[rainbow canyon from father crowley point]

we took a trip to death valley with some friends this past weekend. as it happens, last week, my longtime camera [an ancient nikon coolpix 4300] moved into its last gasping breaths, so i shot what i could with my iphone, in anticipation of shopping for a much-needed upgrade the following week.

[walking along the mesquite dunes]

death valley is hard to do in a day, but we managed to make it through just as night fell. we started off with an obligatory beer at the stovepipe wells saloon, then on to walk among the mesquite sand dunes.

[devil’s golfcourse]

death valley has quite a range of vast open spaces, textures and colors. i have liked devil’s golf course since i was a child, though back then i’d imagine tiny people living in salt castles. now i just marvel at how big it is.

[artist’s palette]

minerals in the rocks create lots of colors in the mountain ranges. when i was little, my sister and i got souvenir mineral samples, a box with small colorful rocks glued down and labeled, which we kept for years.

[the panamint mountains from artist’s drive]

[colorful cliffs on artist’s drive]

[amargosa mountains to the east]

[salt flats at badwater basin]

[looking north from the small accumulation of rainwater at badwater basin]

all my pictures ended up to be horizons.