Imaging USA 025: Bad Water in Death Valley (CA)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

025: Bad Water

Death Valley is not only one of the world’s hottest and driest locations, but it also hosts the lowest point in North America: 85 m above sea level. At less than 140 km is one of the highest peaks in the USA: Mount Whitney with its peak at little more than 4400 m. The precise location of the lowest point is not far from Badwater, a limited drainage basin that is very small and shallow. It was once fed by lake Manly, that once has the size of 1600 square km, and a dept of about 300 meters. About ten thousand years ago, the lake disappeared through evaporation.  Nowadays Badwater only measures 8 by 12, with only a small fraction filled with water. You cannot miss badwater: there are many signs that may direct you directly to the shallow pool of heavily sanilized water.

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2017

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Imaging USA 024: Tumbleweed in Death Valley (CA)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

024: Tumbleweed

Death Valley in the state of California was formed about two million years ago when the earth shifted by plate tectonics and opened a huge fissure that eventually formed a valley. Surrounded by mountains, hot air cannot escape from the valley, and rain clouds coming from the Pacific Ocean are blocked by the mountains. As a result, Death Valley is one of the hottest and driest places on earth. And without doubt, one of the most beautiful places in California, because of the great variety of landscapes, and a broad range of natural colors of the stone formations. Because of the extreme climate, hardly anything grows in the valley. One of the few living things that you can meet in Death Valley are tumbleweeds that roll unstoppably, driven by the wind.

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2017

Imaging USA 023: Lone Cyclist in Death Valley (CA)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

023: Lone cyclist

it was very hot, when we were on our way to Furnace Creek, our destination of that day in Death Valley. It was later told that the temperature peaked at least forty degrees that day: ‘a cool day’, according to the locals. My friend was suffering and sweating a lot because of the heat, whereas I liked it quite well. But we both has some trouble to walk around, in the burning sun and walking a bit uphill. But it was worth the effort, we were amazed by the scenic landscapes and the few lifeforms that could be found there. To our big surprise, we encountered a lone cyclist along the highway. While our air conditioning was working full power in our car, this crazy cyclist must have been sweating a lot in the burning sun!

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2017

Imaging USA 022: Mushroom Rock in Death Valley (CA)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

022: Mushroom Rock

Not far from Badwater, where we observed a shallow pool of water in the immense desert of Death Valley, is a strangely shaped basalt rock that once had the name “Devil’s Throne”; with time, and due to human intervention, the rock had become much smaller and is now known as “Mushroom Rock”, referring to its shape.
It was once described as: “This mass of old basalt has been eroded into its unusual shape by temperature extremes, water, rain, and wind-blown sand and salt.” Until recently, the rock was included in the list of 49 highlights of Death Valley, but now it no longer appears on that list, since many tourists touched and climbed the rock, causing further crumbling of the basalt rock. 

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2017

Imaging USA 021: Wheel track in Death Valley (CA)

A personal selection of photographs with their stories.

021: Wheel track

Death Valley, located at the border between the states of California and Nevada, is one of the lowest, hottest and driest locations on earth. The air temperature can reach almost sixty degrees, while the surface temperature may hit almost a hundred degrees. It hardly rains in the valley, that has the lowest point at 86 meters below sea level. When I was in the Valley, it was a cool day, with a temperature just above forty degrees. The air felt hot and dry, als if you were in front of an oven wide open. We walked around, and it was easy to imagine, in this dusty environment, how it would be to walk on the moon, albeit that the gravity force is much lower on the moon. Because of the lack of rain, it is really hard to estimate the age of this tire track. It could have been made yesterday, but even long ago: who knows, years ago even!

© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 1999, 2017