Far from cities and carefully managed to protect darkness, Death Valley National Park is an excellent place to view the night sky. Nights in Death Valley are so dark that the park is classified at the highest (Gold Tier) level by the International Dark-Sky Association; many celestial objects which can be viewed from Death Valley are not visible elsewhere in the world! While most places in the park away from lodging/campgrounds and major roads will provide good night-sky viewing opportunities, the top ranger suggestions for star gazing locations are: Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Harmony Borax Works, Badwater Basin and Ubehebe Crater.
{Death is the road to awe.mid}
Collapsing metal and concrete turns the competitor's arena into one of grief and pain. Maimed and buried, bleeding and burned, there are survivors trapped all throughout the rubble. Some are in large groups, shielded by other's quirks. Some are in small groups, isolated and trapped, unable to move on their own. Some, alone, teeter between barely living and barely injured- saved only by an instinctive reaction and the skill of their quirk. It isn't just the physical injuries that leave jagged, open wounds behind. No one walks away from this unscathed; not even those who know no death.
Nothing is more quintessentially American than the road trip. Each year, millions of people load up their cars and embark on scenic drives through national parks. These roads represent astonishing feats of American engineering, blending the road into the landscape and guiding visitors through some of the most beautiful sights in the nation. They're also a great option for visitors who may otherwise not be able to access the parks. Some of these scenic roads are very popular, so be sure to get an early start or visit in the middle of the week.
The Appalachian mountains are the dominant feature of the eastern United States and offer some of the most sublime views in the nation. Skyline Drive runs 105 miles through the Blue Ridge Mountains -- a southern section of the Appalachians -- in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and is the only public road through the park. Wildflowers carpet the roadside in the spring and the blazing colors of the autumn leaves will mesmerize you. The 35 mph speed limit means that visitors drive at the perfect speed to roll down the windows and let the wind whip through your hair. Animals are also a common sight on the way, with deer, black bears and wild turkeys being just some of the wildlife that are easy to spot from the gentle, curving road. If Skyline Drive leaves you wanting more, travel south and explore Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina for another amazing mountain cruise.
In 1909, Zion was virtually inaccessible to visitors because of poor road conditions in Utah and limited railway. Once Zion became a national park, people wanted to explore it. To make this possible, construction began on a 25-mile stretch of road to connect Zion to the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon. Completed in 1930, the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway and Tunnel is a must see. The 1.1-mile-long tunnel cuts through the vertical sandstone cliffs of Zion, blends in with the surrounding landscape and includes windows to provide views of Zion Canyon. When the tunnel opens up, drivers are left in awe of the spectacular beauty.
The word that symbolizes the spirit and the outward form of our encounter is nonviolence, and it is doubtless that factor which made it seem appropriate to award a peace prize to one identified with struggle. Broadly speaking, nonviolence in the civil rights struggle has meant not relying on arms and weapons of struggle. It has meant noncooperation with customs and laws which are institutional aspects of a regime of discrimination and enslavement. It has meant direct participation of masses in protest, rather than reliance on indirect methods which frequently do not involve masses in action at all.
Back at the parking lot after the mile-long round-trip walk, look for a small sign high on the cliffs across the road. That sign indicates just how far up you would have to climb just to reach sea level.
The United States announced the creation of a broad international coalition to defeat ISIS. Seventy-nine nations and institutions, including NATO, the European Union and the Arab League, eventually joined it. Some contributed warplanes for aerial strikes, others logistical support or trainers.
On a California national parks road trip, you can visit everything from one of the hottest dessert environments on earth at Death Valley National Park, to the island national park with world-class marine exploration at Channel Islands National Park. There are volcanic mountains (Lassen Volcanic National Park).
We were rapidly approaching Roads End, the eastern terminus of the scenic byway. But first a surprise: Grizzly Falls, a magical waterfall just off the highway. The 75-foot fall was thunderously strong when we visited and is only about a tenth of a mile off the road.
Despite living next door to each other, they exist in separate worlds of grief. Cora is still grappling with the death of her beloved sister in a school shooting, and Quinn is carrying the guilt of what her brother did.
With sheer drops close to 900 metres and few to no guardrails, the windy road has taken many victims over its lifetime. Prior to its official closing, an average of 300 people lost their lives each year after plummeting over the edge. I had heard rumours that it is still possible to make out some of the wreckages even today.
Although the road is officially closed to traffic, the odd car still finds its way onto the narrow track and the cycle tours are permitted to bring support vehicles with them. I have even heard rumours of public buses still using this route occasionally on their way to the jungle town of Rurrenabaque.
