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Fiery Death Valley Sunrise

What's more appropriate in Death Valley than a sky that looks like it's on fire? This sunrise was without a doubt the best I've ever seen; the entire sky was gl...
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What's more appropriate in Death Valley than a sky that looks like it's on fire? This sunrise was without a doubt the best I've ever seen; the entire sky was glowing a vivid blend of orange and yellow. The color was reflected by the polygon field's white salt, giving the whole seen an ethereal glow. To make it even better, this was the 2nd (out of 3) amazing consecutive sunrises down in Badwater Basin. It was more humid than normal in the morning (a soaking 30%), which maybe contributed to better cloud formations over the valley.

Don't be fooled into thinking these polygons are everywhere in Badwater Basin (the general name for the Death Valley salt pan). We spent a full day walking all over the salt in 90 degree - plus weather looking for good formations. We looked south of Badwater Basin proper (the location nearest to the -282 ft elevation marker), we spent several hours hiking through Cottonball Basin north of Furnace Creek, and everywhere in between. Fortunately, we were finally able to track these down about half a mile north of the West Side Road, just before it curves and heads south down the western side of the valley.

Also, if you want to return to a place like this in the dark before sunrise, make sure oyu have a GPS! Luckily, I had downloaded a great GPS app to my phone before leaving (Backcountry Navigator), and marked the location of these shapes before leaving the previous afternoon. Without the guidance, it would have been nearly impossible to find the location again in the dark, and still have enough time to set-up the gear for sunrise.
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