Ashyktaypak Depression: closer to the Arctic, hotter than the Tropics (1/3)

Intro: hot air, cold waters

Contrary to its name, The Caspian Sea actually is a huge lake, the biggest in the entire world, by far. While an enclosed body of water and mostly surrounded by arid land, its salinity is quite low on average, especially in the northern part where the inflow of the mighty Volga river dilutes it significantly. The surface of the lake lies 29 meters below the sea level and is joined by an extensive sub-sea level land area known as the Caspian Depression. Some isolated parts of this geomorphologically atypical structure descends even more, reaching the minimum of -134 meters in the Karagiye Depression, the lowest place in Kazakhstan and 5th in the world.

*The Caspian coast with “glory” phenomenon formed on the thin fog layer caused by temperature contrast*

The city of Aktau lies on its coast in the north-eastern sector and is the capital of Mangystau district in western Kazakhstan. With modest cultural background and more pragmatic in existence, it’s a typical post-soviet industrial agglomeration based on oil, which by the way is the primary resource of the entire province. Despite this it definitely has its own specific “soul”, which can be defined as something between starkness, surreal and patches of modernity. The people are mostly kazakh, but you can see many others with russian features too. The tourism is in development, still mostly internal.

The climate of the fast growing medium sized (towards 300.000 inhabitants) port city is cold-semidesertic with mediterranean-like warm to hot, dry summers and moderately cold, also mostly dry winters with a few snowfall events annually. During the summer there is a characteristic, often shocking discrepancy between the hot desert air and the still much cooler seawater, which can sometimes exceed 20 degrees. In concrete details: air well above 30 degrees, seawater even below 10 degrees. The most likely explanation is cold upwelling caused by wind.

Choosing the target

I was always fascinated by the parts of the land situated below the sea level, firstly because of the unusual, “inverted-mountain” topological anomaly. Then – unsurprisingly – I also correlated those locations with the extreme desert heat, encountering during my early intellectual pursuits places like the Dead Sea, Death Valley, Danakil and the Turpan Depression. While the mentioned attraction is general, I am the most fascinated by the least known examples of this already peripheral branch. And here we are: I chose a depression so little known, that is concretely mentioned only on detailed soviet topographic maps in Cyrillic.

*The location of the chosen place (red dot) in Central Asia*

The name of the sunken basin is Ashyktaypak and it lies between the Caspian and Aral lakes at the foot of the northern Ustyurt Plateau, pretty far from civilization in every direction. The elevation of the salt flat lying on its bottom is -62 meters. Topographically and also genetically can be considered part of the bigger Caspian Depression, even if separated from it by a low ridge.

The closest inhabited place of considerable size is Beyneu, another fast-growing, oil based industrial settlement. While already well above 50.000 heads (some say 80.000) still maintained its old village status. Technically is the biggest village in Kazakhstan and is likely top-level even in the world chart. The raw geographical isolation is real, but the link with Aktau is decent, with daily connections both by railway and good, new asphalt road (470 km).

*The Ashyktaypak Depression (center) as shown on the russian topo-map with Beyneu in the bottom part*

Beyneu itself lies barely above the sea level, on that flat, low ridge separating the Caspian and the Aral Sea mentioned earlier. The low elevation combined with the huge distance from the moderating effect of the oceans is responsible for the fact that the area is unusually hot in the summer compared to the relatively high latitude. Concretely, it lies slightly above 45 N, which means it’s already closer to the North Pole than to the Equator.

And this was the very thing why I chose this exact place to be the location of this year’s research: it probably has the hottest summers between all places situated closer to the Arctic than to the Tropics. Northern heat? Something like that.

Translated to concrete numbers, Beyneu’s average maximum for July according to the available sources is around 35 centigrade, which is a solid base even in the hottest parts of Europe like Andalusia or the Peloponnese, both lying much more to the south, below 40 degrees latitude.

*Aerial view of the selected amphitheatre-like enclosure (center)*

It’s absolute record (46.6 degrees) also mirrors the mediterranean maximum potential and beats most places in the entire world too if calculated to similar geographical latitudes, with a few isolated exceptions like Lytton in SW Canada or Steele in North Dakota (both exceeding 49 centigrade). But while in the latter spots the extreme heat is a much rarer guest (July average max temps between 27-30 degrees), Beyneu’s typical summer vibe is clearly on the tropical side.

Regarding the more fine-tuned details, inside the endorheic basin I strategically chose a semi-enclosed topographical structure of smaller scale with westerly exposure with the purpose to capture and reflect the afternoon insolation even more. It’s basically situated at the foot of the northern Ustyurt, a desertic plateau of marine origin, formerly covered by the ancient Tethys and Paratethys seas.

Brief summary of the research

My flight landed in Aktau (via Istanbul) on 6th July in the late night. After a few days, during which I visited Saura oasis and the Golubaya bay on the Caspian coast north of the city, I moved to Beyneu by train, arriving there on 10th July in the morning. Already prepared, I instantly continued the journey by local minibus (marshrutka) to the nearby Sarga village, the closest settlement to my target.

After a 10 km hike (around 2.5 hours) through the flat steppe, then the salt marsh, I reached the chosen location and soon installed the measuring equipment on the tripod. The logger started its operation at 10:46 AM showing 33.4 degrees as first reading.

*Descending towards the salt marsh with the Ustyurt Plateau in the background*

The sky was completely clear and it will remain like this the entire day. I stayed near the instrumentation checking the temperature values on the screen multiple times during the afternoon as usual. The maximum of the day reached 38.8 degrees around 5 PM.

The next morning returned to Beyneu from where I came back for another field-trip on 13th July. Arriving at the camp I saw that on the previous day the temperature climbed to 42.4 degrees Celsius, which will remain the highest value of the entire research period. During this visit the daily max was 41.3 degrees (between 3-4 PM), while the sky became partially covered after 2 PM.

The third and last field-trip happened on 17th July, when I caught live 42.0 degrees around 6 PM, the hottest directly experienced weather during this expedition. Until around 1 PM it was full sunshine, then rapidly became cloudier, transforming into completely overcast in the mid-afternoon hours. Still the temperatures were maintained elevated with relatively small fluctuations even into the early evening hours.

Generally it was quite hot during a significant part of the researched days, often even the evenings remained above the human body temperature. Five out of eight cases the temperature climbed over 40 degrees and two times over 42 degrees, while in the coolest morning dropped to 24.7 degrees Celsius. The sky was variable, typically clearer in the morning until noon and more cloudy in the hottest afternoon hours (convection). The wind was light to moderate.

*The highest temperature of the research was 42.4 degrees* *Celsius*

The depression itself always lacked any kind of human presence during my visits and this is likely a generality in the hot, dry summer period. Camels and horses grazed on the western side, while cattle and sheep a little closer to the village. Outside a few birds (small to medium size), insects (mostly grasshoppers) and a dead turtle I couldn’t spot any other wild animal in the whole perimeter.

The instruments used in the field

-One LogTag UTRED30-16 data logger with the measuring range between -40 and +99 degrees Celsius, an accuracy of 0.5 degrees Celsius and a resolution of 0.1 degrees Celsius

-One Greisinger G1710 thermometer with the measuring range between -70 and +250 degrees Celsius, an accuracy and resolution of 0.1 degrees, used for instant hand measurements

-One photo camera tripod serving as the support for the instruments

-One helical solar radiation shield from Barani Design Technologies: https://www.baranidesign.com/

*The helical shield in “rest mode” for the moment*

To be continued…

Ashyktaypak Depression: closer to the Arctic, hotter than the Tropics (2/3)

Journey photo album

*The ship monument in Aktau’s center: on 6th July the adventure begun*

*The sea was unusually cold for July, thus a thin layer of fog formed, boosting the atmosphere with a magical touch*

*Meteorological “glory” optical phenomenon: I wasn’t exaggerating with the words, was I?*

*The same with the sea temperature: meanwhile the air was somewhere in the lower 30’s*

*Fog bow (or white rainbow): yes, there is such a thing*

*The coastal cliffs of Skalnaya Tropa in the mist*

*Cumulonimbus forming farther inland*, *could cool down the thirsty land here and there*

*Later in the day the fog layer left the coast, showing pretty obvious boundary distribution*

*Another limit: I barely managed to catch the sunset from the top of the cliffs, but it was worth it*

*Smaller plan before the main one: on the way to Saura oasis*

*This small, coastal canon will likely take me to the target*

*The best strategy to photograph the turtles is to climb the steep sides surrounding the lake and locate them from above*

*You can also rest in the shade under the overhang*

*A more comprehensive view showing the amphitheatre-like natural structure*

*The best way you can position yourself as a wildlife photographer is to climb to the rim*

*Voila!* *There were a few swimming around, like 5-6, maybe more*

*Didn’t know what this construction was until visiting the Mangystau Regional Local History Museum a few days later: Saura fortress is one of the oldest known fortifications in Mangyshlak*, *dated to* *almost 4000 (!) years old*

*Shifting to cowboy mode: I met the cattle right on the coast and it seems that they followed me towards the canon*

*I continued on the coastal dirt road towards the Golubaya Bay. After a while there wasn’t any clear track, only a few hares were running time by time between the bushes*

*I’m pretty close, but also not in a rush: in the early afternoon the air became surprisingly hot right beside the sea*

*The contrast between the 17 degree water and the midday sunblaze is both shocking and heavenly pleasant*, *especially after carrying the backpack in the sand* *of the beach*

*Approaching the “Devil’s Finger” rock formation on the other side of Golubaya Bay*. *There were a few visitors (likely only locals), unlike Saura which was a complete ghost-town*

*On top of the World? Metaphorically maybe, but concretely still below sea level*

*Surreal color contrast on the remote, rocky coast*

At the base of the tower: nice surprise, I didn’t know about this cave

*Is this another portal somehow connected to Tainaron’s Hades?* *After all, the devil is at home*

*While definitely not the Hell, still shocking…and tempting*

*Too bad I must return to the hotel room in Aktau, maybe another time…*

Leaving the Heaven-Hell I made a shortcut towards the dirt road, which leads to the main one situated probably 10-12 km more inland. After a good hour hike I accepted a lift offered by local excursionists and had some base-level but still satisfying english conversation with the son of the driver

*Skalnaya Tropa in the evening, after a few cold beers*

*Next day at the museum: without asking, a local inspector offered a free lift after explaining the institution is situated in another location, on the outskirts of the city. Great guy.*

*This is what I was talking about at the Saura oasis: almost 4000 years*

*Other ancient stone artifacts likely collected from the cultic sites of the Ustyurt Plateau (scythian or sarmatian)*

*World War II monument in Aktau’s cente*r

*The dombra, a kazakh national musical instrument*

*At Skalnaya Tropa during the afternoon: I am already fantasizing about how the barren cliffs of the chosen location will enhance the insolation by the additional reflected radiation…*

*…and soon I will experience it directly: the Mangystau-Beyneu night train was like a sauna in the beginning, a decent warm-up (pun intended) for the desert adventure*

*First sights of the remote Ustyurt Plateau in the early morning, the village-town can’t be too far*

Shop in the main market of Beyneu: As it was too early in the morning – accepting the help of a local – I had to woke up the vendors to buy some additional food and can drunk a refreshing kymyz, my favorite beverage in Kazakhstan, by far. Already prepared with the big luggage to continue the journey, I soon was in search of a car towards Sarga, the closest settlement to my target.

Arriving at Sarga, the starting point of the desert hike: after just missing the marshrutka (local minibus) – again with local support – I caught it up by another car which went towards the Uzbek border. The only passenger, btw.

*Crossing the railway in the outskirts of the the village, which looked pretty run-down, to be honest*

*Then the concrete adventure in the wilderness begun: great gerbil, scanning the morning atmosphere from his porch*

*Short break at a modest shepherd shelter: The first part of the route was represented by completely flat, arid steppe mostly covered by short grass (grazing terrain). Complete sunshine, the temperature is rising*.

*First view towards the Ashyktaypak depression: good vibes, everything (shape, timing, progress) looks and feels fine*

*Unsurprisingly, the single living creatures of considerable size in the area are the camels, both one and two humped specimens*

*Soon I reached the western rim of the endorheic basin, where the topography became more fragmented*

*Here we go: the last stretch of steeper, loose terrain, let’s see how the most critical part, the very bottom represented by the salt marsh will be like*

Aha! I knew about these discontinuities (small streams crossing the solonchak) and – after the experience in the Karagiye depression two years before – considered them the major question mark of the entire adventure, at least regarding the physical chapter: will they be easily crossable or the hike will become a more serious struggle?

*Great relief: I didn’t sunk or get stuck inside the salty mud*. *While I was prepared to take off my shoes and risk entering a more challenging sector if necessary*, *I wouldn’t have missed it in this heat with the heavy luggage on my back, that’s for sure.*

*Approaching the target: in the very center of the V-shaped sector in front of me lies the chosen spot*

*Clear internal alignment feeling after arriving: soon the measuring equipment is installed on the tripod and at 10:46 AM the logger started its operation*

*The first chapter of the mission successfully completed*

*Leaving the bulk of the luggage behind, I went to a shorter exploration of the surroundings*

*Home, sweet (or sweat) home: resting under an overhang, good shelter against the midday sun*

*As expected, in the afternoon the temperature raised above the human body temperature*. *Still not a single cloud fragment on the sky.*

*Everything looks carved, fragmented, fragile, often to the degree of alien. The harsh desert weather relentlessly and continuously grinds, reshapes the contours*.

*While still far from cool, towards the evening some vocalizations can be heard*

*This insect is like a cheeky troll: had bitten me without any provocation. No aftermath signs and effects however, just an electric current-like, short-lived burning sensation*

Not sunrise, but moon-set: The night was quite warm, only in the latter part covered myself a little. Without much insects after dark, I didn’t even used the mosquito tent, was more comfortable to just lay on the insulating mat

*Good morning: yeah – except the AC – this will be the lowest temperature I will encounter in the next 10 days*

*Crossing the saltmarsh (now confidently) on the return towards the village*

This plant is kind of special: most likely very salty, but contains a considerable amount of moisture inside his small, meaty leaves, great to wash your hands or use the evaporation process as a mild cooling-boost *now and then*

Short break in the steppe on the way towards Sarga: this was another unexpected new discovery, likely a few century or even older cultic site (cemetery) of the nomadic people, quite common on the Ustyurt Plateau and its vicinity

*A long freight train just blocked my way before reaching the village. Couldn’t stop me, I’m pretty determined to find a shop and buy a cold energy drink*.

*The shop exists, it’s open and even teal colored. Gorilla, the local version of Monster is winking to me from the fridge. The struggle is over, for a while*.

