very sad and painful news kayaking man death in the river this morning and Leaving Wife Annabel and Three Children in Dire Need of……

Kayakers have been paddling in one of the driest places on Earth after a series of record rainstorms battered California’s Death Valley and replenished Lake Manly.

Park Ranger Nichole Andler said the Badwater Basin at Death Valley National Park, which runs along part of central California’s border with Nevada, “is normally a very beautiful, bright white salt flat.”

This year, it is a lake.

In the past six months, Death Valley has received more than double its annual rainfall amount, recording more than 12.45 centimeters (4.9 inches) compared to a typical year that gets about 5.08 centimeters (2 inches). Temperatures at or above 54.44 °C (130 °F) have only been recorded on Earth a handful of times, mostly in Death Valley.

Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America at 85.95 meters (282 feet) below sea level and has been a favored spot for tourists to take selfies and briefly walk along the white salt flats ringed by sandy-colored mountains.

“It’s the lowest point, in North America. So it’s going to collect water, but to have as much water as we have now—and for it to be as deep and lasting as it has—this is extremely uncommon,” Andler said. “If it’s not once-in-a-lifetime, it’s nearly.”

Andler said kayakers should come soon since water levels are expected to drop in a matter of weeks, though the lake “will probably be here into April. If we’re lucky, May. And then it’ll be a muddy, wet mess, and then it’ll dry out into those gorgeous white salt flats.”

On Thursday, Heather Gang of Pahrump, Nevada, and her husband, Bob, were among hundreds of visitors playing in the water. Most waded into the lake, though the couple and others paddled where the water reached up to about a foot (0.3 meters) deep in parts.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kayak Lake Manley,” Heather Gang said.

It was a sharp contrast to the Death Valley of the past, where they figured they had once stood around the same spot and looked at the chalky salt flats from as far as the eye could see.

The couple has been eyeing the lake’s evolution ever since last year’s storms started filling the lake. In the fall, they drove out to see it re-emerge as a lake, but they said it wasn’t deep enough for kayaks, like now. This time, the water reached up to the boardwalk.