mount Whitney (14,500 ft), the highest point in the contiguous 48 states, is only 85 miles away. There is a small spring-fed pool of "bad water" in a sink next to Badwater Road. Accumulated salts make the water undrinkable, thus giving it the name "Badwater". The pool does have animal and plant life, including pickleweed, aquatic insects, and snails. The pool itself is not the lowest point of the basin; the lowest point (which is only slightly lower) is several miles to the west and varies in position. 

At Badwater, significant rainstorms flood the valley bottom periodically, covering the salt pan with a thin sheet of standing water. Each newly-formed lake does not last long though, because the 2.4 inches of average rainfall is overwhelmed by a 150 inch annual evaporation rate. This means that a 12-foot-deep, 30-mile-long lake would dry up in a single year. While the basin is flooded, some of the salt is dissolved, and is re-deposited as clean crystals when the water evaporates. (Rating B)

Newlyweds @ Badwater

On the boardwalk at Badwater Basin, a bride wearing a short wedding dress, denim jacket & sneakers and holding her wedding bouquet, takes a photo of her new husband.  The couple was married today. Badwater Basin and the Panamint Mountains are in the background.

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Artist's Palette:
Artist’s Palette got its name from the myriad colors of its volcanic rock and soil. The colors occur because of the various minerals mixed in the landscape (iron salts for the yellow and reddish tints; mica for green and manganese for purple). The intensity of the colors depends on the time of day and the amount of sunlight. The colors are intensified at sunset, but are interesting to see at any time of the day. Artist's Palette is reached via Artist’s Drive, a 9-mile loop that travels through a narrow canyon cut into the Amargosa Range.  (Rating = A-)

 Shadows on Artist's Palette
Death Valley National Park. Late afternoon setting sun outlines people viewing the Black Mountains at Artist's Palette. 
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Death Valley at Dusk #6

Twilight in Death Valley, looking west toward the Panamint Range from Artist's Palette.
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Today's Route & Destinations:
Scenic Rating = A-
Driving Fun/Road Rating = B

Tomorrow:
Death Valley - Stovepipe Wells, Mosaic Canyon & Mesquite Flat Dunes.