Beyneu center: I returned from Sarga with shared taxi and went to find a hotel. Arna, the one I hoped to stay in was full, thus the more known and older Beyneu hotel became my home for the next 2 days. A little shaggy for the price (10.000 tenge = almost 20$), with barely functioning shower, but the AC was working. *A few bugs (darkling beetle) appeared sometimes, but the situation was very far from the horror-story level infestation of the whole settlement I heard about on the net in late June.*

*When the temps rise towards 40 centigrade in Beyneu, there is a solution*

*So many turquoise-teal colored rooftops, fences, balconies: while partly cloudy, today is hotter than yesterday, likely climbed to 39-40 degrees in the mid-afternoon hours*

*The next day on the way to Stary Beyneu (Old Beyneu) cemetery: Not everybody can radiate the heat as well as he doe*s. *I had the opportunity to photograph some hares, which are not only common here, but also less afraid of humans then generally in the wilderness where is much harder to successfully use the lens.*

The Beket-Ata complex is situated 15-20 km from the town (only taxis or personal car) and for the last 3 km one has to turn to the right from the main road. Just good for a light warm-up and psychical reset

*The bulk of the cemetery is less old (mostly 20th century)*, *but there is a part where are many much more time-worn gravestones (11-18th century)*

*The heart of the religious complex is represented by an underground mosque where the faithful gather to listen to the internal (literarily) guidance*

On the way back to the main road: Where are hares there are predators too. After reaching the highway I hitchhiked to Beyneu. The guy doesn’t want my money, while dropping me right in the parking lot of the hotel. Only the red carpet was missing…

*Town center: while from noon the convective clouds rapidly evolved, the heat became oppressive*, *maybe the hottest day until now*

*This tripod-like monument can be considered the “km 0” of the settlement*. *I measured 40-41 degrees in its shade with the digital precision device.*

*Mother & child statue in another square*

*The main market near the train station: the most common goods are dried fruits, melons, samsa and brooms*

*Start of the second field trip: this time there were more animals on the outskirts of the village, maybe because I arrived to Sarga even earlier in the morning*. *The yelling of the shepherd could be heard also for a while.*

*Reaching the western ledge of the depression*: *completely clear sky, temperatures on the rise*

*The former positive experience made the crossing of the salt marsh lacking any stress*

*Reaching the weather installation: Oh, yeah, the max is decent! Most likely was recorded yesterday and from the actual temperature this early, today also will be serious heat.*

Better rested, hydrated and prepared with even more liquids (8-9 liters total) than during the first desert trip, I left the bulk of the luggage and went for a hike with a lighter backpack. The main target is to climb the eastern ledge of the depression, or more concretely the Ustyurt Plateau itself.

*The last uphill segment: the access was quite easy and relatively direct too*

*Near the top, view towards the lowland*

*Some spectacular, deep cracks can be seen right on the edge*

*Not hard to imagine how erosion and gravity work together to fragment the rim*

*The highest point of the surroundings is situated a little farther to the north. From here you can see towards the middle of the extensive salt marsh.*

*The rugged, heat-struck landscape of the sunken basin*

*Resting and contemplating: the northern escarpment’s shade can be used for protection during midday when the sun is high*

*Sarga village on the other side: to increase the adventure-factor, I chose a different route for the return*

*Life is still present, though more hidden*

*A distant dust devil of bigger size near Sarga*

Aha, so here I am: because of the more difficult topography, in the latter part I had to do a bypass, passing through the “container boulders” area (center of the image) where my night-camp is located

*After 1 PM some convective clouds were coming*. *Time to check the data logger*.

*The heat is oppressive*: *under a partly cloudy sky the temperature climbed to 41 degrees after 3 PM*

Waiting at my afternoon-shelter: less comfortable, but shade-providing and being close to the installation, I spent the hottest hours of the day under this crumbling boulder. Everything reminds the fact, that this place was a seabed a few million years ago.

*Hopefully you don’t bite. I’m not sure.*

*For some reason I spontaneously named this place “the cave of Japheth”, most likely as an intuitive tie with the Dead-Sea scrolls, therefore ancient biblical figures*

*Cumulonimbus calvus above the Ustyurt Plateau*

*Sunset, still hot: even in the evening the temperature remained above the human body temperature and the water in the plastic bottles became not just warmish, but unpleasantly warm*

Sunrise the next morning: While at home there are exceptions, during outdoor camping I am always an early bird, regardless the season. And in the summer there is a very practical reason too: avoiding the effort during the hottest period, completing the bigger chunk of the route in the cooler morning hours.

*Crossing the solonchak: there are a few isolated brine ponds, left-overs from the wetter period, when the stream was alive*

*Looking back towards the Ustyurt: today is cloudier, at least for now*

*Of course in the village too*. But there is another, more contemporary ruler here, the “akim” of Sarga, meaning mayor, or local chieftain if you want. I met him after being followed already from the railway by suspicious locals after returning and politely asked to explain what exactly am I doing here. My weak russian was of some help, but didn’t convince him, thus we went to the administrative building for a more thorough control procedure. Staying outside in the shade of the walls two police officers came, asking typical questions, searching my small shoulder-bag, look over the pics on the camera. No aggression, quite respectful. They asked if I have a metal detector. Meanwhile, the bigger luggage stayed inside the car of the akim and interestingly it wasn’t checked at all. After finishing their job they gave me a lift to Beyneu. Seems like everything is fine.

*Next day I visited the museum of the village-town*

*Reminds me of Mongolia, there is even some Hungarian motif-similarity*

*Both practical and decorative silver objects*

*…and of course a little good-old communism*

My room in Arna hotel: As it was less crowded than before, I managed to move here. Surprisingly, while cheaper than the other accommodation (7000 vs 10000), the conditions are way better: spacious room, big and very comfortable bed, functional shower with hot water, even more quiet. A jackpot for a tired dust-covered traveler.

*Roaming the sleepy-pallid village: the following day started more cloudy*

*I visited the “central mosque”, which is not that central to can be intuitively found*. *Outside the curious overseer nobody was there.* *We chatted a little in Russian, touching on the Kazakh-Hungarian historical link beside others, which can be summarized in the word “kipchak”.*

*Later during the day the clouds became more scattered and the strong summer sun hit the desert settlement again*

*The last field-trip started: must be the same shepherd I saw 4 days earlier*

*At the cultic site: in the morning there were some altocumulus lenticularis clouds*

*View towards the depression: horses are the other natural land owners*

*After the earlier local police encounter I had some less optimistic thoughts circling inside my head, to be honest. Thus, it was a great relief observing the tripod standing in its place.*

*That’s definitely something for 10 AM, it could pass well above 40 degrees again during the afternoon*

Being prepared and with enough experience from the previous two excursions, I decided to walk a little farther from the camp. This kind of natural construction is quite common on the surface of the salt flat, not sure regarding its origin.

*Something between takyr (dried, cracked clay) and solonchak (saltmarsh)*. *I am heading towards the center of the flatland.*

The Zobject at -62 meters below the sea level

*While practically there is no elevation change at all, being already on the bottom, the very center is still 7 km’s away. Should be enough, I will return from here*

*As I thought, already passed above 40 degrees. Time to hide and rest in the shade, the day will be long.*

While until now the sunshine was uninterrupted, in the early afternoon convective clouds coming from the north rapidly covered the sky. Between 2-5 PM it was mostly overcast, with only very brief sun-windows. Despite this the temperatures remained surprisingly elevated and constant, never dropping below 40 degrees.

Gotcha: shortly before 6 PM, a few minutes of direct radiation between the clouds was enough to reach 42 centigrade, the highest value I directly measured during this expedition

*Yes, those are raindrops. Just a few, but how heavenly they felt while laying on the ground and passively collecting them like manna.*

*The next morning: the last value on the screen, the research is over*

*…a car showed up (likely related to animal herding) and the old man offered to give me a ride. Why not?*

Back to Beyneu: All these building blocks are likely the very same material as the boulders in the endorheic basin, cemented sea-shell fragments. This sedimentary rock is not only sufficiently strong but also has good insulation properties because of the many small air bubbles between the scale-like layers.

*Last evening in the desert town: tomorrow I will travel by train to Aktau*

*Relaxing on the Caspian coast*: I will not say that the Uzbek train was impeccable regarding the internal atmosphere, but given the fact we traveled during the day in peak-heat with over 40 degree outside temperature, can’t consider it bad either. An entire coupe was solely mine, the 7 hours passed relatively fast.

*At the main beach of Aktau: well, is this even the same sea I swam in 2 weeks earlier?*

*Typical street view in Aktau: the latter days of the Kazakh journey I spent in the city, just wandering around and enjoying the last bottles of kymyz*

*We started here, we will finish it here*

to be continued…

Ashyktaypak Depression: closer to the Arctic, hotter than the Tropics (3/3)

Interpretation of the logger’s graph (using LogTag Analyzer 3 software)

*The temperature curve of the 8 days/ 8 nights research period. The device was registering a value every 2 minutes.*

First day and night (July 10-11th)

I installed the measuring equipment in the depression in the late morning during clear and generally calm conditions. The logger was started at 10:46 AM and showed 33.4 degrees Celsius as the first reading. The maximum temperature was reached at 4:57 PM when climbed to 38.8 degrees, with an earlier 38.7 registered at 3:37 PM.

Regarding the general trend the curve can be considered normal, but on the smaller scale the fluctuations are quite noticeable (often 1-1.5 degrees in 2 minutes). This was most likely caused by wind which carried the hotter air from the surface of the nearby steeper slopes, which was actually planned in advance (as mentioned in part 1) to give a little topographical boost to the heating potential.

*The temperature curve of the first day and the following night*

The intensity of the short interval fluctuations dropped significantly in the evening and after 8:15 PM the general descent became somewhat steeper (less wind). Still the temperature remained above 32 degrees until 1:30 AM, then dropping in steps down to 24.7 degrees around 6:30 AM. This will remain the lowest temperature of the entire research. No clouds at all until now.

Second day and night (July 11-12th)

I returned to Beyneu already in the late morning and spent the day in the settlement. During the early afternoon hours some clouds appeared on the sky (mild convection) but generally remained sunny. The curve of the graph presents the same pattern, normal on the big scale with many small seiches.

*The temperature curve of the second day and the following night*

It was hotter than yesterday, the 40 degree mark was first touched at 3:07 PM, than peaked with 40.3 degrees at 6:17 PM. Slightly windy night with a warmer 27.7 degrees minimum recorded at 6:17 AM.

Third day and night (July 12-13th)

In the morning hours I visited Old Beyneu cemetery complex where the sky was clear. After 11 AM convective clouds started to develop in the east, thus the afternoon became partly cloudy. Still the temperature raised following the classic trend, reaching 40 degrees already around 12:30 PM. At 3:07 PM passed above 42 degrees, setting the daily max with 42.4 degrees Celsius at 4:11 PM. This will remain the highest temperature of the entire research.

I personally measured 40-41 degrees in Beyneu’s center in the shade of the “tripod monument” during the afternoon using the Greisinger digital precision thermometer.

*The temperature curve of the third day and the following night*

The sharper and smoother drop started after 7:43 PM from 40.5 degrees, dropping to 32.5 shortly after midnight. With small fluctuations, the minimum of 28.1 degrees was reached at 6:11 AM and this value was maintained for full 30 minutes.

Fourth day and night (July 13-14th)

I returned to the installation during the morning observing clear conditions again. In the distance some less developed convective clouds appeared around 11 AM, but the full sunshine lasted until 1-1:30 PM. The maximum of the day was 41.3 degrees and was reached at 3:29 PM, while the sky became partly cloudy. Towards the evening I observed more developed convection in the east (cumulonimbus calvus).

*The temperature curve of the fourth day and the following night*

As expected, the night was warm again. The more constant drop started at 7:15 PM from 39.3 degrees and reached 26.6 degrees at 6:11 AM with only slight disturbances in the second part of the night. The sky was more clear than cloudy during the dark hours.

Fifth day and night (July 14-15th)

I returned to Sarga, then Beyneu in the morning, first under a more cloudy then sunnier sky. Still hot, but somewhat less extreme with a normal temperature curve, reaching 39.0 degrees as daily max at 3:23 PM, showing the characteristic seiches related to the uneven heating as usual. The evident drop started a little earlier, around 7 PM this time.

*The temperature curve of the fifth day and the following night*

The second part of the night was more unstable than the first when the descent looks clean. In the morning at 6:37 AM the minimum of 24.7 degrees Celsius was reached, equalizing the former lowest temp set in the first night.

Sixth day and night (July 15-16th)

I spent this day in Beyneu observing generally sunny weather with some higher clouds (cirrus) in the morning. This was the mildest day, but still passed well above the human body temperature, reaching 38.2 degrees Celsius shortly after 6 PM, showing some less characteristic bigger scale fluctuations in the first part of the afternoon, likely linked to convection.

*The temperature curve of the sixth day and the following night*

Before 8 PM the typical drop started but was abruptly stopped after 2 AM when it climbed back from 28 degrees to 31 degrees in less than 30 minutes. Maybe wind intensification, maybe passing of a cumulonimbus. Towards the morning it dropped back again, reaching the minimum of 27.3 degrees at 6:13 AM.

Seventh day and night (July 16-17th)

Still in Beyneu, where the morning was cloudy, while later the weather became more sunny and hotter than yesterday. Except the seiches the curve looks quite normal, reaching first time the 40 degree mark at 2:21 PM and setting the daily max of 41.4 degrees in the latter part of the afternoon at 6:17 PM.

*The temperature curve of the seventh day and the following night*

I measured around 40 degrees in Beyneu’s center in the shade using the digital precision thermometer. The diagram shows a pretty clean descent starting around 7:20 PM and this remains generally valid for the entire night. The temp dropped to a 26.4 degree low at 6:09 AM, which can be considered average.

Eighth day and night (July 17-18th)

This was the day of the last field-trip. The morning was generally sunny with some altocumulus lenticularis clouds in the beginning. When I reached the equipment, shortly after 10 AM it was already 36 degrees and around noon managed to touch the 40 degree mark, the earliest between all the researched days.

After 1 PM clouds started to arrive, first only thinner cirrus, but a little later also more compact convective ones, stopping the ascent gradient. Still, the temperature remained surprisingly elevated (40-41 degrees) and stable under the seemingly quite thick blanket, which except a few isolated disruptions managed to entirely cover the sky during the mid-afternoon hours. Thus, when a short sun-window appeared later on, it managed to rise to 42.1 degrees Celsius at 5:25 PM, setting the second highest maximum of the research, which was also the highest one I personally experienced.

