Liz wanted to see this. She recalled reading about Lake Manly reforming after Hurricane Hilary in August 2023. The flood damage was severe enough to close Death Valley National Park for 2 months, and when it reopened some people kayaked there.
The November atmospheric river that snowed 3+ feet above 10,000 feet at Mammoth and nearly 5 feet at Arizona Snowbowl rained enough in the mountains surrounding Death Valley for flash floods to reform the lake again. So we left home at 7AM for a detour drive to Mammoth. We charged to 300 miles in Baker (800 feet) and drove to Dante's View at 5,475 feet. Dante's View directly overlooks Badwater, where the largest body of water can form in Death Valley.
Badwater itself (-282 feet) is blocked from view by the foothills below. We never saw people or tourists on the valley floor below us. Snow on Telescope Peak (11,049 feet) is visible at upper left.
A zoom view farther north shows a smaller lake with a thin stream connecting south to the largest one.
There is a relief model at Dante's View.
In the other direction snow on Mt. Charleston (11,916 feet) is visible.
Lee Canyon ski area (8,500 foot base) on the other side of Mt. Charleston opened from the November storm.
We walked about 100 yards south from parking to get improved overviews. To the north are several smaller lakes.
To the south are no more lakes, but zoom to center and you can see a thin squiggly stream.
In the Ice Age this was the Amargosa River source of the permanent Lake Manly, which was up to 600 feet deep.
Geologists believe that the connection from Owens Lake and the Eastern Sierra was relatively infrequent because Panamint Lake needed to be 900 feet deep to outflow east over Wingate Pass (1972 feet).
The obvious exit west on Hwy 190 to Lone Pine was not doable with our current state of charge. We descended to Furnace Creek (-190 feet) and had a leisurely lunch while charging at allegedly Level 2. But Level 2 at our house is 37 miles per hour and with 4 Teslas plugged in at Furnace Creek it was more like 10 miles per hour.
While at lunch the bartender explained about the recent Lake Manly formations. Hurricane Hilary dumped 2 inches of rain in 2 hours at Furnace Creek. But it rains far more in the 5,000 foot mountains to the east, and the flash flooding from those is what creates the lakes. This November it only rained a third of an inch but once again the lake formed from runoff out of the mountains.
For Tesla charging you must generally exit to Nevada, where the Beatty supercharger is 40 miles NE, and there is a new one in Pahrump to the SE if you are going to or from Las Vegas. By going north on Hwy 95 from Beatty, then west on 168 to Big Pine, the total distance from Death Valley to Mammoth was only 25 miles longer.
With the above in mind we were not backtracking to Badwater to get closer to the water. But as we drove north one of the smaller lakes looked close enough for a stop. As we descend gradually through the salt formations, we cross recent flash flood paths.
Finally the water is within closer view.
We approach the flats and water at sunset.
This was about 4:20PM, about an hour later than Palm Springs sunsets behind San Jacinto in December/January.
Even though the water is just inches deep, the reflections are extremely clear.
The flats become spongy if you get close to the water.
View south, along the thin streams that connect the lakes:
Death Valley is extremely flat along the bottom. Here we are 28 miles north of Badwater in Cottonball Basin and the elevation is still -266 feet.
Somehow these plants can grow down here.
We had BBQ dinner at Copper Top in Big Pine and got to Mammoth at 10PM.
The November atmospheric river that snowed 3+ feet above 10,000 feet at Mammoth and nearly 5 feet at Arizona Snowbowl rained enough in the mountains surrounding Death Valley for flash floods to reform the lake again. So we left home at 7AM for a detour drive to Mammoth. We charged to 300 miles in Baker (800 feet) and drove to Dante's View at 5,475 feet. Dante's View directly overlooks Badwater, where the largest body of water can form in Death Valley.
Badwater itself (-282 feet) is blocked from view by the foothills below. We never saw people or tourists on the valley floor below us. Snow on Telescope Peak (11,049 feet) is visible at upper left.
A zoom view farther north shows a smaller lake with a thin stream connecting south to the largest one.
There is a relief model at Dante's View.
In the other direction snow on Mt. Charleston (11,916 feet) is visible.
Lee Canyon ski area (8,500 foot base) on the other side of Mt. Charleston opened from the November storm.
We walked about 100 yards south from parking to get improved overviews. To the north are several smaller lakes.
To the south are no more lakes, but zoom to center and you can see a thin squiggly stream.
In the Ice Age this was the Amargosa River source of the permanent Lake Manly, which was up to 600 feet deep.
Geologists believe that the connection from Owens Lake and the Eastern Sierra was relatively infrequent because Panamint Lake needed to be 900 feet deep to outflow east over Wingate Pass (1972 feet).
The obvious exit west on Hwy 190 to Lone Pine was not doable with our current state of charge. We descended to Furnace Creek (-190 feet) and had a leisurely lunch while charging at allegedly Level 2. But Level 2 at our house is 37 miles per hour and with 4 Teslas plugged in at Furnace Creek it was more like 10 miles per hour.
While at lunch the bartender explained about the recent Lake Manly formations. Hurricane Hilary dumped 2 inches of rain in 2 hours at Furnace Creek. But it rains far more in the 5,000 foot mountains to the east, and the flash flooding from those is what creates the lakes. This November it only rained a third of an inch but once again the lake formed from runoff out of the mountains.
For Tesla charging you must generally exit to Nevada, where the Beatty supercharger is 40 miles NE, and there is a new one in Pahrump to the SE if you are going to or from Las Vegas. By going north on Hwy 95 from Beatty, then west on 168 to Big Pine, the total distance from Death Valley to Mammoth was only 25 miles longer.
With the above in mind we were not backtracking to Badwater to get closer to the water. But as we drove north one of the smaller lakes looked close enough for a stop. As we descend gradually through the salt formations, we cross recent flash flood paths.
Finally the water is within closer view.
We approach the flats and water at sunset.
This was about 4:20PM, about an hour later than Palm Springs sunsets behind San Jacinto in December/January.
Even though the water is just inches deep, the reflections are extremely clear.
The flats become spongy if you get close to the water.
View south, along the thin streams that connect the lakes:
Death Valley is extremely flat along the bottom. Here we are 28 miles north of Badwater in Cottonball Basin and the elevation is still -266 feet.
Somehow these plants can grow down here.
We had BBQ dinner at Copper Top in Big Pine and got to Mammoth at 10PM.
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