05badwater_3.jpg Badwater Pool, at the edge of the former Lake Manly, is spring-fed and crystal clear. The water is four times as salty as ocean water and so it appears to not even be there. It is home for a rare snail and some tiny fish unique to Death Valley. You might be able to see them if you are patient and look closely. The white dots seen on the water in this photo are actually little islands of salt that have grown out of the Pool, something like the way crystals form making old-fashion sugar rock candy. There is a boardwalk from the Pool that leads out over the Lake Manly ancient lakebed. Unlike Devils Golf Course, here the salt lays in a relatively flat form as far as your eyes can see. Rather then forming domes and spirals, the salt appears to be a puzzle of mosic tiles interlocking across the Lake's dry surface.


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