I woke up next morning just before sunrise. The temperature dropped at night but I was more than comfortable with my $ 36.00 Arctic 0F sleeping bag.

I need to get the thermometer so I could start recording the temperatures....One more thing on my "To Buy List"

Anyway ...I woke up, made some hot tea and watched the sunlite painting the mountain range....very nice spectacle...

By the time I finished my breakfast and packed my camp gear...the sun was up and the day was getting warmer...

First place I visited was Furnace Creek. I visited Death Valley museum that is located inside the visitors center...very interesting and beautiful displays ...I even forgot to take the pictures....

I asked park ranger about the road conditions in the back country....just to find out that most of the roads are closed due to the wash outs and mud slides. Several days ago huge rain storm rolled over the park and did some damage...

So I decided to see what's available Basin, Lowest elevation in the U.S. , 282 ft below sea level...

About 10,000 years ago this was the bottom of 600 ft deep Lake Manly. The shoreline is still visible on the mountain. The horizontal lines were made by waves constantly crashing at the shoreline....

As the glaciers of Sierra Nevada receded and climate changed, valley lake gradually dried up and left huge salt deposits at the bottom of valley floor...

This is all what's left today from the lake that was 116 miles long and about 600 ft deep ....a little puddle...

I joined the guided tour of the area, this park ranger was retired geology professor and really knew the history of this place and how to have everyone's attention ...

We hiked around and learned about the stuff that surround us ....basin, mountains, salt, rocks, animals, people ...fighter jets that blasted above our heads once in a while...

Here is a couple more pictures of the salt crystals that are constantly growing as the water evaporates...

...as the salt crystals and grow it cracks the surface...

..creating thousands and thousands of salt pans...

Couple more weeks all this water going to evaporate and new bright white salt crystals going to paint the entire area snow white....

Next I visited Natural Bridge that is located in one of the canyons

The hike is very short and easy...but the views are amazing...

The "bridge" has some pretty big cracks so I felt uncomfortable standing underneath for a long time, couple of pictures and move on...

Large group of noisy tourists caught up with me so I hiked deeper in to the canyon...to see what's behind another turn....

Found a couple dried up waterfalls ...I bet they look amazing on the rainy days, when water is pouring down...but I was not planning to hang out here and wait for this to happen...

This canyon was created by flash floods that happens here once in a while. All the water from surrounding mountains trickles down hill to this canyon and with a great force flushes out to the valley bellow....

End of the canyon and Death Valley bellow...

The road to Natural Bridge....be ready to get a little dusty ....other than that the road as smooth as butter...

I am not a big fan of deserts, but this place is beautiful....

Just look at this....! It's amazing....

The desert flowers is just getting out from under the rocks. ..couple more weeks and this place will be covered in flower blooms...

Meanwhile dead plants dominate the landscape....

Next stop - Golden Canyon. Left bike in the parking lot and hit a trail...

Once again following a canyon that was created by flash floods...

The canyon walls comes in all shapes and colors....

Red pinnacles can be seen in the distance....

Every hill is a different collor....and different texture...

I climber a little hill for better view....and what a surprise! It's like a maze...with a big price at the end of it....

Every direction you look there is something amazing....

End of the Golden Canyon ...I was wondering why it's called Gold Canyon...now I know why....

Back to the valley floor where you still can see the signs of recent rains ...couple more days and it will be completely dry....

Meanwhile it's a beautiful sight....

Just before sun down I was back in the campsite and claimed the lost available cmpsite....just before big SUV pulled in looking for a place to spend a night. A minute later and would have to sleep somewhere in the desert...