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Sunset illuminates a stark landscape in Death Valley

July 15, 2016 at 4:44PM

In early March we traveled to Death Valley National Park for a late winter getaway and to see the "super bloom" that resulted from last fall's rains. We had a wonderful three days in and around Death Valley and thoroughly enjoyed the desert in bloom. February and March are a wonderful time for hiking and exploring in the area. Death Valley National Park is the largest national park in the lower 48 states and it contains and is surrounded by a wide variety of geographic features - from salt flats, to sand dunes, to badlands and to snow capped mountains. To add even more interest we stayed two nights at The Shady Lady B&B north of Beatty, NV. Until December 2914 The Shady Lady had been a working brothel and it appears that they have retained much of the original decor. Outside of Beatty, NV we enjoyed exploring the ghost town of Rhyolite and the outdoor sculptures at the Goldwell Open Air Museum. Our last park activity before heading back to Las Vegas for a flight home was to enjoy a sunset at Zabriskie Point on the east side of the park. Beautiful and stark, Zabriskie Point overlooks a heavily eroded badlands geography and is a favorite spot for viewing sunsets and sunrises. The attached photo of sunset at Zabriski Point was shot with a Panasonic Lumix GF1 with a 20mm lens. Lew Beccone Minneapolis,MN (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Traveler: Lew Beccone of Minneapolis.

The scene: A setting sun illuminated a weather-beaten world at Death Valley National Park. "Beautiful and stark, Zabriskie Point overlooks a heavily eroded badlands geography and is a favorite spot for viewing sunsets and sunrises," Beccone wrote in an e-mail. The area in eastern California is the lowest, driest and hottest area in North America.

The Trip: Beccone traveled to the park in early March to see a rare super bloom of wildflowers, the result of heavy rains in the fall. "We … thoroughly enjoyed the desert in bloom. February and March are a wonderful time for hiking and exploring in the area. Death Valley National Park is the largest national park in the Lower 48 states, and it contains and is surrounded by a wide variety of geographic features — from salt flats, to sand dunes, to badlands and snow-capped mountains." He stayed for two nights at the Shady Lady B&B north of Beatty, Nev. "Until December 1914, the Shady Lady had been a working brothel, and it appears that they have retained much of the original decor," Beccone wrote.

Nearby sites: Beccone also enjoyed exploring the ghost town of Rhyolite and the outdoor sculptures at the Goldwell Open Air Museum near Beatty.

The equipment: Panasonic Lumix GF1 camera.

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