*The temperature curve of the eighth day and the following night*

This was the warmest night and while the drop looks relatively undisturbed, at 7 PM it was still above 41 degrees and over 33 degrees past midnight. Around 8 PM there were a few isolated rain drops (passing cumulonimbus) followed by rainbow. I stopped the device at 5:47 AM when the screen showed 28.7 degrees Celsius, likely very close to the hypothetical morning minimum.

The mean temperature of the 8 day research period was 34.2 degrees Celsius, the average maximum 40.4 degrees, while the average minimum 26.8 degrees Celsius. The mean daily amplitude is 14.2 degrees, fluctuating between 12.4 and 15.6 degrees, which can be considered modest for continental desert climate. On five out of eight cases the temp climbed over 40 degrees and twice above 42 degrees, while the minimum only twice dropped below 25 degrees and twice stayed above 28 degrees Celsius.

General conclusions

The sky is variable, typically more clear in the morning, while daytime warming often favorizes the formation of convective clouds, more or less
The wind is generally weak to moderate, usually intensifying during the afternoon hours
Both the average maximums and minimums are very high in comparison with the latitude, thus reflected in an unusually high mean summer temperature. This is caused by both its low elevation (below sea level) and relatively high latitude (shorter nights during summer). The first insulates the ground via a thicker atmosphere, functioning as a blanket even without clouds, while the latter shortens the time frame of the nocturnal radiation, when the heat-loss can manifest
Even when cloudy, the temperature remains elevated with surprisingly small real differences between full sunshine and overcast (homogenization factor)
The general trend of the temperature curve is quite normal, although the maximums sometimes are reached with a little shift towards the latter part of the afternoon around or after 6 PM due to “sunshine windows” after the previous convection period. The evening cooling starts late and is slow, often tempered by wind
During the day there are many small, sharp rises and drops in the temperature (seiches), giving the characteristic saw aspect to the graph. The typically 1-1.5 degree small scale fluctuations are likely caused by the wind mixing the air of differently heated nearby surfaces
Rain is rare but can happen, usually very scarce and highly localized under more developed convective clouds (cumulonimbus)
The air is very dry, this combined with the heat causes that the sweat often evaporates instantly, especially when it’s windier
Visibility is generally decent, but not exceptionally good because the presence of light suspensions, sometimes dust devils are forming

Comparing my logger’s results with the official data of the local weather stations and other hot locations situated in the temperate climate zone

After finishing the research I tried to get in contact with Beyneu’s official weather station to obtain the necessary data for a professional comparison. Having no success in the settlement, I planned to solve the issue in Aktau at the regional center. Wrongly assuming that it must be at the airport, I missed the target again, being also unlucky with the weekend period.

After this failure, at home I was glad to realize that Ogimet could access the summer data of the village’s meteorological station, so here we are. My assumptions regarding the possible slight advantage of the chosen location in the depression seem to have been well-founded: the mean difference between the maximum temperatures during the 8 day research period is +0.8 degrees in favor of Ashyktaypak. Except the last day, when Beyneu surprisingly won by a touch, the endorheic basin was always hotter, sometimes with more than 1.5 degrees.

*The statistics of Beyneu weather station for July 11-12th (Ogimet)*

But even that exception is easily explainable: it was the day when during the mid-afternoon hours the sky was completely overcast in the basin, recording the max in the short sun-window around 5:30 PM. It’s highly likely that Beyneu received more sunshine during the hottest interval (3-5 PM) and recorded its 42.2 degrees earlier, when the sky above the basin (situated 20 km farther) was overcast.

If we calculate the difference without this exception the result is exactly +1 degree, which translates into around half degree because of the elevation and the other half because of the topographic enhancement (U-shaped semi-enclosure with more reflected radiation).

Still, the discrepancy was even bigger between the minimum temperatures, Ashyktaypak being 1.5 degrees warmer on average. This is also not a surprise, as the settlement’s station is certainly located in a more open terrain, providing additional space and potential for the nocturnal radiation.

*Comparison between the researched endorheic basin and Beyneu weather station (degrees in Celsius)*

There were a few official stations in Kazakhstan where between 10-17th July the maximum temperature exceeded Beyneu’s 42.2 degrees. According to Ogimet the highest value was 43.7 degrees on 17th recorded in Kaukey settlement, east of the former Aral Sea, which interestingly it’s also situated slightly above the 45 degree latitude. Even Aktau on the Caspian coast went up to 41 degrees on 13th July. While not in the Beyneu area, right in the following afternoon when my research was over, the temperature climbed to 46 degrees in Dzhusaly (not too far from Baikonur), which is also situated a little above 45 N latitude.

Fun fact: In my own country, Romania, in the very day when I was returning home (27th July), the temperatures in the south were close to break the all-time record, rising to 43.4 degrees in Calafat, which is also usually our pole of heat. Situated slightly below 44 degree latitude is even not too far from entering the competition on what my actual research was based on.

*The statistics of Dzhusaly weather station on 17-18th July (Ogimet)*

Is the Ashyktaypak Depression the hottest place situated closer to the North Pole than to the Equator?

On average, it’s highly likely. That 1 full degree advantage over Beyneu could be decisive regarding any possible competition in other areas too. The closest contenders may be the surroundings of the dried-up Aral Sea, respectively the lower course of the Syr Darya river and the Ebinur Basin (Aibi Hu) in Dzungaria (Western China), all likely approaching or even reaching around 35 degree average July max temperatures.

Honorable mention to the Turpan Depression (-154 meters below the sea level), which while south of the 45 degree latitude (42-43 N) still has a quite northerly setting compared with the extremely hot summers (between 40-42 degree July maxes and extremes up to 50 (!) centigrade), which are well above the ones found in the Beyneu area.

Regarding Lytton (British Columbia/ Canada) or Steele (North Dakota/ USA), locations in North America where the absolute maximum is higher (both exceeded 49 degrees Celsius) than in Beyneu (46.6 degree Celsius), the average summer potential remains significantly lower. The records are very impressive without any doubt, exactly because those kind of extreme events are very rare and need more specific weather pattern synchronization, while their actual 27-30 degree July average maximums would be just average Eastern European values for low elevations around 45-47 degree latitude.

Laguna Seca: where summer meets winter (1/3)

Intro: lack of oxygen, excess of radiation

Bolivia is entirely situated in the tropical belt, but due to the huge differences in elevation has a diverse and complex climate. While the eastern part is dominated by wet lowlands and savannas, the western sector is mostly a high and dry plateau named the Altiplano. With an average elevation of around 3800 meters, this barren highland which is shared with three other South-American countries (Peru, Chile and Argentina) is the second largest and elevated in the world after the Tibetan Plateau, concomitantly the air contains only about 60% of the oxygen found at sea level.

The driest part is represented by the westernmost stretch, which gradually descends into the hyper-arid Atacama desert towards the coast of the Pacific Ocean. In Bolivia it can be found in the south-western corner of the country. In the middle of this region there is an extensive flat area covered with thick salt crust named Salar de Uyuni, which represents the closed bottom of the highland’s interior. As such, it has no outlet and all the rivers (mostly intermittent) are collected by the huge, shallow bowl where the water rapidly evaporates in the thin and dry air.

*With more than 10.000 square km surface area, Salar de Uyuni (3660 m) is the largest salt flat in the world*

The climate of the plateau is extreme. Especially notable are the daily temperature fluctuations, which can exceed 30 degrees in the dry season, which has its peak in the south hemisphere’s winter months (June-August). Beside the huge thermal amplitudes the other peculiar weather aspects are the strong westerly winds and the intense UV radiation. Regarding the latter, the highest value ever recorded on the surface of the Earth – an incredible 43.3! – was measured on the peak of Licancabur volcano (5916 m) situated right on the border between Bolivia and Chile on the fringes of the Atacama. Just imagine that the level 11 is considered “extremely high” on the UV chart and most European countries never reach that even in the summer.

Choosing the target

While already knowing that the Altiplano likely provides the best general context regarding the biggest daily temperature fluctuations, I was of course interested in the “finer details” which can maximalise this potential. Regarding the timing I concluded that the best period must be somewhere near the equinox, when the heating and cooling has similar chances of manifestation. As with both very short nights (think of polar summers) or very short daylight (think of polar winters) the thermal amplitudes are pretty small (constantly cool or constantly frigid), the biggest ones have to be equally far from both.

*The location of the research area (black dot) inside the Altiplano (gray spectrum)*

Concomitantly, much better is to have an abrupt sun-path, where the irradiance reaches the highest possible angle at zenit (namely tropical latitudes). This is of course influenced also by other factors such as the distribution of moisture (clouds and precipitation) between the seasons.

Taken all into account the month of September stood out as according to the available climatological statistics (Uyuni in Bolivia, Calama and San Pedro de Atacama in Chile) in the south-western part of the Altiplano it is the same dry as the mid-winter period, receiving almost no precipitations. Now let’s move to the topographical aspects.

*Topo-map with the unnamed depression (lower-right center) situated east of the Alota – Villamar Mallcu dirt road*

As the thinner air has less heat-retaining capacity, the general rule to follow is: the higher the better. In the simplified version the limitation is given by the highest possible elevation where closed basins can be found as in those places the colder air can be gravitationally collected. But there are also other influencing elements like the wind pattern, which instead is inversely proportional with the targeted amplitude potential, making the real picture more complex. Best should be (especially for shorter term observations like mine) to make a wise compromise, founding the “golden mean” between elevation and stability.

As such, I concluded that around 4000 meters elevation must be a well grounded decision, sufficiently high to have a serious advantage compared to the low elevations, but still relatively stable compared to the protruding tall ridges and peaks where the wind is certainly more active.

*Satellite view of the endorheic basin with the contour levels 30, 20, 10 and 5 meters* *marked with red*

Meticulously scanning the map I found out that there are only a few closed basins with sufficient depth which doesn’t have lakes on their bottom and of course exactly these are the best for my purpose. Finally I’ve chosen an unnamed depression south of Villa Alota settlement, whose floor is situated around 4030 meters, while the outflow point is some 30 meters higher. The bottom looks completely dry, lacking even the characteristic white salt crust.

Brief summary of the research

The Bolivian journey started on 13th September, landing in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the biggest city of the country. Continuing with an internal flight to Sucre, the next day I reached an intermediate elevation between the hot lowlands and the arid high plateau. After two other days of acclimatization I arrived in Uyuni on 16th by bus via Potosí. On 17th I traveled to Villa Alota with a previously hired private jeep to begin the research as soon as possible, approaching the chosen spot a little more on the dirt track towards Villamar Mallcu. I started the hike with the equipment around 1 PM.

After around 1.5 hours I reached the bottom of the nameless endorheic basin where the instruments were mounted on the tripod, which was also stabilized with an attached bag filled with rocks. The coordinates are 21.498 S, 67.547 W, the elevation around 4030 m and the distance of the sensor from the ground is 170-180 cm. The weather station started its operation at 2:56 PM. First reading: 14.4 degrees Celsius.

I did not waited long here, but returned from Alota the next day to spend the following two nights near the equipment. In all three cases the temperature dropped below -15 degrees, the coldest being the third morning with -16.5 degrees Celsius. The sky was generally clear with some altocumulus invasions during the evening and the first part of the second night. The wind pattern has a pretty obvious course, the afternoons being dominated by strong westerlies, while the nights and mornings are much calmer. I left the research spot in the morning of 20th and spent the following days in and around Uyuni.

*The weather station on the bottom of the basin*

After six days I returned to the endorheic basin for one last night after which the equipment was collected. That morning (27th) was the coldest of the entire research (-19.0 degrees Celsius at 6:23 AM) and it was also the period when the biggest thermal excursion happened: 38.1 degrees in under 24 hours, starting the huge drop from the previous day’s positive 19.1 degrees.

Six out of ten days the temperature fluctuation exceeded 30 degrees (dropping every time below -10) with a very likely seventh (the day before the last) when the strong afternoon wind overturned the tripod disconnecting the sensor. The middle days were somewhat milder, when at times I observed partly covered sky in the Uyuni area.

*The coldest morning of the research was the last one*

During my solitary hikes I saw many llamas on the outer slopes of the basin, where the locals have started the spring work on the quinoa fields and only vinunas inside, on the bottom. I spotted also some eagles, a viscacha and observed Darwin’s rhea (suri) tracks in the sand. Near my camp which was situated a little higher on the northern slope I identified signs of smaller scale mining activity. Except the relatively busy dirt track where the tourist filled 4wd cars circulated the surroundings lacked human presence, meeting only once two llama herders on the periphery of the basin.

The instruments used in the field

-One LogTag UTRED30-16 data logger with the measuring range between -40 and +99 degrees Celsius, an accuracy of 0.5 degrees Celsius and a resolution of 0.1 degrees Celsius

-One Greisinger G1710 thermometer with the measuring range between -70 and +250 degrees Celsius, an accuracy and resolution of 0.1 degrees, used for instant hand measurements

-One photo camera tripod serving as the support for the instruments

-One helical solar radiation shield from Barani Design Technologies: https://www.baranidesign.com/

*The Barani Pro shield fighting against the vicious UV radiation*

To be continued…

Laguna Seca: where summer meets winter (2/3)

Journey photo album

Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Lorenzo, Santa Cruz de la Sierra: My plane landed at Viru-Viru airport on 13th September where hot wind (around 36 C) and haze greeted me. Feels also pretty humid. Not the weather I came for, but certainly an interesting debut.

The city has a rapid pace, maybe too rapid for my taste. You must be careful with the traffic, the drivers does not have much patience here. At the central square is better. During the night the weather changed, cooling down significantly (around 20 C) because of the torrential rain. Only the wind remained there from the old equation. Back to Viru-Viru, as I have local flight to Sucre.

Big festivity in Sucre: With some delay the plane landed at Alcantari aiport (3100 m elevation), around 30 km from the city (2800 m). Taxis are not expensive here. While Santa Cruz (400 m elevation) has some dodgy neighborhoods and can be challenging during the night (I didn’t tried out), Sucre feels much more safe and is also cleaner. Let’s forget about the mess after the mega-party, it was rapidly cleaned the next morning. *Not my head which was heavily strucked by “soroche” (altitude sickness) because of the rapid change from near sea-level. It was kind of surprising, never felt ill at this elevation until now.*

At “Jesus’s heart” monument the next day: Around noon my condition improved, so went out to do some mild cardio workout. This hilltop (300 meter elevation gain) was a good choice to check the gears. The communal cohesion is evident in the city, which is known as the second capital of Bolivia. Locals may say it’s the real one.

