In myths and legends, there are often descriptions of "Devil's Valley", and most of the human beings who mistakenly enter the Devil's Valley have no return. We usually think that this must be a fabrication:
Where in the world are there ghosts and gods?
In fact, the title of "Devil's Valley" has still existed since ancient times, and the Nalengrad Gorge in Xinjiang, mainland China, is called "Devil's Valley" by the locals.
That Lengle Gorge
Devil's Valley
Nalengrad Gorge is located in the Kunlun Mountains of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, from Bluntai in Qinghai in the east to Shashan in the west, with a total length of 105 kilometers, a width of about 33 dry meters, and an altitude of 3200 to 4000 meters. The specific location of devil's valley is at the eastern end of the Argin Mountain Nature Reserve, in a relatively wide river valley between Qimantag Mountain and Kunlun Mountain.
Kunlun Mountain
That Lengler River
Nalengrad Gorge was formed 15 million years ago, due to the late Tertiary crust changes and the emergence of a closed mountain basin, the south of the canyon has Kunlun Mountain straight into the clouds, north of the Qilian Snow Mountain to block the northern cold wind, the entire valley is located in the middle and upper reaches of the Nalengrad River.
The canyon is also surrounded by a mid-alpine belt barrier composed of purple-red sandstone, the snow-capped mountains are majestic, and the lakes and swamps are rippled. In summer, the valley is rich in water and grass, birds and flowers, and the scenery is very beautiful and spectacular.
However, there has always been such a legend in the local area:
As long as people or animals walk into the "Devil's Valley", they can no longer come out, and there is a giant beast in the valley that eats people or all kinds of animals.
If it were just a legend, the "Devil's Valley" would not be so famous. In fact, the valley does have many intractable mysteries:
According to the herders who have lived here for a long time, every summer and autumn, it is still a sunny day with wind and sunshine, and in the blink of an eye, the wind will blow violently, flying sand and stones. Immediately after, the black clouds over the "Devil's Valley" were dense, and the thunder was rolling and deafening. Heavy rain poured down like a flash flood.
After the torrential rain, a strange phenomenon occurred, and the hillsides and ravines were littered with the carcasses of antelopes, wild donkeys, wild yaks and birds, accompanied by some yellow dry grass and scorched earth. Therefore, although the "Devil's Valley" is fertile and the water and grass are abundant, the local herders never dare to graze here.
How can such a great river and mountain be hooked up with the devil?
01
In May 1998, the third team of the Regional Geological Survey of the Xinjiang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources organized a multidisciplinary expedition to the Nalengrad Gorge, and finally unveiled the mystery of the "Devil's Valley".
Qaidam Basin
The expedition marched west from Burentai on the western edge of Qinghai's Qaidam Basin to the Nalengrad River Valley, which originates from the Kunlun Mountains at a height of more than 6,000 meters, and the legendary "Devil's Valley" is located in the middle and upper reaches of the Nalengrad River.
The investigation by scientific expedition personnel confirmed that in addition to the strong magnetic basalt formed by volcanic eruptions in the triassic period, there are more than 30 magnetite veins and quartzite bodies of large and small sizes, and these strong magnetite bodies and magnetite have produced geomagnetic anomalies.
Geomagnetic anomalies cause the magnetic field strength of "Devil's Valley" to be very high, the peak is as high as 1000 ~ 3000 gauss, huge magnetic force can cause the compass to fail, the measuring instrument is not accurate.
In the summer, due to the obstruction of the main ridge of the Kunlun Mountains, the clouds distributed from east to west along the valley, under the influence of humid air, all converge here in the Lingle Gorge.
The charge generated in the clouds, usually the bottom layer is negative charge, the top layer is positive charge, but also on the ground induction to generate a positive charge, so that it moves with the clouds like a shadow.
Under the influence of the super magnetic field of Devil's Valley, a rare lightning strike zone has been formed in this area.
Because the movement of clouds in a strong magnetic field creates a voltage, the positive charge on the ground will gather on the hills, trees, and even animals and human bodies. When the voltage between the accumulated positive charge and the cloud layer with the negative charge is large enough, it will break through the insulated air, resulting in a "lightning strike" phenomenon, resulting in the instantaneous death of people and animals.
The team also uncovered the cause of another bizarre phenomenon in Devil's Valley, namely why the bones of dead people and animals could not be found.
Originally, the Nalengrad Gorge was also one of the distribution areas of the permafrost layer on the continent. The thickness of the permafrost layer is often tens or hundreds of meters high, thus forming a huge underground solid ice reservoir.
When summer comes, the upper permafrost near the surface melts, forming underground diving and even dark rivers. However, the surface of the earth is still covered by a verdant meadow, which is not easy to find at all. When humans and animals enter by mistake, once the grass ground collapses, the underground dark river will soon pull people and animals in, causing them to drift away with the rapids, which will lead to the absence of bones.
People before them could not explain these miraculous natural phenomena at all, and they all thought that the "devil" was at work, so they had to avoid it and dare to easily set foot here again.
02
However, there is a person who does not believe in this evil, his name is Zhao Ziyun, a native of Cao County, Shandong, a geologist, who was a senior engineer of the Xinjiang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.
Zhao Ziyun is well aware of Xinjiang's geography, landforms and climate, and has a wealth of experience in wild survival. He not only discovered many mineral deposits and ancient ruins in the Western Regions, but also always relied on his rich experience to overcome dangers when the scientific expedition team was in difficulty; therefore, he was known as the "Desert King", "Lop Nur Living Map", "Life Compass", "Desperate Sanlang", "Crazy Professor" and other super titles.
