Blue-green water shimmers amongst the sand, refracting sunbeams in each and every direction. The flaming giantess above beats down feeding the flora and igniting the air. Nocturnal animals stay hidden away, burrowing down beneath the surface to find sweet, cool relief. Summertime heatwaves scorch this deserted land; as she moves from East to West, the temperature only grows more intense. Beneath the sands lie deep underground secrets left behind by the ancients as messages to their goddess: heat herself. From above, sandstone engravings of oddly shaped lines create images of deities long since forgotten. Around noon, the oasis nears boiling. Skulls of large mammals lay scattered about, picked entirely clean by the scavenging populous. To beat the heat here in Death Valley is the ultimate achievement; metabolisms slow as the day drones by. Here, survival is a delicate tango, a battle of attrition between the Great Sun and life itself. Pure nature, essential and gorgeous, untouched, left alone to wage war.