Lizards do the Desert!

I drove from Las Vegas to Ridgecrest, CA via Death Valley today. I had only been to Death Valley once, oddly enough; that was in 1991. It was pretty much on the way home, so I endeavored to see it again. In Nevada terms, I hit the jackpot! Two storms earlier in the week left all the higher mountains dusted with fresh snow, which lent a gentleness to the usually harsh desert environment. A third storm was approaching, which brought changing cloud formations, which meant changing light, great for photographers. And the temperatures were very mild, upper 60s in the valley, or about 50 degrees cooler than the summer norm. Here the lizards are hanging out at Zabriskie Point.

When I told the lizards we were going to Death Valley, they were absolutely stoked! As reptiles, they know that Death Valley is as good as it gets in the Western hemisphere; it's the absolute hottest, driest place in the Americas, the ultimate desert. So they very much enjoyed their visit. In this pic they are apparently dancing with joy (probably tango or western swing). They're at Badwater, the lowest point in the western hemisphere, 282 feet below sea level. On this day it was only about 68 degrees, according to my car thermometer. But when the sun shone thru the clouds, with very little wind, it had a certain intensity to it, a precursor to months to come, when the temperature will be 50-60 degrees warmer here. On occasion in Death Valley during summer, the overnight LOW temperature does not drop below 100.

Here the Lizards are at Artist Palette, an avant garde rock formation caused by various minerals contained in the rocks...don't know what they are, but the effect is surreal and gorgeous.