Now kitted up, we were ready to start. Jose informed us it would be 24 km of downhill riding along well-used tarmac road before we headed off onto Death Road for real. We were told to take it slowly and get used to the bikes. These were high-end Kona bikes, the likes of which I had never ridden before. It was nice to have a chance to get a feel for them on an easy section of road.
Here we also paid our 50 bolivianos for entrance to the road. The money goes to the local communities who maintain the route and make sure it stays accessible, even during the wet season when landslides are common.
During our first hour on the road, we were informed there had just been a huge landslide which had blocked part of the route. We could still get past with the bikes but the backup vehicles would have to turn back. Although initially daunting, Jose reassured us once again by taking extra equipment and tools out of the minibus. If any of us had an issue with the bikes, Jose was now fully equipped to fix it, even without the backup vehicles.
The landslide had caused a bottleneck and soon it felt like every cyclist on the road was in the same place. Keen for the numbers to dwindle a little for safety reasons, Jose stopped and let other groups pass. During this time, he told us about the history of the road. He even pointed out a famous section that had appeared on the episode of Top Gear that had led me there!
Once we were back on the bikes and our confidence had increased, the group got faster and faster. I was having the time of my life and it was clear that those around me felt the same. With whoops of joy we took on each tight turn slightly faster than the last and found ourselves jumping over the large rocks and ruts in the road.
One last treat was a stop for an all you can eat buffet, swim and shower at a hotel not far from the end of Death Road. The food was great and I was not alone in demolishing three whole plates! We then had time to wash and relax around the pool before heading back into the city along smooth paved roads.
This prayer reveals a tenderness for the bonds made between people in life that could not even be extinguished by the honor that came from death in sacrifice or battle. Words captured loss and grief again for the Aztecs in poetry on the fall of the empire to the Spanish conquistador Cortés, such as in this poem composed by an Aztec poet in the mid 1520s:
But while the empire was gone, the Aztecs did not disappear entirely; Tenochtitlan became Mexico City, and many modern people of Mexican descent can claim Aztec/Mexica ancestry. Some people were thought to reincarnate after death into a different living being, sometimes into butterflies or birds. The Aztec empire, in a way, reincarnated into something different as well.
Apparently, we need to get our cars over seas, through mountain passes, and across complete wildernesses, so we as a species have built some of the longest, strangest, steepest, and most incredible roads in the world. You may see them as incredible feats of engineering and the unconquerable nature of the human spirit, or you can take this list as proof positive that human beings are naturally insane.
XX.Blow, swiftly blow, thou keel-compelling gale,Till the broad sun withdraws his lessening ray;Then must the pennant-bearer slacken sail,That lagging barks may make their lazy way.Ah! grievance sore, and listless dull delay,To waste on sluggish hulks the sweetest breeze!What leagues are lost before the dawn of day,Thus loitering pensive on the willing seas,The flapping sails hauled down to halt for logs like these!
LXXII.Horribly beautiful! but on the verge,From side to side, beneath the glittering morn,An Iris sits, amidst the infernal surge,Like Hope upon a deathbed, and, unwornIts steady dyes, while all around is tornBy the distracted waters, bears sereneIts brilliant hues with all their beams unshorn:Resembling, mid the torture of the scene,Love watching Madness with unalterable mien.
Firmly builded with rafters of oak, the house of the farmerStood on the side of a hill commanding the sea; and a shadySycamore grew by the door, with a woodbine wreathing around it.Rudely carved was the porch, with seats beneath; and a footpathLed through an orchard wide, and disappeared in the meadow.Under the Sycamore-tree were hives overhung by a penthouse,Such as the traveller sees in regions remote by the roadside,Built o'er a box for the poor, or the blessed image of Mary.Farther down, on the slope of the hill, was the well with its moss-grownBucket, fastened with iron, and near it a trough for the horses.Shielding the house from storms, on the north, were the barns and the farm-yard,There stood the broad-wheeled wains and the antique ploughs and the harrows;There were the folds for the sheep; and there, in his feathered seraglio,Strutted the lordly turkey, and crowed the cock, with the selfsameVoice that in ages of old had startled the penitent Peter.Bursting with hay were the barns, themselves a village. In each oneFar o'er the gable projected a roof of thatch; and a staircase,Under the sheltering eaves, led up to the odorous corn-loft.There too the dove-cot stood, with its meek and innocent inmatesMurmuring ever of love; while above in the variant breezesNumberless noisy weathercocks rattled and sang of mutation. 2ff7e9595c
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