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For those who are dreading the advent of cold weather, there is a place in the world that stays hot in summer like in winter, but really, really hot... It is called, not randomly, the Death Valley and is famous for having reached the highest temperature ever in the Western hemisphere: 134 °F (56.7 °C), right behind the world's record of 136 °F (57.8 °C) in Al 'Aziziyah, Libya.

Located in Eastern California, the 140-miles long valley is one of the world's lowest and hottest sites. The basin of Badwater is its lowest point; located at 282 feet below sea level. Its present name was coined during the age of the California Gold Rush, when gold-seekers had to cross the valley on their way to the gold fields, but found themselves lost and trapped by its heat, thinking they will die there, until they finally got rescued.

The valley is born with an impressive high number of factors that create and reinforce hotness constantly. Its depth, flatness and narrow shape are great absorbents of sunlight and all heat sucked from the surface increases ground temperature heavily, which in turn heats the air again, creating super-heated waves of dry air. Not only that but the mountains that wall the valley trap the hot air inside; drought conditions are thus perpetuated and the development of clouds virtually prevented. In other words; the valley is formed in a remarkable way that makes it both receive and generate extremely high levels of heat.

This place of high aridity and excessive heat is however not without its life. Perhaps hard to believe, the Native American tribe of Timbisha has made it its home for more than 10000 years, constructing small villages throughout. A wild fauna has also peacefully adapted to the hotness; one can find there rattlesnakes, scorpions, black widow spiders, bees, wasps, coyotes and mountain lions. The area, today a national park, is perhaps mostly famous for its outstanding landscapes: its golden desert dunes, its rocky canyons and its ancient salt lakes, all surrounded with snow-peaked mountains, make the Death Valley a unique place to hike, enjoy panoramas and witness the most amazing sunsets… but don't ever get lost…