The recent days the bodies of some German tourists were found in Death Valley. The name is absolutely justified. In just one day the two of us drank about 12 liters of water. And that only included a rather short hike of only a few kilometers..jpg)
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Death Valley is rich of rare minerals. So there were a lot of mining companies in the valley..jpg)
Badwater is the lowest point in the US..jpg)
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Located right on the foot of Mt Whitney is Alabama Movieland, a faszinating landscape that has been featured in Western movies about as often as Monument Valley..jpg)
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Kings Canyon and Sequoia are located next to each other with the latter being far more famous and frequented due to the large trees.
However for my travelling style Kings Canyon is the more interesting part. The valley sort of resembles Yosemite, but it is not that crowded and offers fantastic hikes.
And there are also some trees of astonishing size.
Yosemite National Park is one of the most visited places in the States. Fortunately most visitors stick to the crowded valley but the hiking paths are still much more frequented than in other parks. Still the sights are absolutely amazing.
The park has an incredible set of waterfalls which are several hundred meters high.
Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in the north of California. The area surrounding Lassen Peak is active with different mud pots, fumaroles and hot springs. This part of the park is called Bumpass Hell and looks similar to some places in the Yellowstone park.
In the east end of the park lies a cinder cone which is believed to have formed in the 1650s. We went up shortly before sunset. Even though the cone is only about 250 meters high it is a very strenous hike as the loose gravel sends you back a step for every two steps made.
The top of the cone offers an amazing view on what is called Fantastic Lava Beds.
The Crater Lake is engraved on the Oregon State quarter coin. With almost 600 meters it is the deepest lake in the US. There are some nice walks on the hills surrounding the lake.
At one point it is possible to descend all the way to the lakeshore with a great opportunity for diving.
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Redwood National Park is located at the northernmost part of the California seashore. The park protects about half the population of Coastal Redwoods.
Unfortunately the park seems to be located in a similar climatic condition as San Francisco. It is quite foggy and rather cool.
There are a few interesting things about Redwoods and Sequoias: The trees are not only almost immune to fires, they even need fire in order to reproduce. Another interesting thing is that only a thin layer on the outside is alive. The inside of the tree is dead and no longer necessary. For as long as the outer layer still connects roots and leaves the tree is alive.
Another great time in the States. I have been to the Interpack Conference in San Francisco, presenting the last part of my research. As usual, I have also added some vacation with Claudia which I am going to upload in a few entries.
As a start, there is a representative view of the Golden Gate Bridge seen from the northern side.
There has been another long radio silence on my end. A lot has happened and I will put up some more updates during the next weeks. Some time ago in April I have been to the EuroSimE conference in Delft. There I have been meeting up with my friend Dan and my old supervisor from Maryland. After the conference we went up the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk (new church) which is over 100 meters high. The picture below shows the view to the market square.
Canals are very typical for dutch cities. In the background there is the old church with its Pisa-style tower.
Last weekend we went for a little hike in the Slieve Mish mountains. The hills were coated with some layer of snow and ice.
The beach at the bay down there is the same as the one on the last two pics of this entry from our summer vacation 07.
http://domi-tech.blogspot.com/2007/09/summer-vacation.html
December last year I went to the EPTC conference in Singapore. As it was my first time there it was a fantastic experience. I got lucky and had a hotel room on the 15th floor. This was the view from my window.
The amazing thing about Singapore is the mixture of everything. There are some british colonial buildings for example. But the weather is much greater than Britain. While I was there it was always about 30 degrees and very humid but still enjoyable.
The best places to get food are these food courts where you can get exquisite chinese, indian, arab and malay cuisine for about 2€ per meal.
A stroll through the arabian quarter...
...and through the indian quarter.
The conference dinner took place at the Singapore turf and racing club. I did not win any money though.
The famous Singapore flyer.
In Octobre I had the chance to pay a short visit to London. Of course I visited the main tourist places such as the tower bridge, seen from the tower of London...
... and the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.
We also saw a few of the guards with the funny hats. Even though the hat might be supposed to make them bigger they are still quite small.
