David's Images of the Day Photoblog
We thought the maple trees had stopped producing sap, but the several Nor’easter storms and the resultant late winter & early spring snow got the sap flowing again. So one final batch of sap needed to be cooked down.
I rode into Death Valley with Michael Mariant. We made an initial stop at Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes prior to the start of the workshop, so Michael could geomark a trail for the next day. The photography workshop group met up at Furnace Creek. After lunch and an orientation session, we spent the afternoon at Dante’s View, Golden Valley trail, and the Devil’s Golf Course. There still was some snow on the ground at Dante’s View — 5476 ft (1669 m) above sea level. The Devil’s Golf Course is only a few feet above the lowest point (282 feet below sea level) in the National Park (and the Continental United States). You have to be careful when in the Devil’s Golf Course as the halite crystals are very sharp — which I learned the hard way. While squatting to take a picture, I managed to cut a big hole in my favorite pair of lightweight linen pants.
Individual images from the slide-shows can be viewed here.