*Also known as “the white city”, with its general colonial aspect, Sucre has a positive and tranquil vibe*

Yes, those are palm trees at 2800 meters. The climate here is one of the best in the country, which can be summarized as a constant spring. Not hot, not cold, not too rainy, not too arid. But don’t underestimate the UV radiation, which isn’t modest.

Potosí historical center: Reaching the heights of the Altiplano (almost 4000 meters) the next evening by bus, I felt in my elements both physically and emotionally. The soroche didn’t returned. I’ve read before that the body’s reaction to the high elevations are pretty unpredictable, now I experienced it live again.

Similar in its colonial aspect with Sucre, Potosí is dominated by pastel colors (especially pinkish), which gives him a more ancient general look. While Sucre can be considered the heart of national identity, here is the center of the spanish heritage. *Pleasant cool morning, around positive 5 degrees between the old walls.*

*Statue of liberty: nice hyperboloid shape by the way*

*Yeah, definitely has a soul, I think it’s my favorite bolivian city*

View from a tower towards Cerro Rico (4780 m), the famous mountain which had the biggest silver mines in the world in the 16-18. centuries, strongly contributing to the rapid ascent in power of the Spanish Empire. Still a lot of inner richness there in our days. Well, take this literally, *the actual story behind the exploitation is less appealing from a humanistic perspective.*

Villa Alota: After another 4 hour bus journey to Uyuni, only slept there once as I felt rushed by the good weather conditions to start the research as soon as possible. Having a previous arrangement in this regard to hire a private jeep, we reached the very basic looking settlement on the new paved road before noon. It was windy as it can be, what a start!

Flamingoes in the wetlands (bofedales): I decided to stay 3 days in the area, spending the latter 2 in the wilderness, while in this first one I will sleep in Alota after placing the measuring equipment. *The forecast shows the best conditions for the second and third night, that’s why.*

Henry, the driver with a lonely altocumulus lenticularis above: Continuing on the dirt track in the direction of Villamar Mallcu around 15 km, we approached the chosen place more and before 1 PM I started the hike

*Above 4000 meters elevation:* O yeah, I was waiting for this from a long time. Too bad, my GPS died right at the starting spot (could be the dust or just bad timing?) Anyhow I have everything crucial in my memory, let’s get into it.

First view of the endorheic basin: It seems that I guessed the directions right, the edge of the depression wasn’t too far. The weather is still windy, though less than in Alota where was on the border of violent. The temperature is moderate. *Unsurprisingly, nobody in the entire area*.

Reaching the bottom around 2:30 PM, I mounted the instruments on the tripod, secured it with an attached bag (actually the tripod’s own) filled with rocks collected near the slope and shortly before 3 PM the logger was started: 14.4 degrees Celsius, must be around the hottest time of the day. The wind persisted.

*First milestone, happy with the installation*

*Even flatter than I thought, the bottom of the basin is situated around 4028 m according to Google Earth*. *The vegetation is made up mostly by separate patches of Paja Brava (Festuca orthophylla), which often grow in this characteristic circle arc format.*

*Must have been vicuñas (wild relatives of the llamas), I saw a few running in the distance in the eastern part of the basin*. *Planning to reach Alota before dark, I left the research area already before 4 PM. Isn’t really a must, but I’m a guest in the village and not sure about the quechua ethics regarding the dinner*.

The track I follow on the way to the village is flanked by quinoa fields. Beside the llama meat this plant is the other basic food of the local population, between the very few which can grow at these elevations. *It seems that the spring work (sowing) has already started in some parts.*

*Trying to do a shortcut as the road turned too much to the left, around sunset I reached the wetland situated south of the village*

*Beside the flamingoes this is a very common bird species here. Sometimes they will fly round just a few meters above your head, while screaming. Not a welcome sign, I guess.*

*Altocumulus lenticularis is by far the most common cloud type here. Must be very windy at the highest elevations.*

It seems that I will not make it to the village during daylight. The marshland’s topography forced me to turn to the left myself too, like I was corrected by an invisible quechua policeman because I did not follow the local rules. No bad feelings, I really like the ambiance here. More adventure, the better.

*The cool evening wind is an early precursor of the cold night what will follow it*. *I reached Alota shortly before 8 PM after an almost 20 km hike, much more than the direct line which shows only 12 km*.

Early morning in the remote village, the sky is clear, the wind has gone

*Far from the previous day’s sunny afternoon*

*You can buy coca leaves here (legal in Bolivia), a mild to medium (if you chew as much as a cow) stimulant, frequently consumed by the locals*. *Be sure your mouth will feel numb as after a visit to the dentist.*

*The small green bag on the big one: As you can see I’m prepared for the long hike, three sunny days (read it as UV blast) and two cold nights are waiting for me*

The weather warms up quickly and the first daylight hours are basically windless. This seems to be a general pattern here, which often extends to around noon, the wind starting to increase only in the early afternoon.

*The wetland has a rich and variate fauna even in the dry season, beside the bird species there are many llamas, sheep and even bovines*

*As I heard they leave the area only in the winter months (June-august), so possibly returned here not long before*

*First I want to visit a canyon area, which is situated a few km’s to the east from my main target*

*The warming continues, without wind the temperature differences are very noticeable*

*Reaching higher elevations, I continue the hike on rougher terrain*

The top part is very fragmented, thus after meandering my way through the rock-labyrinth for some time I concluded it’s a bad idea to continue, trying to go round all these ravines and decided to return before heading to the endorheic basin. I have a heavy backpack with limited water for a big and more strenuous bypass. Let’s be reasonable.

*Noon approaches.* *One can almost sense the UV burn just looking to this picture*.

*Extensive quinoa fields on the other side, a reminder that this barren place is not entirely forgotten. Jubina mountain is in the right side of the background, that’s my direction*.

*The water in the stream is surprisingly balmy. I suppose it’s a hot spring area, I don’t think the daily warming itself could do this.* *However, careful with the drinking, many llamas are present in the surroundings. I mean DON’T.*

*Crossing the terrain transversely is not that straightforward even is there are no topographical obstacles of major scale*

*I see now, that’s actually the main canyon, the more visited one. I was in a secondary one, though likely the same spectacular.* *Maybe I miss the GPS a little.*

Crossing the shallow river. If not before, now I am using the “legionary hat” as my face started to feel the abrasion caused by the intense radiation. And not only the face. The exposed parts of the skin (which are pretty large as I am wearing shorts and T-shirt) are continuously attacked from various directions. Doing a lot of outdoor activities in all seasons from many years, I think that never felt burning sensation on my arms and calves before since childhood. *But you can’t really prepare to this level of UV intensity (13-14 now), it’s clearly above the European scale.*

Another small scale ravine on the other side. Look, a viscacha! Oh, it’s gone, had no time to record it. Very quick, likeable creatures, with their appearance somewhere between a rabbit and a squirrel.

*The campesinos (local farmers) working on the quinoa fields. Well, even if they live here from centuries, are fully clothed and are using hats…*

A little later I reached the dirt road where the 4wd cars circulate towards Laguna Colorada and the Siloli desert. Jesus’s heart was present and I received a full bottle of water (did not asked for) from a kind female tourist after stopping to curiously ask what the heck am I doing here alone with a heavy backpack. Now I’m sure I will stay both nights outside.

Reaching the col of the basin. The slightly undulating terrain was misleading as there were more topographical discontinuities than one could conclude simply looking from the distance. A little tired until now, the elevation taxes you and it’s different with a bigger luggage.

On the cracked bottom of Laguna Seca, which locals told me is the name of the place studied by me. Proper name.

WHAAAT !? *This was one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of all my cold-hunter career* *until now*. *NINE degrees below Alota, which itself is already on the bottom of a flat basin? This is the definition of a Jackpot. And the following two nights could even beat that!* *How about the 33.3 degree amplitude?*

*Yeah, some vivid colors there. Maybe I too should have used Mr. Barani’s helical radiation shield?*

After scanning the surroundings I decided to spend the night a little higher on the southern slopes of Jubina mountain. Spotted there a rudimentary building, which later identified as related to a nearby small-scale mining activity. Shortly after I changed my mind seeing a lot of rodent feces in one corner inside the rectangular walls. I like animals but don’t want to wake up with jerry on my face…

*More exposed to the elements, but another level of freedom. Good night! Wait, it’s only around 5 PM* or so.

*Park ranger feeling. Not the best payment, but nice view.*

Was the night good? To be honest, far from my favorite one. Despite the optimistic forecast regarding a completely clear sky, from the late afternoon well into the second part of the night there were constant altocumulus invasions like the place was seriously cursed. And the previous one – which I decided not to spend here – was spotless, despite the forecast showed partial cover. The westerly clouds are just coming and going, but never disappearing completely. I fell asleep late, but when woke up around 4:30 AM the sky was clear and there was barely any air movement. Great! My thermometer showed -3 degrees, must be a strong inversion down there. Soon I was ready to an early morning visit to the weather installation.

Indeed, in the lowest part of the basin it suddenly felt colder. The air was completely still. I guessed well, the minimum is well below -10, but less cold than the previous morning. Not bad after the altocumulus marathon.

*No T-shirt time anymore, the lack of rest also weathered me a little*

*Sunrise above Cerro Tomasamil (5890 m), the highest peak you can see from my research spot* *(around 50 km as the bird flies)*

*That likely was a vicuña, but what killed it? A cougar (puma) could be part of the equation, no doubt*

*Around 8 AM already reaching the positive range, that’s a serious leap!*

This is what I talked about a little earlier: there are a few crevices in the rock nearby, which evidently are anthropic. Then I remembered the conversation with the quechua woman in Alota regarding Jubina mountain: “it’s very rich, silver, gold and many other”. Maybe they think I am a gold-digger in disguise?

*Until the early afternoon he weather warmed even above yesterday’s maximum. You can’t really comprehend it’s the same day on the same spot.*

*Maybe only the pretzel shaped tufts of paja brava know what this remote basin’s climate is capable of*

The second night was completely clear, though somewhat windier in the evening. As at dawn the mobile thermometer showed -5 degrees at my camp, I knew it will be even colder on the bottom this time. And it was: -16.5 degrees, the lowest temperature until now.

*The golden mantle lowering into the depression*

*I left the research spot in the morning and hiked back the roughly 20 km’s to Alota. This must be the dwelling-place of a llama herder, but nobody at home now.*

*The vicuñas are the ancestors of the alpacas, also related to the llamas. Very common on the Altiplano, you can spot them often near the road while passing by car.*

Hitchhiking around noon in UV-strucked Alota. A few years ago the road was paved, so now it’s pretty easy to reach Uyuni with basically any means of transport. I was lucky that the Calama bus (from Chile) passed there less than 30 minutes after my arrival and of course the fare was very cheap.

*Train graveyard in Uyuni*: *Until the late 19. century the silver mining in Potosí declined thus the carriages transporting the mineral to the Pacific coast through the Atacama were left pray to the time and elements.*

In the evening of the return I observed signs of a respiratory infection which intensified the next day (likely flu), so I decided to take some rest. Regarding the original plan this meant a single important change: there will be no climbing. Hard to accept it, but that was the proper rational decision. I have to return to collect the equipment in less than a week, so I will not play the Russian roulette. That’s it, next time. *I still went out to visit the train wreck at the periphery of the town. Interesting*, but…

…*too bad for the garbage field you have to cross from and to the settlement* *if you come by foot*

My condition didn’t improved – to say the least – so stayed mostly inside the following day, but afterwards I felt somewhat better and went out to a walk again. This time the purpose was to identify the weather station, which I concluded it must be somewhere in the area of the airport (some 5 km from the center). I want to visit it and, if possible, obtain some data to compare it with my measurements. As I couldn’t see it from the road and did not know the local rules regarding the airport security (saw soldiers patrolling inside the fence), decided to return and ask the hotel staff regarding this.

Feeling stronger it was time for a longer trip. I visited the Salar de Uyuni, one (more correctly THE) of the country’s main attractions. At 3660 m elevation, the extensive saltpan is the worlds largest measuring over 10.000 square km and almost 150 km across. You heard it right.

As in case of many other scenic places, tourists arrive here through organized group tours (one or more days) by jeep. However, for eccentrics like me is more palatable to do this “freestyle”, so I reached Colchani village by bus (less than US $1) and continued by foot. From the asphalt it’s 4-5 km to the edge of the salar. Under the spell of the infiniteness I could not resist and just walked and walked forward. After a while I saw something in the distance, of which first wasn’t sure if are cars (there is also some exploitation near the shore) or some flatter buildings, but later turned out to be the latter. It was a complex built in and from salt. For tourists of course.

*Does it look a little like Antarctica maybe?* *Be sure, it’s only the look as the UV radiation is at a different level here.*

*The place is named “Dakar Monument”* *and concluding from the walking time must be around 8-9 km inside the salar*

*On the way back. Convective clouds are evolving above the eastern ranges (towards Potosí)*. The hike was technically easy (very flat) but pretty long (26-28 km) for a “warm-up” after the flu. However, the distance per se should have not be an issue. The problem was the notorious radiation, more specifically the reflected one. I read that a sunglass is a must here, but as I didn’t felt anything suspicious regarding the vision while hiking, just continued without protection. Bad decision. The inflammation started only in the evening and wasn’t over the next day. How can I describe the sensation? Well, imagine that your eyelashes became your worst enemy. *You can’t close them because they will feel like wires scratching the surface of your eyes. So, good night…*

On the third day following the UV incident my vision improved sufficiently to can safely return to collect the equipment. It was also the planned date to do this. After some less potent days, the forecast shows a new cooling in progress, so I was optimistic regarding this last night which I will spend in the wilderness. Taking the Calama bus at dawn, started the hike from Alota in the morning. It was pretty chilly, definitely below -5 degrees. This time I continued to stay on the main road more, turning left towards Jubina only after about 12 km’s. Reaching the periphery of the closed basin I observed two people so entered in conversation and found out they are herders searching for some missing llamas. Told them I only saw vicuñas inside the basin.

Reaching the bottom I tried to identify the tripod as soon as possible, but as I approached it became clearer and clearer that something is wrong. The suspense was over after finding the structure in its place, though overturned. So: wind, animal or human? Turned out to be the first as both the falling direction (towards east) and the time of the incident, which I concluded later from the interrupted graph (between 3-4 PM) supported this theory. As the weight-reinforced installation felt pretty stable and easily bearing the first days wind, those gusts must have been wild.

