Sorry, bucket listers. The National Park Service has officially closed Manly Lake so visitors to Death Valley National Park can experience more boating adventures.
During a glorious month, people could bring their canoes and kayaks to paddle in the shallow waters that had built up on the saltwater flats of the Badwater Basin, something that had not been seen since the lake last appeared in 2005. But last week, strong 40 mph winds pushed the lake two miles to the north, extending its surface but reducing its depth.
Sarah Woodall, an outdoor vlogger who lives just on the east side of Death Valley in Tecopa, managed to experience the flashing lake just in time. She joined her neighbor over Presidents Day weekend to paddle a canoe on the lake. “The day I went, it was the worst time,” Woodall said, explaining that the wind was already starting to pick up. “The water was choppy, but I felt, 'My God, I may never get another chance to do this.' “
Although visitors can still walk through the marshes, park ranger Nichole Andler said, the park service closed the lake to water recreation to protect the natural features of the watershed. As the water has become shallower, visitors may disturb pristine parts of the basin only to find deeper water.
Adler explained that aspiring kayakers would have to go quite far out into the lake to get to a spot deep enough for their boat to float, “and then you probably won't float very well and you'll end up hitting the bottom with your paddles. “The potholes and tracks created in the process “tend to stick around for a long time,” she said, given that it could be years before Lake Manly returns to the desert.
It is not common to see natural water sources in one of the driest, hottest and lowest points in North America. But the storms of the past seven months brought waters that could be seen from space. Storm Hilary, which has since been downgraded, left puddles of water on the surface of Death Valley's Badwater Basin last year, and then the atmospheric rivers that drenched Southern California this year dumped enough water into the basin to float the boats.
It's hard to say whether the water attracted larger crowds; The park service did not collect survey data on the lake. But Woodall says he saw neighbors and tourists flocking to the site. “I've seen cars with kayaks strapped to the roof and, well, I guess they're headed to Lake Manly – there's literally nowhere else,” Woodall said.
Another California vlogger, Jon Tuico, was drawn to images of the horizon reflected in the lake's serene surface on social media. Tuico has visited Death Valley at least three times before, but said the view of Lake Manly was truly unique, as it used a 16-foot-tall tripod to capture a portion of the immense landscape on his iPhone.
“I was amazed because this lake is very salty. And I know what this lake looks like when it’s not full,” Tuico said. He drove 10 hours from his home in Cerritos to Death Valley and back, but he said the trip was worth it.
“It almost looks like there is an explosion of salt crystals coming out of the cracks in the dry lake. [bed]. Know how amazing it looks and then see [Lake Manly] like a mirror, that made it special for me,” Tuico said.
Badwater Basin is best known for the unique geometric shapes that emerge from crusts of salts and other minerals left after water evaporates. “We want them to come back and be the classic, beautiful white salt flats that they should be,” Andler said of his appreciation for the salt farms.
Now is the time to visit Death Valley, Tuico said, before the desert returns to its dry, arid state. Once April arrives, the heat in the desert will become unbearable until fall arrives. At the shrinking Lake Manly you can still witness the echoes of the Ice Age when the water encompassed the entire current Badwater Basin.
