Images from Badwater

This post is all about what it looks like out there in Death Valley and on the Badwater course. Anyone who thinks Death Valley is a barren wasteland is off their rocker. Even in the middle of summer, the colors are outrageous! In here I included some rough pastel sketches I did after crewing for Josh and Ken in 02 and 03. Don't laugh at my drawings! I promise I won't quit my day job yet! Rhyolite is a ghost town in Death Valley, east of the Badwater course, near the Nevada state line.

Another picture from the ghost mining town of Rhyolite.

Rhyolite again.

This is what the road looks like during the race, looking back toward Furnace Creek. Note the abundant shade.

Moon rising over Badwater, at the end of Day 1 in 2002.

Intensely colorful rocks and vegetation with the Panamint dunes in the background on a 128 degree day in July. I can never see enough of the landscape in Death Valley.

Zabriskie Point, east of the Badwater course, near the edge of the Park. This picture doesn't do justice to the colors and textures.

At the starting line, 2002 race. Josh is third from the right.

At the Badwater monument itself, in 2002, everyone goes out onto the salt pan to take pictures before the race. This picture was taken before the park wisely limited foot access to the area.

The colors in the landscape will blow your mind.

More colorful rocks along the road. This is on the ascent to Father Crowley's point.

Josh crashed in the crew vehicle somewhere between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells.

A sketch of sunset on the second day in 2003. Ken and I were past Darwin and headed toward Owens Valley, close to the 100 mile mark on the course, and a storm moved in briefly. We could see Mt. Whitney, our destination.

Somewhere on the course before Stovepipe Wells in 2003. This is around the 40 mile mark and it was 133 degrees that day.
Ken at the finish line at Whitney Portal in 2003. Steph is holding the camera on the far left. Race director Chris Kostman is in the dark shirt in the center.
On the road to the finish, looking back over Owens Valley. This stretch between Lone Pine and Whitney Portal is roughly 5000 foot gain in the last 13 miles.

Pastel sketch from 2002. I'm not too good at drawing people, this looks like Josh staggering across the road in the stretch between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells.

Another sketch from 2002. This is close to the start, a few miles up the road from Badwater.

The Panamint Dunes, visible from the road near Stovepipe Wells.

Devil's Cornfield near Stovepipe Wells, and I think those are the Funeral Mountains in the background.

From left, Rick Nawrocki, me, and Ken on the road to Furnace Creek during the 2003 Memorial Day training clinic. (photo: Nathan Nitzky)

That storm we saw on the second night in 2003 as we approached Owens Valley. Those mountains in the background are the Sierra Nevada and Mt. Whitney is in there behind the clouds.