Salt Flats Lake

In September the Guadalupe Mountains had an epic flash flood when 9" of rain fell on the park.  One of the effects of the flood was the salt flats west of the park became an ephemeral lake.

In the past I had seen times with pools of water but it was always quickly dry again.  This time was different.  It was a lake.  The water was shallow, maybe a foot at the deepest but it stretched for miles.

I went to explore the northern end of the lake.  This area is seldom visited that even the park staff had no idea about the conditions of the area roads.

I spent a few hours walking along the edge of the lake and found that the month between the flood and my visit had left significant mud flats.  So I changed my plan from being at the waters edge to some vantage points where I would not be 6" deep in the muck.

I found this little "creek", if you will, that must have carried some water into the flats and decided it might make a good foreground.

I watched the clouds fade as sunset neared and luckily I caught the last cloud of the Guads as sunset and was able to make the top image.

I also wanted to see what I could do for a reflection and was able to make the second image.

I was liking the possibilities the lake presented and made plans to spend more sunsets along the edge.