Death Valley is known as the hottest and driest place in North America , but when we visited over President’s Day weekend, it rained.

Badwater basin and parts of the valley floor were big beautiful lakes casting reflections of the snow-covered mountains to the west. The lower slopes of the hills and the sides of the roads were awash with color from what promises to be one of the great years for wildflowers.

This was why we were here; to see this strange sight of the desert in bloom. Whatever we had expected, what we saw greatly exceeded our wildest dreams.

For the flowers to bloom they need water, and this year has been exceptional in every sense of the word. Normally Death Valley enjoys a mere two inches of rain annually. This year more than that amount fell in January alone, giving birth to flower seeds that lie dormant in what passes for soil in this most inhospitable of places. These flower seeds are not confined to one area of the valley or to any one species. And the bloom is far from over. There are expectations that there will be wildflowers at rising elevations until the desert heat finally becomes intolerable for these delicate plants in May or June.

At present the most visible and spectacular views are at Jubilee Pass towards the southern end of the valley. We stayed at Furnace Creek and took the 50-mile drive south to see what all the talk was about. As this was my real first time in the Valley, we decided to explore and took the West Side Road south. This is a dirt road, but one our SUV managed without difficulty. With a little care almost any vehicle could navigate this route. The road is lined with sites from Death Valley ’s notorious past like Shorty’s Well, the ill-fated Eagle Borax Works that never made a profit and the Dayton-Harris Graves. All these are on your left as you drive south across the valley floor. On your right are several tracks that lead you up into canyons in the Panamint Mountains to the west. These tracks are badly maintained and are for high-lift SUVs only. It is on these tracks that we saw the first blooms.

As we slowly and carefully negotiated the bumps and boulders towards Galena Canyon we were conscious of a purple, white and yellow carpet stretching ahead and to both sides. Here was the first intense view of the wildflowers. Yes, we had seen them before, more than the occasional one at the side of the road, but not in such profusion. The Golden Evening Primrose and its cousin the Brown Eyed Evening Primrose were in evidence, as were the vivid purple Phacelias, though we were advised to stay a distance from these as they can cause a skin rash similar to poison oak if touched. Close to the ground we could see the tiny cluster of yellow-eyed white flowers from the Cryptantha and of course the larger and more ubiquitous Desert Gold. All this to a backdrop of the most common plant in the desert, the creosote bush, already in leaf but not yet in flower.

We stayed a while, savoring and photographing this unexpected bounty and thought we had seen what we came for. But this was just the appetizer to what was to become a floral feast.

As we continued our drive down the West Side Road, we saw two hills in the distance, looking as if they had been painted with yellow spots on a deep black canvas. These hills, a very short walk from the roadside, turned out to be great heaps of what looked like lava with almost no soil at all. But they were still covered in a mass of yellow flowers, once more the Desert Gold. These plants, one to two feet high, seem to cling to the bare rock as they grow and flower in this rare and short season.

As we rejoined the main road we stopped at the ruins of Ashford Mill. This gives a broad view of the valley floor and the Gold-covered hills, and is a rare home to a plant normally seen only at higher elevations and on the alluvial fans, the Desert Five Spot. This delicate pink flower, only just coming into bloom, is a small ball about 1⁄2 inch in diameter with an open top. Inside are painted five vivid red spots from which the flower gets its name. They are one of the most delicate and beautiful of all the flowers we saw in the valley.

Just beyond the ruins, the road turns east and starts to climb up towards Jubilee Pass. It is here that the flowers were at their most spectacular. One’s gaze is met by a field of Desert Gold flowers running from the road to the red cliffs beyond. Close to the ground are the pinks of the Desert Sand Verbena and the Brown Eyed Evening Primrose. All around is the sweet heady scent of all the flowers. No wonder this place attracts so many people not just from America but from throughout the world..

It was particularly visited by photographers like ourselves.Tripods abounded as everyone sought to capture these rare moments of beauty. But there were families too who walked amongst the flowers with a gentle peace and there were those that just stopped and sat to enjoy the view and smell the flowers.

That evening, talking to people at the Furnace Creek Inn and later at the Ranch, we discovered that some years there are no flowers at all in the desert and that the last time they even came close to this year’s bonanza was over seven years ago. But this last year has been very different. Rain started to fall last July and there has been above-average rainfall every month since then. Also in August there was a rare storm that caused a torrent of water that moved park buildings, destroyed cars and washed out part of Highway 190 at Zabriske Point. Some people think that the climate may be changing and this may become the norm, while others believe that this is just a very exceptional year.

Exceptional it is, but it is not over yet. Just now the show is to the southwest of the Valley but we shall return in the next few months when it moves to the western edge and higher elevations so that we can gain a glimpse of the rare Panamint Daisy and other infrequent visitors to this remarkable place. We recommend you do the same.

Places to Stay: Campgrounds, RV parks and motels within the Park at Panamint Springs, Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek or just outside the Park at Lone Pine ( California ) or Beatty ( Nevada ).

Park entrance and usage fee is $10, good for a stay of up to seven days. For an additional dollar, the Ranger stations at Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek have information about weather and current location of wildflowers as well as a color pamphlet identifying them.

(C) Copyright Stephen Spill for Ess And Ess