Transformed
The first place we headed to once arriving at Death Valley on this round was Dante’s View. Here, at 5’476 feet (1,669 meters) above sea level, you get an outstanding view of a good chunk of the park overlooking Badwater Basin. As Badwater Basin is as low as 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level, this is seen from well over a mile up. This year, however, water has been present in the basin. That’s not unheard of, though the fact this water has been there for better than five months is. The park was hit by Hurricane Hillary last year that dumped more rain in the park in an hour than it typically receives in a year. Considered a ‘millennial event’, the result was major damage throughout the park from flooding, transforming the face of the park in many places overnight. Wildrose Road and Titus Canyon are still impassable and may take many years to recover.
The park is still getting rain as of this past week in an ongoing event that meteorologists have dubbed an ‘atmospheric river’. That has left the park with 4.9 inches of rain over the last six months, which is more than double the normal 2 inches of annual rainfall. That has been good for the wildflowers found in Death Valley, though few are evident in the Badwater region due to the high concentration of salt. That salt is apparent here as white spread throughout the basin. Whenever water covers Badwater Basin, it becomes the ephemeral pluvial body known as Lake Manly. According to NASA’s Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, Lake Manly spread to 6 miles long and 3 miles wide in early February of this year, ranging as deep as 3 feet. It was fascinating to be here during such an historical occurrence.
Across the basin from here is snowcapped Telescope Peak in the Panamint Mountain Range. At 11, 049 feet (3368 meters), it is the highest peak in Death Valley National Park.
Transformed
The first place we headed to once arriving at Death Valley on this round was Dante’s View. Here, at 5’476 feet (1,669 meters) above sea level, you get an outstanding view of a good chunk of the park overlooking Badwater Basin. As Badwater Basin is as low as 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level, this is seen from well over a mile up. This year, however, water has been present in the basin. That’s not unheard of, though the fact this water has been there for better than five months is. The park was hit by Hurricane Hillary last year that dumped more rain in the park in an hour than it typically receives in a year. Considered a ‘millennial event’, the result was major damage throughout the park from flooding, transforming the face of the park in many places overnight. Wildrose Road and Titus Canyon are still impassable and may take many years to recover.
The park is still getting rain as of this past week in an ongoing event that meteorologists have dubbed an ‘atmospheric river’. That has left the park with 4.9 inches of rain over the last six months, which is more than double the normal 2 inches of annual rainfall. That has been good for the wildflowers found in Death Valley, though few are evident in the Badwater region due to the high concentration of salt. That salt is apparent here as white spread throughout the basin. Whenever water covers Badwater Basin, it becomes the ephemeral pluvial body known as Lake Manly. According to NASA’s Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, Lake Manly spread to 6 miles long and 3 miles wide in early February of this year, ranging as deep as 3 feet. It was fascinating to be here during such an historical occurrence.
Across the basin from here is snowcapped Telescope Peak in the Panamint Mountain Range. At 11, 049 feet (3368 meters), it is the highest peak in Death Valley National Park.