Following the lake at Badwater, we went reversed course to the north.

See Part 1 or Part 2 or Part 3 or Part 5

The one-way driving loop for “Artist’s Palette” show-cases up-close Death Valley’s colorful, and VERY faulted geology (holy cow! look for the dissimilarly colored rock abutting each other):

A desert landscape with a clear blue sky, scattered clouds, multi-colored mountains, and several people and a car on a dirt path. The most central mountains appear to be extremely faulted with dissimilar rocks abutting each other.

Lots of volcanic rocks of varying colors at this overlook:

Varicolored mineral-rich hills under a blue sky with scattered clouds. Pistachio green, yellow, brown, and salmon colors.

Very near from the above view, a bit to the south, and there’s another stunning landscape heavily dissected by canyons. The sun briefly peaked through the clouds:

Desert landscape with colorful hills and a winding water cut but dry canyons come together under a blue sky with clouds.

Meanwhile, at Death Valley to the west of us… still pretty dusty but also sun-kissed. Time to leave this cloud provided shade for a little more sun!:

A desert landscape featuring barren hills, with a salt flat visible in the distance, under a partly cloudy sky and a haze of dust. The sun is lighting up the salt flat while all else is shaded. There is a person in the lower left corner of the image.

Back on the road to another part of Death Valley:

A desert road with mountains in the background and a clear blue sky with scattered clouds. In one mid-distance mountain, a stark red bed of rock dips down to the left. The sun partially illuminates the colorful mountains.

Zabriskie Point. It’s easy to see why this is a popular place. It’s just ridiculously photogenic. Apparently this area used to be mined for Borax, but I couldn’t discern signs of that:

Rolling hills of Zabriskie Point with eroded golden-colored badlands against a background of rugged mountains under a blue sky with scattered clouds.

Turn your head from the south and to the west, and suddenly steeply dipping rock and red bluffs named Red Cathedral…:

A rugged desert landscape featuring vertically eroding stratified rock formations with a gradient of brown to yellow to red hues under a soft sky.

The day concluded, we went back to Furnace Creek — the dark green spot on the left. On the right, the palms are on the property of a fancy looking resort:

Desert landscape with rocky ground, a palm tree oasis in the distance, and mountain ranges under a partly cloudy and dusty sky; view from a car window with a side mirror visible. Furnace Creek is the green patch to the left.

Stay tuned for Part 5, which may be the last in the series. See Part 1 or Part 2 or Part 3 or Part 5