In the early winter of November 2003, Zhao Ziyun, who was nearly seventy years old, trekked through the "Devil's Valley", which is about 90 kilometers long, and obtained the first-hand proof of the geographical landform and historical legend of the "Devil's Valley" for the first time through scientific investigation.
For Zhao Ziyun, who went out to the "Devil's Valley", it was an unforgettable day. Although the temperature is more than minus 20 degrees Celsius, the towering snow peaks on Mount Algin are radiant, like beautiful jade.
Before entering the valley, Zhao Ziyun said to two temporarily hired camel workers:
"This time when I entered the 'Devil's Valley', I didn't plan to go back alive, but you must think well, it is still too late to turn back."
Camel worker Liu Jiangdong and son Liu Xinwen are natives of Arjin Mountain, and perhaps they have been walking on the line of life and death for many years, and they said indifferently:
"Zhao Gong, you are not afraid of being so old, what are we afraid of?"
So, a group of 3 people, each riding a camel, marched from Subash to the "Devil's Valley".
In the early winter of The Argin Mountains, the grass and trees withered and were slaughtered, from 6,000 meters above sea level down the river, to 4,000 meters above sea level, there were no trees in sight, only short bushes of shrubs and yellowish grass. Occasionally, there were groups of Tibetan wild donkeys, pan sheep and green sheep, standing on a distant mountain.
The more difficult it is to walk the road to the valley, there are thorns, red willows and rocks with sharp teeth everywhere, making people and camels jump with every step they take, but this is exactly what Zhao Ziyun hopes to see.
Because he has been working in the field for many years, what he is most afraid of is not the danger, but loneliness.
On the first day of entering the "Devil's Valley", after walking seven or eight kilometers, Zhao Ziyun, who was 66 years old, fell more than 20 heels. When he was camping at night, Zhao Ziyun took off his clothes and baked, and the camel worker took a look at it and shouted:
"Zhao Gong, you are injured and bleeding."
"That's the beginning." Zhao Ziyun smiled and said to the camel worker, "The most terrible thing is still behind!" ”
On the third day, when crossing the river, the camel suddenly fell, and Zhao Ziyun was also violently thrown into the rushing river, almost drowning the cold river!
At this time, because the road conditions were no longer suitable for camels to walk, the three left the camels in an open area with water and grass and began a more difficult trek.
On the second day of the hike, Zhao Ziyun suddenly found that there were many huge footprints arranged radially on the ground, and a huge pool of frozen dung.
Based on years of experience in field investigation in the west, Zhao Ziyun judged that it was a trace left by a bear.
Although the bear is an extremely dangerous beast, Zhao Ziyun's purpose of entering the "Devil's Valley" this time is not only to explore, but to investigate scientifically.
Following the trail and the excrement, they climbed up a loess cliff, and underneath a field of dry yellow reeds, they found a cave where the bear hibernated.
It seems that the legend of man-eating beasts in the "Devil's Valley" did not come out of thin air.
The next morning, they had just eaten breakfast when they suddenly noticed a spotted snow leopard on a nearby hillside chasing a pan sheep.
The three of them were shocked to see it, and the atmosphere did not dare to take a bite, because the tiger and leopard beasts had the habit of protecting food.
When going deep into the valley, Zhao Ziyun witnessed several red-backed tibetan foxes chasing a snow-white animal, and when this animal was bitten to death, Zhao Ziyun drove the Tibetan fox away and found that the underground animal carcass was actually "snow sweeping".
"Snow plowing", also known as stone marten, has a slender body shape like a ferret, generally about 45 to 50 cm, and a tail length of about 30 cm. The ears are short and wide, and the limbs are slightly longer than the ferret, and the villi are rich and white.
Both the stone marten and the Tibetan fox are national second-class protected animals and are also carnivores. The stone mink was probably sick or injured before it was hunted by the Fox.
On the eighth day after entering the "Devil's Valley", they climbed a 100-meter-high cliff with a waterfall along a path made of yellow sheep and climbed with a rope, and Zhao Ziyun said triumphantly:
"Without this rope, we might have died a few times!"
When Zhao Ziyun and the three of them finally climbed to the top of the cliff, they saw a majestic stone city in front of them.
The walls around the stone city are made of large stones, and although they are in ruins, you can imagine the spectacular scene at that time. Zhao Ziyun measured that the city was 300 meters long, the remaining wall was 3 meters high and 2 meters thick, and there was a city gate. There are brick and stone houses (caves) in the city, and piles of stone chips, pottery pieces (red and black sand pottery) scattered on the ground, as well as slag from smelting iron and copper.
"It's a military barracks." Zhao Ziyun said affirmatively.
Standing on this stone city at an altitude of 2,000 meters, looking at the extreme, I can only see the Ruoqiang County, and the surrounding area except for the yellow sheep trail is a hundred abyss.
"This is the real husband and wife, and all the people can't open it!"
Zhao Ziyun couldn't help but marvel at the architecture of ancient military facilities.
After returning to Urumqi, after consulting the materials and consulting relevant experts, they learned that this stone city has historical records and is the "stone town" of the thirty-six countries in the western region more than a thousand years ago.
After 17 days of arduous trekking, Zhao Ziyun and the three finally walked out of the "Devil's Valley". During this expedition, Zhao Ziyun also unveiled the legend that once he entered the "Devil's Valley", he could not get out:
This is a region where beasts of prey are rampant.
In addition, Zhao Ziyun has another bigger discovery, that is, the "Devil's Valley" is rich in treasures, not only red granite full of mountains, but also gemstones, jade, mica, copper, zinc and lead.
This seventy-year-old man told us with personal action that only by forgetting life and death first can we cover the heavens and the earth and uncover the mysteries of myths and legends between heaven and earth.
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