*Around noon the radiation was over the scale again, hard to found a shelter in this period as the sun is very high on the sky*

*Feeling well, decided to do a hike to the top of Jubina*

*Queñoa* *(don’t mistake it for quinoa), the highest living tree in the world has an easily exfoliating surface*

*The other endemic plant of the highest elevations is the Yareta (the moss looking one), which often lives in a symbiotic relationship with the former*. *But don’t be fooled of the aspect, it’s hard as a rock.*

*Wind and UV: On top of Jubina (around 4400 m)*. *I wouldn’t consider it a “true climb” – in the bigger context it’s more like a hill here – but it was the highest point I reached during the journey.* *RIP Garmin watch, I lost you here.*..

*Maybe my favorite plant? Definitely special.*

*The thick foliage of the queñoa evolved to can endure the drought and the strong wind of the barren plateau*

*Uturuncu (6008 m) the highest mountain in southern Bolivia and the salt flats of Laguna Yapi (4000 m). The whitish top of the mountain is not snow, but volcanic debris*

*Zooming the bottom of Laguna Seca. Yes, I can spot the weather installation*.

*Descending the rocky slopes*. *The return to the camp was straightforward and also much faster then the wandering on the bumps of the plateau*

*Last morning temperature check: The evening and night was completely clear and also the calmest of all*, *thus* *the temperature plummeted extremely low, reaching -19 degrees just before sunrise.* *What a finish!*

*The endorheic basin exceeded my expectation*

*The research is over, the results are excellent*

*Darwin’s rhea (Suri) tracks in the sand near the basin’s col*

*The hike back to Alota was the same long (if not longer) as this time continuously followed the trails between the quinoa fields, without trying to do shortcuts*

*Guardians of Uyuni*. *After hitchhiking for a while, a truck coming from Chile took me back to the town, same cheap as the bus.*

*Everything is revolving around tourism in Uyuni, the small town is full of agencies, accommodations, souvenir shops and small restaurants*. But of course, I was more interested to get in touch with the weather station. The problem was resolved with the helpfulness of the hotel staff who arranged a meeting with the weather personnel of the airport. The data I obtained there is valuable (see the third chapter)

*A lost sherpa?* *The descendants of the incas might be of smaller stature but they’re far from weak*

*Nothing more bolivian than this colorful load-pack*

*It was time to start the return. Following the same way by bus, first I reached Potosí*

*The well decorated “church of indians”, unfortunately not open for visitors*

*The top of San Francisco church overlapping with the pyramidal peak of Cerro Rico* *(author’s fault)*

*Now the “Casa National de la Moneda” was open and I take the opportunity to visit it in the last hours of my stay*. *It’s Sunday and pretty crowded because of the short program, but worth the patience.*

“Triangular virgin”, a mix between the new Christian religion and the older native mountain veneration

*Some old coins from the early minting style (16-17th century)*

*Inside the chamber with the huge gears which operated the mint*

*Pieces of art made from the abounding local silver*

*The next day I continued the bus trip to Sucre*

*Despite the poor statistics in comparison to other South-American countries, Bolivia’s “second capital” radiates a general feeling of prosperity* *and proudness*

*From Sucre I descended to the savanna climate of Santa Cruz with the 45 minute local flight. The same journey would take 11 hours by bus and the cheap prices support the good decision.* *Again hot and windy. And dusty.*

*He just stood up and elegantly walked like this for a while, before changing into tree-acrobatics mode*

*Nandu. A smaller relative lives also in the Altiplano (remember the tracks in the sand?)*

*Well, I think we’re not completely done here. Hasta luego, amigos!*

to be continued…

Laguna Seca: where summer meets winter (3/3)

Interpretation of the logger’s graph (using LogTag Analyzer 3 software)

*The temperature curve of the 10 days/ 10 nights research period. The device was registering a value every 2 minutes.*

First day and night (17-18th September)

I installed the measuring equipment on the bottom of the endorheic basin in the early afternoon during moderately windy conditions and almost clear sky. The logger set for 2 minute intervals was started at 2:56 PM and the first reading showed 14.4 degrees Celsius. Concluding from both the time of the day and the temperature curve it was around the hottest part of the day, reaching the slightly higher maximum of 14.7 degrees at 3:25 PM. I left the equipment before 4 PM and hiked back to Alota under generally clear sky with some altocumulus lenticularis clouds over the higher mountains. The moderate wind persisted also in the evening.

*The temperature curve of the first afternoon and the following night*

After a smoother afternoon start the temperature drop is slightly disturbed in the evening and night but generally is pretty straightforward. Descending below 0 for first time at 10:35 PM, the continuous negative values started right around midnight. The minimum of -16.2 C was reached at 5:11 AM and was approached again with -16.1 C at 6:25 AM before sunrise. I spent that night in Alota and measured -7 degrees outside in the early morning during clear and calm conditions.

Second day and night (18-19th September)

After sunrise the temperature rise is fast and clean, already passing over 0 degrees around 8 AM. Later the curve becomes less and less abrupt but has a general constancy until around 3 PM, reaching the peak of 17.1 C at 3:49 PM. Together with the -16.2 C morning minimum this means a 33.3 degree temperature excursion in the same day. The obvious drop starts around 4:30 PM becoming more pronounced after 5:20 PM. Like in the previous night’s case, the afternoon drop is the cleanest while the evening and first part of the night somewhat disturbed, still without significant changes on the higher scale. The 0 degree mark was passed for the first time at 11:21 PM, while the continuous negative values started from 0:45 AM. The minimum of -15.2 C was reached at 6:17 AM.

I spent the night in the basin at my camp situated a little higher, outside the inversion layer on the southern slope of Jubina mountain. Despite the optimistic clear forecast, from the late afternoon well into the night there were constant altocumulus (also cirrostratus) invasions, passing from west to east and partially covering the sky between 1/8 and 5/8 ratio. The wind was generally weak, reaching the lowest speed at dawn when the sky finally became completely clear. I was present at the research spot during the coldest period before sunrise and observed calm conditions on the bottom.

Third day and night (19-20th September)

I continued to stay in the basin observing an all day long clear sky. The very rapid temperature rise passed again above 0 degrees around 8 AM, the curve becoming less abrupt before 9 AM. This time the maximum of 17.8 C was reached a little sooner at 2:15 PM, which together with the -15.2 C morning minimum represents a 33.0 degree daily amplitude. The warmest early afternoon period is characterized by pretty big 1.5-2 degrees small scale oscillations in short periods of time. The general drop started after 4 PM and again the cleanest part was the late afternoon. The evening and especially the night was less stable, where a 5 degree warming happened around 2 AM and only after that started to drop rapidly again. It reached below 0 for the first time at 11:17 PM, while the continuous negative temperatures started from 0:35 AM. The minimum of -16.5 degrees Celsius was reached at 6:03 AM, thus slightly exceeding the first nights low.

I was present in the area, spending the night at my camp and checking the logger in the coldest early morning period. During the dark hours I observed no clouds at all and only weak, sometimes moderate wind on the slope. Regarding the earlier mentioned abrupt night warming, as I can’t recall any clouds on this night, the disturbance was likely caused by wind alone. On the bottom was calm again at dawn and morning.

Fourth day and night (20-21th September)

I left the research area after sunrise and hiked back to Alota from where traveled to Uyuni by bus. In Alota was still completely clear and close to calm around midday. The diagram shows the characteristic undisturbed morning warming, passing the 0 degree mark again around 8 AM and continuing the rapid increase above 6 degrees Celsius at 8:50 AM. With a more moderate but still generally constant ascending slope, the peak of 18.4 degrees was reached at 3:09 PM, which together with the morning’s -16.5 C represents an impressive 34.9 degree daily amplitude, the biggest until now.

The obvious drop started after 5:30 PM, again cleaner in the late afternoon and more fragmented in the evening and night, but keeping the big lines. This pattern seems to be a generality here. The continuous negative values appeared early on at 9:57 PM. This time the lowpoint of -14.6 degrees was reached earlier, around 4:30 AM as after that was a significant increase to -6.8 C at 5:30 AM, dropping afterwards back to -14 around 6 AM. Wasn’t present, but probably wind disturbance again.

Fifth day and night (21-22th September)

I was in Uyuni on this day where observed a partially cirrus covered sky, spotting a few undeveloped cumulus clouds over the mountains. From the diagram the conditions in the Alota area are still stable, this time the fast morning warming raised the temperature above 0 already around 7:45 AM.

The curve follows a very similar pattern as in the previous days, reaching a little higher peak (19.5 degrees) shortly before 4 PM. Then comes the cleaner afternoon drop and the more disturbed evening and night. Reaching 0 degrees at 10:13 PM, the continuous negative values started from 11:11 PM. With a low of -11.7 C around 6 AM is still a cold morning, though less frigid than the past ones. Huge 34.1 degree daily amplitude, second biggest until now.

Sixth day and night (22-23th September)

I don’t remember the sky’s state on this day as was resting inside my hotel room most of the time (flu). The day part of the temperature curve is similar to the previous one, exceeding 0 degrees after 7:30 AM and reaching the peak of 19.9 at 2:45 PM.

The night cooling is somewhat similar (more disturbed after the evening) but weaker, reaching only -6.8 degrees at 5:35 AM, preceded by some 3-5 degree ups and downs in shorter periods of time. First negative value appeared at 0:29 AM and became continuous from 1:37 AM. The 31.6 degree daily fluctuation is still solid.

Seventh day and night (23-24th September)

Except some more developed convective clouds above the mountains in the east the sky was still clear in Uyuni. It’s the warmest day of the research, the 0 degree mark was exceeded already around 7:15 AM, while the maximum climbed to 20.3 C at 1:17 PM.

No significant changes in the curve’s general pattern, but the drop is even less potent this time, becoming continuously negative only from 4:49 AM and reaching a mild -5.4 C low at 6:15 AM. The 27.1 degree amplitude is less pronounced than in the previous days when it was constantly well above 30 degree.

Eighth day and night (24-25th September)

On this day I made a longer hike to Salar de Uyuni where the sky was clear, observing developed convective clouds only above the eastern mountains. However, now the air was a little dusty with less visibility than in the previous days.

Again, no mentionable changes in the curve’s rising part, shortly after 7 AM reached 0 degrees and raised to 19.4 C at 1:09 PM following the general “convex pattern”. This was followed by the weakest night, the temperature becoming negative only from 5:35 AM and recording the warmest low of -4.1 degrees at 6:33 AM. This was preceded by more than 6 degree short term ups and downs, warming up to positive 9.4 degrees not long before midnight. Compared to the first days, the 24.8 degree amplitude is also modest.

Ninth day and night (25-26th September)

Another less memorable day regarding the ambience as was again mostly inside because of UV damage to my eyes (reflected rays on the saltpan), but I remember it was pretty bright in Uyuni, as it seriously disturbed my vision around midday.

*The temperature curve of the ninth day (interrupted)*

The graph shows the same clean and strong morning rise with the temperature passing over the 0 degree mark not long after 7 AM and reaching 19.0 degrees at 1:55 PM. But at 3:13 PM the diagram is suddenly interrupted. I concluded that the tripod was overturned in this afternoon by the violent westerly wind and the sensor’s cable was disconnected due to the fall.

Tenth day and night (26-27th September)

At dawn I went back to Alota by bus, where the morning was quite chilly, likely below -5 degrees. After the 20 km hike I reached the research spot before 11 AM. Fortunately the trouble caused by the wind was only temporary and the logger could continue recording the temperature after reconnecting the sensor. The day was completely clear (only some convective clouds in the far horizon above the southern mountains) but windy again in the early afternoon when I made an ascent to the peak of Jubina mountain.

*The temperature curve of the tenth day (first part missing) and the following night*

The day’s maximum was 19.1 degrees Celsius and was reached at 2:39 PM. I’m pretty sure that today the amplitude exceeded the 30 degree mark again, but having no concrete data from the night this is only an opinion. Nonetheless, I have data from the following one which was the coldest in the entire research period. The first freezing appeared around midnight, while the continuous negative values started from 0:37 AM. Despite being again less stable in the late evening and in the first part of the night when we can observe 3-4 degree short term ups and downs on the graph, the completely clear conditions favorized to descend very deep in the second part of the dark hours, reaching an impressive -19.0 degrees at 6:23 AM shortly before sunrise. This together with the previous day’s 19.1 degree maximum gives a staggering 38.1 degree amplitude in under 24 hours. The logger was stopped at 7:01 AM when the screen showed -11.6 degrees.

The average temperature of the 10 days research is 5.7 degrees Celsius. The mean minimum is -12.2 degrees, while the mean maximum 18.5 degrees, which give a mean daily amplitude of 30.7 degrees. We can observe that the mean temperature is clearly higher than we could expect solely from the minimums and maximums, which is caused by the fact that the positive part of the curve has a rounded peak, while the negative one is much sharper, technically V shaped.

General conclusions

The sky is predominantly clear both day and night, altocumulus lenticularis being the most common cloud type.
The wind follows an obvious pattern: in the night and morning is weak or calm, while the afternoon is much more windier, when the westerlies are dominating.
The daily temperature fluctuation is huge, usually exceeding 30 degrees, possibly producing one of the biggest average amplitudes on Earth.
The warming after sunrise is much faster than the cooling after sunset, regularly reaching or exceeding 10 degrees in one hour.
Regarding the finer details, interestingly the short period disturbances in the temperature’s course are always bigger in the evening and even in the night than in the late afternoon when the drop is much smoother, but it seems that this doesn’t correlates with the wind speed.
More than 1 degree fluctuations can appear often in very short periods of time even in the coldest, virtually windless mornings.
There is a clear difference between the positive (related to the maximums) and negative waves (related to the minimums) of the temperature curve, the former having a rounded, while the latter a more angled shape. That means the cooling is pretty constant until the morning without approaching an equilibrium state (very low humidity), thus, before sunrise is often 15, but sometimes even 20 degrees colder than around midnight.
Due to the elevation and the tropical setting the UV radiation is extremely high.
There is striking difference between sun and shade, without wind the same temperature feels much warmer than at sea level.

Comparing my logger’s results with the official data of the local weather stations

After finishing the research I managed to obtain valuable information at Uyuni airport meteorological station, thanks to the helping nature of the hotel staff. Below is a chart with the minimums, maximums and amplitudes registered in the same time period:

*Comparison between the researched endorheic basin and Uyuni weather station (degrees in Celsius)*

The most obvious thing is the huge discrepancy between the minimum temperatures, Laguna Seca being colder with 6 degrees on average and 8-10 degrees during the frostier days, while in the milder (less stable) ones they are pretty close to each other. There is no doubt that this is caused by the much stronger temperature inversion in the closed basin, which manifests itself during the calmer periods. Even if Uyuni too is situated on the floor of a basin, the more extensive flat terrain doesn’t permit the same level of cold air pool formation.

