Salton Sea

[Gina D.]

or as Carol calls it, the Salton Sewer.

I don't think I actually want to bother spending a nite there, but it may make and interesting day trip just for the wierdness factor.

Any suggestions on where to see all these dead buildings, boats in the sand and how does one avoid the dead fish?

Yes, this is a serious inquiry. I would like to see it for educational purposes, and for nothing else.. to ponder how man can make something can go so wrong...

And my dogs aren't going. I don't think I want their feetsies in the, er, sand....

[Jan Adams]

We were there years and years ago and we couldn't wait to leave. I think we spent about 1 hour there and left in a hurry.

[jim munson]

We were there years and years ago and we couldn't wait to leave. I think we spent about 1 hour there and left in a hurry.

I had a terrible blowout near Bagdad on tne edge of the "sea". The dippy road set up a harmonic swerve that caused the tire to explode and rip off the rim and break up the fiberglas side.
The local people were a great help "we're desert people" in getting me on my way again.
There are nice hot springs camp grounds on the east side of the hiway. Just don't go in the summer.
It is a an old ecological disaster caused by the railroad in the 1900's that is still being argued about as to a solution.
There is swimming in some areas. Ask the ranger where. Agricultural pollution in some areas.

[BobB]

Hi Gina D,

I took in the Salton Sea while we were camping at La Quinta last January. There is a visitor center a short drive down the eastern side on 111. I picked up a publication by the Coachella Valley Historical Society that tells the story of the Salton Sea. It's 60 pages for $10. Very interesting! I also checked out the Fountain of Youth place further down the eastern side. It's up the slope from the shore and seemed to be a good place to "warm the bones" during the winter months. I may stay there a few days this year if gas doesn't get too high.

[BobB]

I did save one photo taken near the visitor center. Frosty and I took a walk and 0ne or two other visitors showed up while we were there. The Salton Sea is not as popular as it used to be! I really didn't find it to be objectionable in January.

[BobB]

Hmmm. Try again.

[Gina D.]

well, it's the short lived history that interests me. Thanks for sharing the photo.. it almost looks "nice".

was that at the State Park?

[Chris B]

It's one of those places that you have to go to at least once! Check out Slab City, the mud volcanoes, and the Fountain of Youth.

For some reason Clete remembers all the strange stuff in California, so I just asked him. His selections were:
Slab City (and he says that you have to find the singles club), Salvation Mountain, and the Bombay Yacht Club for a beer.

Here's a few links:
This website pretty much sums up Slab City.
http://www.desertdutch.org/slabcity.htm
Here's Salavation Mountain
(http://www.salvationmountain.us/)
Here's some information on the Salton Sea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

Now, after you do that, we know of some other strange stuff to do in the desert....
Landers - The Integratron - You must get a sound bath! We attended it with Bonnie and Tao and our lives have changed!
http://integratron.com/Welcome.html

Out in Borrego Springs, the Peg Leg Smith Liars contest held every year around April Fool's Day (the first Saturday night of April) http://search.cityguide.aol.com/sandiego/e...ntest/e-1238077

I prefer the mountains, but when it gets too cold and snowy to camp, we head for the deserts and find all kinds of strange stuff!

[Frederick L. Simson]

It's one of those places that you have to go to at least once! Check out Slab City, the mud volcanoes, and the Fountain of Youth.

We did go to Slab City and Salvation Mountain in Niland, CA on Friday. We also saw the Mud Volcanoes, pictures are posted in
This Post.

Here is one photo from Slab City:

[Gina D.]

Thats the polite picture. Taken in the high rent district. The place is divided up into sections based on lifestyle. That was in the million dollar motorhome temporary section away from the main "Drag"

It isn't as bad as I had imagined, mostly just a jumble of RVs living for free on the fringes, and makeshift community centers and the like centrally located.

Yep, there were heaps of trash and abandoned cars and old trailers, campers and just about anything you would find in a junkyard.

There was a sad Compact Jr. there, and on the way in there was a junky storage place that had a 17 ft Boler and an interestingly painted Casita. Neither one look like they have been budged in decades.

On my way home today, I took the 111 up and saw the east side of the sea. Bombay Beach is a most puzzling berg. For every one occupied house, 5 sit rotting, and most are 40s collectible trailers in absolute ruin. I had to walk the pups, and just happened to get out at the flooded (Well, it WAS, now it's all dried up) trailer park and it was... scary sad.

OK, I've seen it.

Next?

[Frederick L. Simson]

on the way in there was a junky storage place that had a [b]17 ft Boler and an interestingly painted [b]Casita. Neither one look like they have been budged in decades.

[Patrick M.]

It' a place I always wanted to go to, and still do, sorta! We saw a documentary on it recently which focused mainly on today vs. its hay day as THE place to party in the 1960s. The "today" is a sad, depressing place with old folks and welfare folks living there because of the cheap housing. Amazing how a shift in a few factors like water coming into the lake will make a place crash and burn.

Fabulously offbeat and refreshingly upbeat, this lovable film gets friendly with the natives of the Salton Sea, an inland ocean of massive fish kills, rotting resorts, and 120 degree nights located just minutes from urban Southern California. This award-winning film from directors Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer details the rise and fall of the Salton Sea, from its heyday as the "California Riviera" where boaters and Beach Boys mingled in paradise to its present state as a decaying, forgotten ecological disaster. From wonderland to wasteland, PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA captures a place far more interesting than the shopping malls and parking lots of suburban America, a wacky world where a beer-swilling Hungarian Revolutionary, a geriatric nudist, and a religious zealot building a monument to God all find solace and community.

Crisply and hilariously narrated by oddball auteur John Waters, and featuring music by desert lounge rockers Friends of Dean Martinez, PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA melds high camp with stark realism, offering both a sobering message about the consequences of tampering with nature and a heart-warming tale of individualism.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438327/