Badwater Basin, Death Valley NP

 At the “end of the road” we found ourselves in Badwater Basin.  This is the lowest spot in the valley at 282 feet below sea level.  Just like at Devil’s Golf Course, salt has accumulated over thousands of years of floods, forming these salt flats.

This is a view of the parking lot.  If you look closely, near the top of the picture, you can see a white line.  This is a sign that says “sea level”.  It is hardly visible in this picture.

The salt crystals here are even more defined than what we saw before.  They are much smaller, and look much more like snow.

As we stepped out onto the salt flats, we both kind of expected them to be slippery like snow, but they aren’t slippery at all, in fact they are kind of sticky.

Looking back toward the parking lot, you can see the sea level sign about 1/3 of the way up the mountain, directly above the people.

This small pool of water is how Badwater Basin got its name.  A prospector was leading his mule through this valley and came upon this small pool of water.  He encouraged his mule to drink, but because it was salty, the mule wouldn’t drink it.  The prosecutor marked it on his map as “bad water” and the name stuck.

Beautiful salt crystals.