On the other hand, the highest temperatures are very similar on average, the closed basin being even slightly warmer despite the higher elevation, which under the same circumstances should gave him a disadvantage of around 2-2.5 degrees. This is probably caused by the stronger föhn effect in the Alota region, where the western mountain ranges are much closer and the dominant wind is blowing exactly from their direction.

Weather data of Bolivia’s official stations (Ogimet)
*Uyuni does not appear in this chart

The partially missing Ogimet data shows that Potosí weather station which is situated on the eastern part of the Altiplano and higher than Uyuni (above 3900 m) had 19-22 degree maximums in this period (likely föhn effect too), but also much weaker minimums (-3, 2 degrees) certainly due to the more exposed topography.

Regarding the amplitudes, thanks to the big advantage on the low temperature front, Laguna Seca exceeds Uyuni with a good 6 degrees, but sometimes the discrepancy can be more than 10 degrees. While Uyuni’s biggest amplitude in under 24 hours was 28.6 degrees (from 19.4 to -9.2 degrees) in the period of my research, the closed basin reached 38.1 degrees (from 19.1 to -19 degrees). No doubt that this place can surpass 40 degrees in the best circumstances. Taking into account that Uyuni has one of the biggest average daily fluctuations of all the official weather stations I’ve encountered until now on the net, a place which is regularly 5-10 degrees ahead of this definitely can be considered worth of studying in the long term. The future is open as always, we’ll see.

Evrotas Gorge: quest for a new european pole of heat (1/3)

Intro: Ancient and hardy

Laconia represents the southern portion of the Peloponnese peninsula, which itself is laying in southern Greece. Mostly remembered in association with the warrior state of Sparta (old name Lacedaemon) the region is situated at the same latitude as Andalusia in Spain, known as the hottest area of Europe. Both are stretching below the 37th northern latitude, thus slightly overreaching even some portions of the African continent. At 36.23 N, Cape Tenaro of the Mani peninsula is the second southernmost point of continental Europe, closely following cape Tarifa at the strait of Gibraltar.

*Landscape in the Mani peninsula* *near Gerolimenas*

The Eurotas (Evrotas) valley represented the core of the ancient kingdom, which between the 8-5th century BC was one of the strongest in the entire Mediterranean basin. Though there are also more fertile areas with lots of olive and citrus fruit plantations, in many parts the landscape resembles the harsh character and lifestyle of its old inhabitants. Generally, as you are moving towards the south, the more barren and rugged the terrain became, the Mani peninsula almost bordering the semi-desert. Unsurprisingly, the present residents of this remote corner, the “maniots”, pride themselves to be the descendants of the ancient spartans.

Choosing the target

Beside the historical significance, for modern greeks the Eurotas valley is also known for its sweltering summer weather. The southern setting combined with the föhn effect generated by the two bordering mountain ranges (Taygetus in the west, Parnon in the east) is responsible for this peculiarity, hence often being the hottest region of the country. In the summer the winds are generally blowing from the north (local name is meltemi), bringing sunny, hot and dry weather for many days, or even weeks.

*Relief map of the Peloponnese peninsula with the chosen spot (red dot)*

The city of Sparta is situated in the middle section of the valley around 200 meters elevation, quit far from the moderating effect of the sea (around 30 km). Depending on the sources and the measuring period it has an average July maximum temperature of 35-36 degrees Celsius, the highest in Greece and approaching the hottest weather stations in Andalusia like Cordoba or Sevilla.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Sparta is 45.7 degrees Celsius (August 2021), but according to Wikipedia another station nearby measured then above 47 degrees Celsius. In that same year and month Syracuse in Sicily, Italy registered 48.8 degrees Celsius, dethroning the old European heat record of Elefsina, Greece from July 1977. There is some controversy regarding the context of the values, as some weather stations have passive, while others fan aspirated solar radiation shields. We will discuss this in details in the 3rd part of the blog.

*Satellite image with the location of the research (red dot) inside the Evrotas Gorge*

Closer to the Evrotas river’s mouth there is a topographical feature named Vrontamas Gorge, where – as the name suggest it – the valley changes from flatter to a more rugged landscape. I chose this narrowing to be the place of my research, considering that the barren, steep walls could give a little extra to the already hot general ambience, while the sheltered, sinuous shape of the gorge can delay the onset of a hypothetical breeze.

Brief summary of the research

Originally this journey wasn’t planned to be part of the classical extreme climate research series, but the promising forecast made me to decide packing the weather installation too.

My plane landed in Athens in the evening of 15th July from where the next day I moved to Sparta by bus. Reaching Krokees settlement by taxi, on 17th July I hiked to the chosen location, first along the road, then following the course of a tributary of the Evrotas river. This latter sector was more difficult than expected, in some parts my progress being seriously limited by the combination of rugged topography (big boulders) and dense vegetation.

I started the journey by foot before 9 AM and reached the research area around 11:30 AM (between 9-10 km in all, from this 6 km in the wilderness). The sky was completely clear and already hot in the morning hours, exceeding the human body temperature well before noon. Except a single small puddle inside a cavity there was no water in the valley.

Finding a proper sheltered spot (even slightly endorheic) in the dry riverbed flanked by tall limestone cliffs in the east, the data logger was mounted on the tripod. I secured the installation attaching a sack filled with rocks to can handle also the windier conditions. The exact coordinates are 36.89839 N, 22.62521 E, the elevation 29 meters above the sea level. Shortly after 12 PM the mini weather station started its operation. First reading: 37.7 degrees Celsius.

*The weather station in the dried riverbed*

I stayed near the installation to monitor the temperature rise during the hottest part of the day live, waiting in the shade of the trees and shrubs. The maximum reached 41.1 degrees Celsius at 3:13 PM.

Before 5 PM I left the research area and returned to collect the equipment 4 days later. During this intermediate period I travelled to the Mani peninsula in the extreme south of the Peloponnesos, experiencing constant sunny and hot weather every day and observing some convective clouds only above the higher part of the Taygetus.

*The maximum (41.1 degrees) was reached at 3:13 PM*

Arriving from the southern, easier path (via Skala) in the afternoon of 21th July I found the instrument in its place and functional with all data recorded correctly. The absolute maximum reached 42.2 degrees Celsius on 18th July, surpassing the previous day’s record by 1.1 degrees. Four out of five days the temperature went above 41 degrees, while the latter one was much less hot, remaining below 36 degrees Celsius. The lowest value was registered during the last night when the temperature dropped to 21.7 degrees Celsius. I spotted clouds (cumulonimbus this time) only above the main ridge of the Taygetus again.

During both my hikes I didn’t saw any animals outside some birds and small lizards, encountering a few goats only closer to the village beside the orange plantations, where I crossed my path also with a few cars.

The instruments used in the field

-One LogTag UTRED30-16 data logger with the measuring range between -40 and +99 degrees Celsius, an accuracy of 0.5 degrees Celsius and a resolution of 0.1 degrees Celsius

-One Greisinger G1710 thermometer with the measuring range between -70 and +250 degrees Celsius, an accuracy and resolution of 0.1 degrees, used for instant hand measurements

-One photo camera tripod serving as the support for the instruments

-One helical solar radiation shield from Barani Design Technologies: https://www.baranidesign.com/

*The Barani helical radiation shield efficiently protects the thermometer’s sensor*

To be continued…

Evrotas Gorge: quest for a new european pole of heat (2/3)

Journey photo album

The statue of Leonidas, hero of the Battle of Thermopylae in Sparta. Arriving in Athens in the late evening, the next morning I already continued the journey to the Peloponnese by bus. It was around midday when I left my luggage at the accommodation and went out to experience my first dose of mediterranean heat.

*At 2 PM – purposefully of course – at the ancient ruins (no payment, it’s free)*

The main ridge of the Taygetus with strong mythological connotations is located south-west of the city. It is said that the “inapt” newborns were dropped in a chasm somewhere in these mountains and only the more sturdy ones were kept alive. While according to the actual opinions this is a fictional exaggeration, it certainly have its roots in the strict nature of the old inhabitants’s ethics.

*Beside the more robust and older Greek and Roman constructions there are also a few medieval Byzantine structures*

*A little off the path, remnant of an old wall, likely also Byzantine*

Around 3 PM it’s time for the first temperature check in the shade of an olive tree (notice the sensor above). IS THIS SPARTAAA?! Of course it is. The area has about the same summer highs as Andalusia in Spain, thus is one of the hottest places in entire Europe.

*The sunbaked olive trees maybe have some recollection of the times when this gentle prominence was an active ceremonial center*

The next morning: sunrise above the Taygetus with the pyramid of Profitis Ilias (2405 m) in the left. Today is an important day as I have to reach the chosen spot in the Evrotas gorge to place the meteorological equipment. The easiest (but not the cheapest) way is to take a taxi to Krokees village and start the hike from there. As I don’t have any time (nor energy for that matter) to waste, this is what I’ve done.

*At the periphery of Krokees around 9 AM: it’s already hot from the start, not a single cloud on the sky. The first few kilometers are on a rural road with little traffic (a few tractors).*

Agios Georgios church (according to Google Earth): leaving the asphalt I switched soon to “freestyle mode”, starting with a short-cut through the olive plantations. A valley, tributary to the Eurotas is only a few hundreds of meters away, my plan is to follow it until the confluence from where my target is close

Unsurprisingly, the valley has no water at all. In Greece, especially the Peloponnese, this is very common during the summer, the river revives only in the wetter period of the year (autumn-winter), when often becomes dangerous, flooding the surrounding plantations. But now the citrus fruits have a different enemy: drought. And I am at its mercy too.

Leonidas lost his shield: suspecting that this part will likely not be a walk in the park, I am prepared with sufficient water (6 liters) to can handle carrying the heavy luggage in the heat. The work is even harder than I thought, the combination between the rugged terrain and dense vegetation sometimes seriously limits my progress. I had to return to collect the mosquito tent (green circle in the picture) as it was often pulled out of its anchorage.

Fighting the boulder labyrinth. No idea how difficult could became later, but at this time already crossed my mind that maybe I will have to reconsider the plan to the target. The southern access through Skala village is certainly much easier. We’ll see. I like challenges, thus a return is only for an emergency situation.

I haven’t checked my GPS in the tributary valley at all. Knowing that the direction is good, I’m somehow not curious regarding the distances, but my intuition is generally positive. Though, not as much as the temperatures are…

This is the single puddle of water I came across in the entire gorge. Definitely not for drinking but very welcoming to cool off a little. There were lots of wasps around, but nobody was killed in the territorial conflict. And I am bigger.

Before 11:30 AM I’m outside the ravine and soon reached the confluence. Okay, I will say that this was “reasonably exhaustive”, satisfying my addiction of adventure, while properly preserving the energy levels at the same time.

*This must be the “Skala road”. It’s likely above the human body temperature now, we’ll see it soon.*

*Yep, the GPS is telling me that I arrived. It’s only slightly passed 11:30 AM, which considering the terrain I’ve crossed (around 6 km in the rough wilderness) is not bad at all.*

Choosing a ditch of the dried riverbed as the exact research spot, the logger was mounted soon on the tripod. Better than I imagined: the steep, barren eastern bank could add some reflected radiation to the general ambience during the afternoon.

Shortly after 12 PM the weather station started its operation. The first reading was 37.7 degrees Celsius, a decent start. The placard is in case if somebody will came across the installation, but pondering this possibility now from the spot, that looks very unlikely.

Before 2 PM the 40 degrees mark was exceeded. Already content that I packed the weather equipment in the luggage. Originally this trip was planned as a simple countryside traveling, but the optimistic forecast made me to change my mind in the last minutes. Sure, it will somehow limit my opportunities regarding the visited sights, but worth the sacrifice.

Around 3 PM, my favorite time of day in the summer: still very powerful solar radiation, while already close to the maximum thermal potential, meaning that the felt temperature is likely the highest possible. To be precise, the radiation is the strongest at noon (around 1:30 PM here) when the sun angle is at its highest (UV component = you will be sunburned), while the air itself usually will warm a little more (IR component = highest temperature in the shade) until the mid-afternoon hours (4-5 PM).

The limestone cliffs of the eastern side: changing the former resting place in the forest after the sun moved towards the west, I am waiting in the shade of a small mound covered with tall reeds, checking the temperature on the screen of the device from time to time. Still no clouds, sometimes there are a few wind gusts.

Sometime before 4 PM the temperature reached 41 degrees Celsius, I think this will remain today’s peak. Good value, tomorrow it could be even hotter. Before 5 PM I packed my luggage and left the research area. The original plan was to camp nearby, but I changed my mind to continue the hike to Skala village.

*The riverbed is covered in some kind of “weird veil”, which I suspect to be dried algae*

*Still very hot around 5 PM, but as I thought, the path is much easier here, thus my progress is good*

*Looking back: after a few km the valley broadens. I heard that during the winter rains the Evrotas can turn into a raging torrent, destroying the plantations on its banks. I can imagine that.*

*Some caves on the eastern side, soon I’m out of the gorge*. After a short, wilder portion in the beginning, the track followed a dirt road along the orange plantations. Except a few birds, small lizards and the noisy cicadas I didn’t observed any living creatures during my hike, spotting a few goats and 1-2 cars only closer to the village.

*With sufficient water reserves remaining, shortly after 6:30 PM I reached Skala*. *But I hope to drink something else, not the 40 degree bathwater in my backpack. That something else happened to be **Monster energy’s “the doctor”** version. And yes, it cured me.*

The beach between Skala and Gytheio. Long story short: after refueling in Skala, heartened by the less severe temperatures of the approaching evening, I decided to camp on the nearest shore, taking a bath in the sea after this long, hot day. While easily completing the additional 6-7 kilometers on the straight asphalt road, I observed after arriving that my tent is missing. No way! After successfully getting through the wild gorge, I lost it here on the highway? I can’t stay here for the night. The beer was good, the bath even better, but after sunset the attack of the mosquitoes was relentless. I have to return to Skala and sleep in a hotel. This is what I’ve done, unfortunately my headlamp couldn’t spot the lost article along the road. Good night.

The next day in Gytheio, the port of ancient Sparta (Profitis Ilias in the background). The picturesque coastal town (a little too crowded for my taste) is closely related to the story of the Trojan war, as it’s the place where Paris and Helen spent their first night before the departure to Troy. It was also famous in the antiquity because of the purple-dye snails (murex), the marine animal from which the expensive dye was extracted.

The lighthouse (don’t confuse it with the one at Cape Tenaro) sits at the end of a thin promontory. The surface of the rocks along the coast is very sharp, but of course this didn’t stopped me to enter the balmy waters. Soon I will continue the journey to Gerolimenas, which is the final station of the Laconian buses. Already very hot, I measured 37 degrees in the shade at the bus station.

