what about the plastic animals?

Death Valley Flora and Fauna

In the late afternoon, when I was between the park headquarters and the road to Beatty, the road became filled with caterpillars doing whatever it is caterpillars do.  I had to stop and take a picture.  The yellow flowers were everywhere along the road.  The pink flowers were less numerous and this was the only one on which I saw a little red critter.

Natural Bridge Canyon

There's a little trail that wanders up to a natural bridge in Death Valley.  The bridge is made of conglomerate, has plenty of cracks on the underside and looks like it could come crumbling down at any moment.  A little bit beyond the natural bridge is a feature that had me puzzled for a while until I realized it had to be a dry waterfall.

My picture-taking habits are kind of odd sometimes.  I took twenty photos of the natural bridge, taken from different angles, using two lenses and playing with the exposure.  A few miles up is a side road called Artist's Drive.  It was incredibly beautiful but I only took six pictures.

Badwater

Death Valley is largely a large dried-up old salty lake.  Badwater Basin, where all but the top picture were taken, is the lowest point in North America - 282 feet below sea level.  The actual low point is about five miles from the road.  For a sense of scale the foothills of the mountains in the second picture are a good ten miles away.  The snow-covered mountain, which I think is Telegraph Peak, is another five miles beyond .  I walked out a mile or so, but I didn't see any point in going further.  To be kind to tourists the marker is actually next to the road.

Don't mind me, I'll just jumping around between different locations here for the next few weeks.

How Green Was My Death Valley?

Given that the rainy season had just ended I suspect this is as green as Death Valley gets.

Today's Bonus:  While out getting lunch today Greg and I saw an art car!

World's Tallest Thermometer

The world's tallest thermometer is in Baker, California which, as the sign says, is the gateway to Death Valley.  Thankfully, it was only 64 when I was there.