Death Valley in the Rain

We only had one day for our drive from Las Vegas to Death Valley, and it happened to be a stormy one.

The weather gave us an opportunity to see the area from a very different perspective.
I had been to this area before in the heat of August - suffocating heat. A real desert.

I had no idea that water would collect at the lowest point in the valley! There was a lake that I never knew existed! But of course, where else would the water go? There is no outlet and the valley is below sea level!

About 200 feet below sea level in this picture. The lake in the background, and it was sprinkling when I took all my pictures of Death Valley.

I suppose we should count ourselves lucky to have seen Death Valley this way.

And how about these red needles on this cactus? We only saw these on the hillside as we climbed up from the valley floor. We had snow on both mountain passes - we drove a loop through the park and into the valley.