“If you can get to Death Valley at just the right moment, the Basin fills with water and gives a perfect mirror reflection.” My father got excited about few things, but a photography opportunity was certainly one of them. So, when I read the weather forecast two weeks ago calling for a major rain storm in Death Valley I told myself that despite work, baseball coaching, dog walking, and any number of the many projects I am in the middle of, I would hop in the Jeep and go. As I came over the Panamint range, the rain began to fall, and my guilt for dropping everything and leaving fell with it. I rolled into Bad Water basin, hopped out and began to scout tomorrows picture. The basin was bone dry still with very little rain falling, but the clouds over the Panamint range foretold of the promised weather to come. Satisfied with my Gaia pin drop, I rolled down to my camp site and popped the new roof top tent. 30 minutes later I was sitting in my tent eating my dinner listening to the rain start to steadily increase in sound and frequency. 5 o’clock am came early and I was back at Bad Water within the hour. I began the hike out to my pin drop via GPS and headlamp. I could hear the water sloshing as I walked and now began to ask the desert Gods for some respite to allow the light in. The sun rose at 7:04am, and Dad must have cut a deal, because the clouds parted just long enough to give us the light show you see below.
