1996 | View South from Devils Hole
Behind me here is a small parcel in Nevada which was annexed in 1952 under President Harry Truman as an addition to Death Valley National Monument (National Park since 1994). It was long known to be a special place by Natives and more recently was set aside to protect the only known population of a distinct species of desert pupfish.
Devils Hole is a vertical cave, over 400 feet deep, fed by “fossil waters” which came into the aquifers 10,000 years ago as rain and snow. The Hole has intriguing geologic connections; seismic disturbances halfway around the world can cause its water level to rise and fall as much as six feet in a kind of sympathetic tsunami. The pupfish have evolved here at a selected depth under a rock shelf where the water is 94 degrees, the salinity is acceptable, and algae near the sunlit surface provide their food.
There is a viewing platform where a visitor might look for pupfish in the pool, but my picture up that way was over their heads to the fencing and desert beyond, and seemed a deficient one. Over the years, though, I have learned that when I find a spot but not a picture, there is often a picture right behind me, 180 degrees away; it turns out that I have been on exactly the right axis, but facing in the wrong direction.
So here is my view from Devils Hole, where for me, things were really happening that morning. I love the desert – there is always something going on.
▷ October 21 (update): Blog Handbook No. 1 is out…