2014 is here.
Last week we witnessed a glorious dawn in Butte Valley at the southern end of Death Valley National Park in California. This is a very remote area. The mountains of the Panamint range are seen to the east. Not seen (behind me) is the magnificent Striped Butte, one of the park’s jewels.
Desert dawn, Butte Valley, Death Valley National Park, California
5D Mark III, 70-200L f/2.8 IS II
PS: No saturation sliders were molested in the making of this image. This kind of intense pink is not uncommon in the Mojave Desert.
[…] We set out from our base in Beatty at 3 am on a cold December morning hoping to make it into Butte Valley before daybreak. To be out in the wilds of Death Valley in pitch black conditions is an experience never forgotten. We had with us Death Valley Jim, the finest guide in the business, and his Sport Wrangler got us to our destination just in time for a spectacular desert dawn. […]
Wonderful pic and colors! And that furry plant in the left foreground is a cholla cactus. Look forward to more of your Death Valley pics, have great memories from here.
Yes, indeed, it is a cholla. Butte Valley is at an elevation of over 4000 feet and cactii are found at 2000 feet and above in Death Valley National Park.