Side Trip to Badwater

Or first side trip in Death Valley was to revisit Badwater, the lowest point in Death Valley.
On the way there we encountered some coyote, quite unphased by the road traffic.
We took three side trips when in Death Valley, the first was about 17 miles south to Badwater, which we had first visited in 1997, then it was August and about 127 degrees in the sun, now it is November and about 90 degrees in the sun.
On the way there we were amazed to see coyote by the side of the road, totaly unphased by the presence of cars and people.
We parked in the now modernised and enlarged car park and walked out on to the Salt Lake, it looks very similar to a frozen lake that has been ploughed and sprinkled with dirt, except where people have walked and here it has turned into a smooth white pathway. We walked out about 100 yards and realized that it would be exactly the same if we walked for a couple of miles, so turned round and walked back again. It was interesting to see that where people had dug little holes water gathered in the bottom of them, like digging in the sand down on the beach. Right by the road, which must be the lowest point, of 282 feet below sea level, the water actually broke surface and there was a small lake. Death Valley is served by a number of springs, those that spring from the West side are new water from rain and are seasonal. Those from the East side are what they call Ancient Water, as these springs are fed from deep underground and the water may have been trapped there since the last ice age, these springs run all year round, sometimes the water is contaminated, like at Badwater, with unhealthy minerals, such as sulphur, sometimes they are warmed by hot rocks underground, such as at Shoshone and Furnace Creek, sometimes they are good drinking water, again such as Furnace Creek.
Badwater is along the valley floor, the ground on the valley floor is divided between the salt flats which contain a lot of water (just dig down in the salt about 6 inches to find it) and solid ground, which is alluvial sand/rock/mud which has been washed out of the mountains either side, these alluvial fans are gently sloping, smooth surfaced land forms, which spread from the rock walls of the valley sides. It is here that the complex history of Death Valley becomes apparent. The area is now desert, yet the majority of landforms are water derived. The salt lakes are remnants of a much larger amount of water. Evaporation from large lakes is needed to concentrate that amount of salt. The alluvial fans all start at about 600ft. These alluvial fans are laid down in water, rock debris is washed down from the mountains and tumbles into the lake, once under water the debris is deposited more gently, providing these massive flat expanses of sand and mud, now hardened to a sort of soft rock. This evidence suggests that at one time Death valley, not too long ago, was a lake about 600 feet deep and had a much wetter climate.
Even in that inhospitable environment we found a little spider living on the salt flat, also Sally found a lovely dragon fly resting on the Chevy radio antennae, very interesting.
On the way back from Badwater we took the side trip to Artists Pallet and enjoyed the interesting rock formations with their many different coloured sand and mudstone rocks
One of the most fascinating places on Earth (sweeping statement, but true)