I was not surprised to see quite a few people when I visited Death Vally earlier this month. Not only is this the peak season in any year, but the temporary reappearance of Lake Manly has been all over the media. In fact, that’s one of the big reasons I chose to go at this particular point. Over the years I have learned that it is often possible to escape the hordes just by going to a slightly different location than the most obvious ones. So I bypassed the “usual places” when I went out to photograph the lake on this morning — and I went very early, while most people were still sleeping!
There was not really enough light to photograph yet when I arrived here. My first intended target was the early light on the peaks of the Panamint Mountains along the opposite side of the valley. But before the light reached those summits it began to illuminate beautiful clouds forming above the terrain. I like that the absence of detail in the mountains and their reflection accentuates their abstract forms.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email
Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.
Scroll down to share comments or questions. (Click post title first if viewing on the home page.)
All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Discover more from G Dan Mitchell Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Great pictures of Lake Manly!
Thanks, Oscar!
It is great to see the lake reforming for the second time this year. It was there back in early 2025, and I did not expect this rare feature to come back so soon. There was heavy rain in Death Valley NP bak in November, and in addition to sending water onto the playa to form the lake, it also washed out a lot of roads.
Many of the closed areas had just reopened when e visited during the period right before Christmas… but another big storm swept in on Christmas Eve and once again closed many areas. In fact, the main road that we used to leave the park (over Towne Pass) was beginning to flood as we drove over it, and we encountered a lot of fallen rocks on the roadway.
Dan