Driving down from Beatty to Stove Pipe Death Valley the highway travels down a massive alluvial fan. Of course we had to go out and see what was over the next ridge.
From Stove Pipe we drove 15 miles on a rough sand and gravel road to Marble Canyon. We walked through the massive cut in the rocks even though 4 wheelers could drive through.
The water had cut down to some spectacular layers of diorite.
This is looking back down toward the valley floor and beyond to the Funeral Mountains on the east side of Death Valley.
On our way back to Beatty after visiting Marble Canyon we stopped at the Stovepipe Sand Dunes. It was one of those 30 minutes of magic that happen around sun set sometimes.
Just after the sun disappeared off the distant clouds this cold wind rose up from the valley below, blowing sand and moisture. We didn't hang around out in the dunes to see how much sand could be moved in a short time. By the time we had driven through the sand storm and up to the 3500' pass leading to Beatty we were hit by a hail storm with lightning. A change from 70 degrees to 37 degrees. Such extremes in Death Valley.