The tranquil bay of Gerolimenas: I prefer it over the more touristic Gytheio. Buying some provisions in the supermarket (the last one in southern Mani) I continued my journey on the road by foot towards Kyparissos.

*Just a little outside the settlement I got the first glimpse of the Tenaro lighthouse,* *my next main targe*t. The landscape of the Mani peninsula is more barren, resembling a semi-desert, only the blue sea is the constant reminder that you have some retreat options in case the sun is too harsh with you. But you will not have any available drinking source nearby, so careful with the planning.

*At ancient Kenipolis: this place was a colony of Tainaron (Taenarum). It’s time for another bath.*

*There are only a few accommodations in nearby Alika and Kyparissos and none of them is cheap. The sea is free.*

*Close to the water, because of the higher humidity, the same temperature feels hotter than more inland*

*Porto Mani suites. Because of its “strategic placement” on the way to the southern cape, I will spend the following night in this nice traditional complex. Forget the price, its a must.*

*While you can hear them almost everywhere, representing the constant background noise of the greek experience, you can rarely spot the cicadas*. *Must be kind of a “Pavlovian reflex”, as for me it’s closely associated with the heat and sunshine*.

*And why not a third bath at the private beach of the residency*

*Sunset from my balcony. It was another hot day and tomorrow could be the hottest one on the narrow peninsula*. *That means I have some homework to do, as the longer hike, including the trip to the cape was planned for 19th July.*

*Complete lack of clouds both day and night*, *entering fairytale level*

*You can observe this small rocky outcrop situated about 5 km from the shore, first to the south, then to the west, starting from Gerolimenas until passing Marmari beach (big zoom of course)*

*Ready? Hell yeah! Already above 35 degrees after 9 AM*

After a tasty breakfast at the accommodation I started to climb the serpentines towards the fortified village of Vathia. Excellent vibe in the atmosphere, the above average heat only intensifies the experience.

Cutting the last big curve on the road I approach the ghost-town on a secondary path. Founding the gate closed, I enter the area along the old walls, meandering and climbing between the dusty architectural elements.

*Time for hydration. New tempcheck in the shade of the marble monument*

Classical view of the fortification. The now abandoned settlement is one of the most known tourist attractions in Mani, which sits around 150 meters above the sea level. You can stop for a drink at the nearby taverna.

Spotless sky: this is the real face of Mani. If the visual component can’t satisfy you enough, there is also the olfactive one, as the air is filled with the emanations of the local aromatic herbs (salvia dominates)

*Though not too close to the coast, there are many boats of different sizes on the sea*

Sharp contrast between the arid, sunbaked land and the turquoise waters of the sea. The latter is very inviting, I feel a little seduced like Odysseus was when became the “hostage” of Calypso on the island of Ogygia. No, I have to continue.

*Next hydration stop at one of the very few shaded parts of the southern road*

*A lot of signs for a single person*. Yes, *I am approaching.*

*I took the road towards Mianes village (haven’t seen locals there) to do the last part of the hike along the ridge, thus above the classical track*

*Resting in the shade of some old walls. The heat started to affect me, until now the enthusiasm is already mixed with tiredness*

On the final ridge. Exposed on the rugged terrain in the phrygana, being at the mercy of Helios, the last section demanded my full attention. I can’t stop thinking about the dive I will take after reaching the target.

*Somewhere below me on the right is the mythological “Cave of Hades”, a gate to the Underworld, the shady place from where only a few (like Hercules, Theseus and Orpheus) returned alive*. *At the moment I feel some weird inclination to enter that shady place…*

*Kokkinogeia, the last inhabited place left behind on the left*

Shortly before 1 PM I reached the secluded building of Cape Tenaro. At 36.28 N, this is the second southernmost point of continental Europe (after cape Tarifa at the Strait of Gibraltar). Here I am slightly closer to the Equator than two African capitals: Tunis and Algiers. *Built in 1882 by the French, for a few decades the lighthouse is automated, thus uninhabited, adding to the feeling of isolation.*

*The tempcheck in the shade of the northern wall is a must before entering the tempting waters*. *The southern setting means that in the summer the sun angle is very high here and now it’s exactly around midday. I have to confess: it was premeditated again.*

*This is the exact spot where the last strip of land meets the mighty sea, from here the Lybian coast is closer than Mount Olympus*

*That was expectable. A little warmish, but definitely welcomed in these circumstances.*

The most enjoyable part was just simply floating on the surface with the face too submerged in the water, observing the shadow of my body on the bright turquoise background, while feeling the energy levels returning to normal. *Maybe Homer was wrong and the Underworld is somewhere else.*

*The Zobject has no zobjections as well*

I observed a single person on the trail returning from the pharos when I was high on the ridge, but spotted nobody after that. However, I saw a few smaller boats passing. One of them stopped pretty close, so we could conversate. They asked me if everything is fine and tried to tell me that there are some “underground dangers”, including sharks. Maybe this last one was only added to scare me as they couldn’t explain properly about the real problem, the currents, which can take you off the shore if you distance yourself enough. Sure, I don’t have plans to cover the 380 km to Cyrenaica.

*To reach the sea at the very end you have to descend another vertical 30 meters between the huge boulders, my favorite sector*

*Phrygana vs thalassa: the view to the right (east) while returning*

*This time on the classical, old rusty trail, heading to Kokkinogeia. To its taverna to be precise.*

After two cold beers I visited the nearby sanctuary of Poseidon, the god of the sea venerated in ancient Taenarum from which the cape got its name. Beside the mythological aspects, in those times the place was famous also because of the precious green marble. *The present construction is actually a Christian church built in the Byzantine period from the rocks of the older Greek temple.*

*This small cave situated on the shore of a protected bay close to the temple is known as an old ritualistic place related to the mythology of Hades*. *The guardian monster, Cerberus wasn’t present, the entrance was protected by some tanned western pensioners.*

Around 6 PM it was time to leave the southernmost village. Today and tomorrow I will stay in a traditional maniot stone tower in Palyros, another barely populated hamlet located at the very end of the old continent.

*View of the teal-colored Vathi bay on the right of the road. Its name, which means “deep” in greek is very common in the Mani peninsula.*

*Arriving in Palyros, situated pretty high up on a hill about 150 meters above the sea*

*After a warm welcome and a tasty dinner (moussaka with tsatziki, what else), sitting on my balcony*. *In Mani the stone towers are a very common sight. Many are abandoned, some inhabited, while a few (like this one) can be rented by travelers.* *Built in the times when vendettas between rival families were common, now the general atmosphere is more peaceful.*

*I live in the room just above the entrance on the left, while the local family resides in the higher parts of the tower on the right. This picture will have some significance later on.*

*The next morning: view of the eastern “pseudo cape” – as I named it – with Kourelos, a neighboring hamlet above. My host, mr Panos told me that he grow up there.*

Some horses grazing near the sanctuary of Poseidon on the fringes of Kokkinogeia, with the “famous” southernmost parking lot on the right. Today I have a serious objective in my mind: finding the gates of Hades!

*I formerly identified this crack on Google Earth on the shores of the “pseudo cape” peninsula*

*Not Cerberus this time either, but still a little suspicious*

To reach the other cavity, the one which according to the locals is the actual Cave of Hades I have to return to the parking lot, then cross the ridge towards the west. It’s not far, just a little rugged and thorny.

*I think it is a little farther on the right*

Yep, this is the place. As here the surface of the rocks right at the sea is very sharp, I couldn’t enter the water with the camera to take photos from inside. But even beyond this obstacle the highlight of the experience would’ve been remained out of the reach: *there is a small chamber accessible through a narrow, short and low passage, what you can enter the easiest way by swimming underneath*. *The ceiling is not dangerously close during calmer waters like now, but can certainly became a threat when the sea is more turbulent.* *Inside there are two head-sized stalactite structures, one of them right above your shoulder so you can use it for stabilization while enjoying the view towards the stripe of light outside*. *Then you swim back underwater in the bright blue mass surrounded by small fishes.*

*Before Poseidon became the patron of the area, it is said that the sun god was venerated here. There is a reference to this in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, which recounts:*

“…and by the Laconian land they came to a sea-crowned city and the place of Helios who delights men, Tainaron, where the deep-fleeced sheep of lord Helios always graze and inhabit a delightful spot…”

*The so called “Star of Aria” dates from a later period (1st century AD) and it’s part of the mosaic floor of a former roman villa*.

*Sage (salvia officinalis) on the roadside, the “olfactive leitmotiv” of the maniot experience*

Porto Kagio, a tranquil resort with good tavernas. It sits just below Palyros, but you have to go round on the asphalt road as the thick phrygana vegetation will convince you to forget about a shortcut.

*After a relaxing swim followed by a tasty fish meal I am heading back to the stone tower*

My room is comfortable and quiet, but has a “dark secret” which I didn’t know beforehand: there is a single key which opens it and that key is the one I received at my arrival. No, I didn’t lost it, but left it on the inside and the air-blast slammed the door. Nobody can open it. Maybe we could enter it through my balcony, thus a ladder is brought. Bad luck, the balcony door is also closed. As it’s already dusk, the temperamental Panos is a little worried.

Maybe through the bathroom window? Fingers crossed, hopefully I left it open. Bingo, we are saved! The enter itself demanded some contortionist skills, but it was my time to redeem the bad karma. Changing from front to back posture, using some accessories of the bathroom’s interior as grips, I safely landed inside.

The team (all one family) with Panos in the center. The attained luck continued to follow me the next day as my host traveled to Athens, thus could take me to Gytheio. From there I had to take a taxi to Skala again to start the hike towards the Evrotas gorge. Kostas, the driver didn’t speaks english, but he is good with numbers: after showing me 25 on the phone’s screen, he was more than happy with my 20+10 bill and didn’t want to understand my body language regarding the change: “No, no, no my friend, it’s enough-it’s enough, thank you very much!” Avoid Kostas at all costas, guys.

On the way to collect the meteorological equipment. Today is less hot than all the previous days, I felt it both near the coast and farther inland. Some less developed cumulonimbus clouds appeared above the Taygetus, otherwise still sunshine everywhere.

I reached the research area around 3:30 PM. Of course, nobody was here, the installation is intact. From this point you can observe the slightly endorheic nature of the ditch where the data logger stayed as I took this photo standing “downstream” from the tripod.

*Observing the milder temperatures, respectively the fact that has the tendency to did not rise farther more, I stopped the device after 4 PM*

Good result, it was worth the effort to take it with me. As I expected, the maximum was recorded on 18th July, while the minimum in the last night. Four out of five days the temperature raised above 41 degrees Celsius. Curious to compare it with the values registered at the nearby official stations.

*Due to the less hostile ambience, the return was less strenuous than in the day of the installation*

Bridge in the central park of Skala: time for another cold **Monster – the doctor**

Trying to avoid Kostas I went out to hitchhike, but it seems that everybody supports him and not me. The evening was approaching, thus after more than an hour on the roadside decided to accept again the taxi version. A helpful local waiter called for a cab and soon I was in Gytheio. It wasn’t Kostas and the price 25-2=23

*Profitis Ilias watching over the lively, romantic resort*. *Spending the night in a decent hotel right above the seaside promenade (a little noisy until the night, otherwise ideal for a solo traveler), the next day I had to return to Athens.*

Inside a church in Tripoli, central Peloponnese. In the morning I made a rapid itinerary change deciding to visit Argos. There are many buses from there to the capital, though not sure how many are that way. It turned out that there are only two every day, starting from Tripoli, the center of Laconia. Every region has its own company and the link between them is less frequented. The bus first went to Nafplio, the old greek capital, then another one continued to Argos.

I decided to get off at the ruins of ancient Tiryns, hometown of the mythological hero Heracles, also known as Hercules. The place seemed empty and closed (maybe renovation?), thus I made another change in the plan: crossing the fence.

*An intruder inside the cyclopean walls. Still waiting to spot other visitors, which would mean that the site is open but the entrance is on the other side*

*Nope, the former mycenaean complex is completely mine*

*Actually I was right, the entrance indeed is on the other side. But the placard showed that the closing time is 15:30, that was about 10-15 minutes before my arrival.* *Not my fault.*

From Tiryns I walked 9-10 km to Argos on the very flat and straight main road. My plan is to reach the castle of Larisa, which is high up on a hill. Locals told me there is no other way, you must go round along the asphalt. After the first 1-2 km I couldn’t resist the temptation to try a shortcut across the olive plantations. Though sweating more, it saved some time to *comfortable catch the last evening bus to Athens.*

View from the citadel towards the north. The construction dates from the Byzantine times (12th century), but there are also ruins from the antiquity on another smaller hill nearby. The two were connected at a certain time as the city has a very tumultuous history starting from the earliest periods. I heard that even in our times still exists some kind of rivalry between Argos and Sparta, *ironically including even the battle for the title of the hottest place in Greece as both have their maximum around 46 centigrade.*

*Descending under the Argive walls, looking towards Mycenae. How to finish it better?*

To be continued…

Evrotas Gorge: quest for a new european pole of heat (3/3)

Interpretation of the logger’s graph (using LogTag Analyzer 3 software)

*The temperature curve of the 5 days/ 4 nights research period. The device was registering a value every minute.*

First day (July 17)

Hiking under a sunny sky I reached the research area before noon. The weather station started its operation at 12:11 PM when the screen of the logger showed 37.7 degrees Celsius. As I set the device for 1 minute logging (short intervals) the curve has the typical “saw aspect” with many small ups and downs inside the general “big waves”.

Until 1:53 PM the temperature climbed to 40.9 degrees, then at 3:13 PM reached the day’s maximum: 41.1 degrees Celsius. I left the installation before 5 PM when it was still slightly above 40 degrees and returned here only in the last day (21th July) to collect the equipment. During my staying the sky was completely clear with some short term wind speed intensifications.

The graph shows that a more abrupt descent started at 7:15 PM in the evening when the temperature dropped from 37.2 C to 22.1 C until 5:02 AM. Afterwards there is an anomalous rise to 29.5 C until 6:20 AM, followed by a secondary morning drop to 23.8 C at 7:03 AM, certainly caused by wind.

Second day (July 18)

This was the hottest day. The temperature exceeded 40 degrees at 12:06 PM and continued to rise until 2:52 PM when the highest value of the 5 days research was recorded: 42.2 degrees Celsius. The 40+ heat was present until 6:30 PM and the more abrupt descent started at 7:51 PM when dropped from 37.8 C to 26.3 C until 10:55 PM.

