Sunrise at Zabriskie Point is pure magic. My favorite time is that hour before the sun peeks above the horizon while the day still gathers its irrepressible powers in the eastern sky.  The first sign of the coming day is the sunlight falling on the Panamint Range across the way while we remain in the shadows. But the shadows quickly retreat as the sunlight fills the valley below with liquid gold.  And then comes the moment that is both mercurial and ephemeral, the soft, fragile touch of first light on Manley Beacon.  It comes silently and unannounced.  But in a matter of seconds the gossamer alchemy is burned away and is gone – until the next magical morning.