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At an elevation of -323 feet below sea level, Ba0dwater, in Death Valley,  is the lowest point in North America!  It got its name from a pool of brackish water when a Borax miner tried to get his mules to drink from it.  They refused and he started calling the place "Badwater."  You can see some of the water in the first image:

Why is there water there?  I don't know for sure but I'd guess that the if there is going to be water anywhere in Death Valley that it might find its way to the lowest spot.  Having no where to go once it flows into the basin, it evaporates leaving salt  deposits.  The process seems to create these ever changing hexagon-like patterns.  This image was taken about a 100 feet to the left of the first image.  

And the next image which was taken facing in the opposite directions shows the patterns from a slightly different perspective.  Last year, the floor of the patterns were mostly white.  This year, as you can see, they consisted of a "dark" base upon which the salt deposits sat: 

The scale of this part of Death Valley is immense and very difficult to depict photographically.  The little  ridge just jutting out into the image at the top left is the start of a mountain ridge that rises nearly vertically to an elevation of more than four thousand feet!  That afternoon I took the following two images from there (its called Dante's Pt.) looking down on Badwater with a 400mm lens.  I was fascinated with the subtle colors and the sediment patterns: 

In a similar vein (pun not  intended), driving back to the hotel from the Badwater shoot, I turned the telephoto lens to the far side the valley and took the following two images.  The first one I call "Straight Lines":

And the last one has no title but is fast becoming one of my all-time favorites:

Last year, I also posted an entry of images taken at Badwater.  You can find that post here: http://naturallightimages.zenfolio.com/blog/2013/3/badwater

As always, I hope you enjoyed this little peek into a part of Death Valley.  I thank you for taking the time to look and comment!

Bye for now,

Adam