Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Oh the Sites You Will See

Road Trip ~ eastern Sierras ~ Death Valley

With a name like Death Valley one would expect its areas of topographical interest to have devilish names, and indeed they do.  Dante's View (as in The Inferno), Devil's Golf Course, Furnace Creek and Devil's Corn Field speak of the harshness and even potential danger of various sites, but the names don't define the other aspect of death ~ the exquisite beauty of heaven.  Death Valley is a place of ying and yang where opposites respectfully co-exist.  We found ourselves awestruck by the view while at the same time protecting our eyes from the blazing sun, our lungs from the blowing sands, our feet from razor sharp crystalline structures.  It was a metaphysical adventure.

Devil's Cornfield

 Devil's Golf Course
(adjacent to Badwater / notice 11,000 ft Telescope Peak)


 golf course made of extremely dry land encrusted with salt crystals
that have caused the land to crack and uplife


woman squatting not standing but it gives an idea
of the size of the structures 
 

Mesquite Flats sand dunes




   
Dante's View
on a clear day can see down entire length of valley,
the white below is not water but the white sand crystals of Badwater

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