Friday, December 29, 2023

Death Valley - Artists Palette

Tucked off of the road to Badwater Basin in Death Valley is the aptly-named Artists Drive, which provides an up-close view to the tall mountains that line the valley.

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We stopped at the main overlook, called Artists Palette. The rocks here look like they were painted, in so many colors that it would make Bob Ross happy.

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The colors are from ancient volcanic deposits, where oxidation and other chemical reactions produced various colors in the rocks

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The red, pink and yellow colors were caused by the oxidation of iron. The green was from the decomposition of tuff-derived mica. And the purple is from the oxidation of manganese.

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For a place filled with almost nothing but rocks and sand, Death Valley has so many different and varied landscapes. It's a really neat place.

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We were there right after sunrise, while the mountains were still covered in shadow.

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We got back on the Artists Drive road, which then headed up to an overlook of the Black Mountains.

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And then it passes through hills carved by erosion. Luckily there weren't many other people out that morning so we could make lots of stops on the one-way road.

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And then the drive ends with one last view of the vast saltflats of the valley.

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