25 Jan USA: Death Valley

"How would you like a trip to hell? Come to Death Valley, it has all the advantages of hell and none of the disadvantages".

This is how this valley was advertised a century ago, at the height of the gold rush. You can imagine that with such an announcement I could not help but feel irremissibly attracted to this place.

But for me I'm a bit late, like 100 years or so.

This is what remains of the revelry in those mining towns where hard and unscrupulous people lived, who before the end of the day had spent the gold they had found in the morning on whisky and women. And others even squandered it...there's something for everyone.

For the rest it must still be a bit like hell, which is why it is an area where extreme limits are reached:

It is the third deepest depression on earth, along with the Dead Sea and Lake Assal (I've been to all three). The fourth deepest depression in the world is the one I get on Sunday afternoons when I think that on Monday I have to go into an office...

It also holds the record for having reached the highest temperature in history, closely followed by the Libyan desert.

It is actually warmer in the middle of June at the San Gregorio manoeuvring ground in Zaragoza, but it is kept secret, lest it becomes overcrowded with tourists.

Returning to the valley, it seems an oxymoron that it is called the valley of death, and it is the only place in the world where even the stones are alive. It is an unsolved mystery why some stones, (some weighing over 200kg), move hundreds of metres along the valley on their own.

I took a photo of one of the stones, but it came out blurred, so I have placed this photo which has nothing to do with it but I like it better.

There are several areas within the valley that have already made it onto my list of my favourite incredible places, which I know that not even the passage of time will be able to erase from my memory.

The first one is zabrinsky point, seeing this has already made it worth the 39 hour journey I had (one day I will reveal my odyssey).

And the second is the artist palette,

These two places stand out, but it is full of incredible places where you can simply sit and enjoy the scenery.

I, as you are getting to know me, especially like to sit in front of the dunes. I can't get enough of them.

Faced with them, I take the opportunity to reflect and try to answer my big existential questions: who I really am, where I want to go, what I want to be when I grow up, how often I have to wash the duvet cover, etcetc.

That I don't just use this head to wear a beautiful shock of blonde hair.
And after these mental depths, fruit of my great spiritual richness, I continue with the march towards another area that invites me to stay and continue looking for answers...

And as I see that I have rolled up too much, and you have to keep on working because there is no one who can raise Spain, I leave you with some photographic tips, and some of my creations, to see if you like them.

To take this picture I wanted to use a wide angle, with high exposure speed, etc, but I got confused with the instructions of the camera (which are in all languages except Spanish because they know we never read them) and in the end I gave it to automatic, and look what came out.

It is necessary to use the last hours of the day. The last evening I wanted to return to zabriski point at sunset, but I didn't take into account the winter solstice, the distance to the equator, the time of year, the gmt time, the mountains in front of me... I was late, but in spite of that I still had a wonderful view.

Little by little I will be posting more photographic tips, to see if I am able to make of you a photographer as it is mandandao.