The next 20 minutes represents the biggest anomaly of the entire measuring period as until 11:18 PM the temperature rapidly climbed back to 34.5 degrees, maintaining the unusual warmth until 2:07 AM in the night when still were 32.6 degrees. Afterwards dropped to 26.6 C until 2:55 AM, but then raised again to 33.5 C at 5:31 in the dawn. Very chaotic night pattern for sure.

I was in the Mani peninsula at Kyparissos at that time and measured an unusually high 34 degrees around 7:30 in the morning. As I observed no clouds at all in all directions, there is no doubt that all these extreme fluctuations were caused by wind.

Third day (July 19)

Another very hot day. Reaching 40 degrees before 12:30 PM, the temperature was rising until 3:08 PM when 41.8 degrees Celsius, the day’s maximum and the second highest value of the research was registered. It remained above 40 degrees until 6:06 PM, while a more abrupt descent started after 8:30 in the evening when dropped from 35.3 C to 29.3 until 9:26 PM.

Then a very similar to yesterday’s “out of the nowhere” kind of rise happened, thus in only a few minutes it warmed back to 33.8 C. Following another two sharp ups and downs during the night, it cooled down to 26.2 C until 1:20 AM, only to climb back again to 31.5 degrees at 6:37 in the early morning. I was in the cape Tenaro area during this time and experienced constant hot and sunny weather with mild to moderate wind.

Fourth day (July 20)

Generally, the temperature was steadily rising from the morning until 1:54 PM when the peak of the day, 41.2 degrees Celsius was registered. With a few drops between, this value was reached again at 2:29 PM. It went below 40 degrees after 4 PM and this time the night cooling has a more typical aspect, without the extreme fluctuations like in the case of the previous two.

The minimum of the morning and also the lowest temperature of the research was 21.7 degrees Celsius, registered at 6:43 AM. Still in southernmost Mani, I measured below 25 C on the balcony of my room in Palyros village, definitely cooler than the previous morning when it was around 28 degrees. The sky remained completely clear day and night.

Fifth day (July 21)

Today I traveled back to collect the measuring equipment, reaching the area of the research around 3:30 PM. It was less hot than in the previous days, both in Gytheio and here in the Evrotas valley. I observed cumulonimbus clouds above the Taygetus mountains, but except that the sky remained completely clear.

*The temperature curve of the fifth (last) day*

The graph shows that after a peak of 35.8 degrees Celsius at 12:25 PM the temperature entered a slow descent phase reaching 33.8 C at 2:24 PM (probably sea breeze), then stabilizing more or less around 35 degrees. Observing the constancy of the milder conditions I stopped the data logger after 4 PM.

The average maximum temperature of the five days research period is 40.4 degrees Celsius, while the average minimum of the four nights between is 24.1 degrees Celsius, giving a mean daily amplitude of 16.3 degrees. The biggest daily fluctuation was 20.1 degrees and happened on the second day when the temperature raised from 22.1 to 42.2 degrees Celsius.

General conclusions

The sky is usually clear both day and night, convective clouds can appear mostly only above the taller mountains.
The temperature rise during the daytime is quit regular, typically reaching the maximum around 2-3 PM, but sometimes is affected by the sea breeze, which can stop the rise earlier.
The late evening and night hours can have a very chaotic course with significant fluctuations in very short periods of time due to local föhn winds, which easily disrupt the nocturnal cooling of the valley.
The daily amplitude is medium to high (14-20 degrees) facilitated by the subtropical latitude and very dry conditions, but limited by the earlier mentioned fönh winds.
The short time temperature fluctuations are much bigger during the dark hours, reaching 8 degrees in 20 minutes.

Comparison with the hottest areas of Greece and Europe

According to Ogimet, two greek weather stations exceeded the maximum recorded by my installation in the gorge of the Evrotas river. These are Serrai (Serres) and Kalamata. The former is situated in the north of the country and due to its more inland location it is indeed often very hot, likewise Demir Kapija and Gevgelija in nearby North Macedonia or Sandanski in south-western Bulgaria.

This summer’s heatwave was especially strong in the central and northern Balkans including the country I live, Romania. In these areas the thermal anomaly reached or exceeded 10 degrees sometimes, thus the usually hotter Peloponnese had a hard time keeping up with the northern neighbors sitting right under the center of the heat dome. More stations in Romania, including the capital București reached 40-41 degrees, while northern Macedonia exceeded even 42 degrees Celsius in this period. Albania, Serbia, Moldova and Ukraine also went above 40, breaking or approaching the older records.

*The maximum temperatures in Europe on 18th July*
*(the date on the image refers to the previous 24 hours)*

Kalamata (known for its tasty olives) is situated in a protected bay of the southern Peloponnese, which likely experiences the hottest weather during strong north-eastern föhn effect, when the wind is blowing across the Taygetus, annihilating the sea-breeze. I checked the Ogimet statistics (see the chart below) and yes, that was the case, during the hotter part of the day the wind was coming across the high mountain.

*The statistics of Kalamata HNMS weather station for 18th July (Ogimet)*

We have to mention here that Greece has two different weather monitoring networks: one of them is the HNMS (Hellenic National Meteorological Service), which uses passive solar radiation shields and the other is the NOA (National Observatory of Athens), which uses fan aspirated ones instead. The stations appearing in the Ogimet statistics are from the HNMS, thus the ones with classical multi-plate shields.

At the present moment it’s well documented that during strong solar radiation with little wind the passive shields can’t protect the thermometer’s sensor from overheating as efficiently as the fan aspirated versions and are outperformed also by the helical Barani shield, the one which I am using. More than that, I heard a local specialist mentioning that there is a huge discrepancy specifically between the two weather stations (HNMS vs NOA) of Serres city, the one using passive shield having a higher average maximum in the summer with up to 2 full degrees (!), which backs up my intuitive skepticism regarding the “sticking-out nature” of the related Ogimet statistics.

Note: This part will remain open for update in case of obtaining some valuable info regarding the measurements of the two hellenic weather networks. I am especially curious of the NOA statistics of the hottest stations during the 17-21 July interval. Until now I found a single one, which is that the messenian Skala village (north of Kalamata) measured the highest temperature in Greece and that’s 43.1 degrees Celsius. This is interesting as conflicts with the slightly higher value of Serres appearing on Ogimet. Let’s wait for the clarifications.

*Update on 5th September 2024:

Thanks to a local specialist I received complete monthly data sets, which are more than interesting in the context of my own measurements (see the charts below with the 5 related maximums inside the red rectangles):

And below are the extreme values recorded at my location:

What can we conclude from this?

In a nutshell: I have to correct my less optimist previous statement (read the last chapter) regarding the thermal advantage given by the small scale topography, as my location seems to be hotter with over 1 degree than both Sparti and laconian Skala settlements (which are pretty close to each other for that matter). The exception is the last day (21th July) when the breeze affected the lower course of the Evrotas but not the more inland located Sparti city.

More concretely: On 18th July (the hottest day at my weather station) the advantage was 1.8 C over Skala NOA, 1.6 C over Sparti NOA and 2 full degrees over Sparti HNMS meteorological station. The average advantage for the four hotter days is 1.4 degrees over both Skala NOA and Sparti NOA and 1.5 degrees over Sparti HNMS station. Taken into account the relatively small distances inside the same basin and the fact that my research spot is located between the two settlements we can assume that the obvious positive gap can’t be accidental.

-end of update-

Could the Evrotas gorge be the hottest place in Greece?

I think the correct answer to this question is possible with the mention that the general setting (southern placement, low elevation, sheltering mountains and some distance from the sea) is the main cause and the smaller scale topography (surrounding steep slopes) is much less relevant.

While far less impressive as in the case of a “cold trap” (known as frost hollow), where the simple law of gravity can create huge differences between the bottom and rim of a small closed basin, I think that a hypothetical “heat trap” with measurable enhancing properties could be possible with some specific topography, but due to the simple fact that the warmer air has the tendency to rise, not to sink as the colder one, it’s certainly much more difficult to “balance the ingredients” in the proper way to attain it. Maybe a future project.

Karagiye depression: below sea level, above human body (1/3)

Intro: sea or lake?

Despite the name, the Caspian Sea actually is a big lake, as it is completely landlocked, without a connection to the oceans. Beside its huge size (with 371000 square km is the largest lake in the world by far) owns another peculiarity: it lies 28 meters below the mean sea level. Even if it is situated in an arid climate, the salinity is much lower than in the oceans (about one third), mainly due to the fresh water influx (Volga river). Around the lake, especially in the northern sector, there is an extensive sunken plain area named “the Caspian Lowland”, a sparsely populated flatland covered with xerophyte shrubs and grass.

“Skal’naya tropa”, the rocky coast of Aktau

Centered around the oil industry, the city of Aktau lies on the eastern shore of the “sea” and is the capital of Mangystau region in south-western Kazakhstan. In the summer the climate resembles the mediterranean one (warm to hot with little rainfall), the coast being frequented by locals in the holidays. International tourism it just started to develop, hence is a great option for those travelers who want to have a unique and less crowdy beach experience. Above the specific “soviet background” (wide streets, rectangular structures, heroic memorials) the present day Aktau presents a peaceful atmosphere, trying to connect to the western standards.

Choosing the target

Compared with my usual work ethic regarding the extreme climate research, this travel wasn’t planned well ahead, instead was closer to a “last minute” decision. With less free time available I chose a somewhat “easier target”, both physically and financially.

Having a particular bonding with the lowest dry lands by a lifetime, the Karagiye Depression in south-western Kazakhstan popped up as the best choice in this more limited context. The bottom of the semi-desertic depression lies at 132 meters below the sea level, representing the lowest point of Kazakhstan (also the former Soviet Union) and position oneself fifth in the world after the Dead Sea (Israel-Jordan), Lake Assal (Djibouti), Turfan basin (China/ Xinjiang) and Qattara depression (Egypt).

The Karagiye Depression (red arrow) situated inside the Caspian Lowland (dark green, upper part of the image)

From the viewpoint of the hottest places of the Planet in the absolute sense can’t be considered a “top-notch” location, but taken into account its relatively high latitude (43 N) in the summertime has a decent delivery potential. The proximity to the coast (20-40 km) doesn’t really affect the daytime heating as the Caspian has a quite continental ambience and the sea-breeze is often completely annihilated by the dry easterly winds blowing from the inland deserts.

Soviet military topo map with Karagiye (center) and Aktau (formerly Shevchenko) in the north-west

Moderated by the sea, Aktau itself has an average summer maximum of around 31-32 degrees, with the absolute record of 44 degrees Celsius measured in the month of August (according to Wikipedia). I have no access to the weather statistics of the more inland locations in Mangystau and I’m not even sure there are real weather stations outside the regional capital in the closer surroundings.

The place has a peculiar topographical setting, being a “depression inside a depression”, as the nearby Caspian Sea itself is already situated below the level of the world ocean, while Karagiye lies another hundred meters lower than the big lake.

Satellite image with the location of the measuring equipment (red dot) in the north-eastern part of the basin

Regarding the exact location of the research I’d chosen a spot which is the farthest possible from the coast (37-38 km), while at the same time being at the lowest elevation (-132 m). Also, I’ll try to place the tripod on sandy surface, as it can slightly enhance the daytime heating compared with the more compact clay or the highly reflective salt crust (white patch in the above image).

The low-point can be reached the easiest way from the Aktau-Zhanaözen road (new turkish asphalt), from where it is about 10 km to the south, south-west, lying at the foot of the steep eastern rim of the basin.

Brief summary of the research

My plane landed in Aktau on 11th August in the early morning, just before sunrise. The optimistic forecast rushed me to reach the bottom of Karagiye and place the measuring equipment as soon as possible. Everything went fine, the locals were helpful and even if I slept close to nothing during the flight journey, the quick preparation was efficient and around 9 AM a car left me on the Zhanaözen road right at the viewpoint to the depression, from where I started the hike towards the bottom.

Before 10 AM it was already hot, the sky completely clear and only weak wind. After meandering my way through the fragmented escarpment, I reached the flatter part and continued the walk, crossing the sometimes harder clayey, other times more squashy salty terrain with generally sparse vegetation cover. Finding a proper sandy spot on the bottom I mounted the data logger on the tripod around 12:30 PM. The exact coordinates are: 43.490923 N, 51.838903 E, the elevation -130 m. The height of the sensor from the ground is around 170 cm. At 12:42 PM the weather station started its operation. First reading: 36.6 degrees Celsius.

I waited near the equipment until 5 PM, to monitor the temperature rise during the hottest part of the day. The maximum reached 40.1 degrees Celsius at 4:48 PM, while I randomly measured 64.3 degrees soil temperature around 1:30 PM during the highest sun angle. Before leaving I secured the tripod attaching a sack filled with soil fragments to can handle also the windier conditions.

I’ve spent the night in a mosquito tent less than 1 km from the weather station, next to a consolidated sandy pile. Despite the clear skies, partly because of the wind, the evening was warm and the night’s minimum dropped only to 28.9 degrees Celsius. I left the research area at dawn and returned to collect the equipment four days later, on 16th August in the afternoon. During this intermediate period, beside Aktau, I travelled to other locations of the Mangyshlak peninsula (Shetpe town, Caspian coast), where encountered similar dry and hot conditions with little to no clouds.

The maximum (40.1 degrees Celsius) was reached at 4:48 PM

On 16th August I crossed the Karagiye depression, starting the hike from the other side (Kuryk road), reaching the study area after traversing the salt pan situated at the very bottom. The weather was mostly sunny but somewhat less hot than in the first day, though still far from comfortable. I found the instrument in its place and functional with all data recorded correctly. The absolute maximum surpassed by half a degree (40.6 degrees Celsius) the first days peak both on 12th and 13th, while the weakest maximum happened on 15th (36.0 degrees). The lowest value was registered on 16th in the morning, when the temperature dropped to 19.3 C, by far the coldest night.

During my staying in the depression I encountered a few gazelles, camels and horses, respectively birds in the more vegetated parts. Small lizards, a few bugs and a species of spider (night time) was also present. There were no humans in the entire area between the two asphalt roads (Zhanaözen and Kuryk).

The instruments used on the field

-One LogTag UTRED30-16 data logger with the measuring range between -40 and +99 degrees Celsius, an accuracy of 0.5 degrees Celsius and a resolution of 0.1 degrees Celsius.

-One Greisinger GMH 2710-T digital precision thermometer with the measuring range between -199.9, +200 degrees Celsius, an accuracy of +-0.1 degrees Celsius and a resolution of 0.1 degrees Celsius.

-One photo camera tripod serving as the support for the instruments.

-One helical solar radiation shield from Barani Design Technologies: https://www.baranidesign.com/

To be continued…